Photo credit: Siena Ferraro

Seniors Maddie Lundberg and Laila Charles dash across the courtyard during the annual Senior Hunt. Sophie Sackett (’24) said the excitement and chaos from the game have brought her grade closer together, even amidst fierce competition.

The date is Tuesday, Jan. 9. The wind whistles through the courtyard, blending harmoniously with the faint echo of a scream. Members of the Class of 2024 stealthily trek across campus to their classes, a palpable sense of unease lingering throughout the halls.

A clock adjacent to the dining hall ticks towards the start of next period, almost in slow motion, its mechanisms accompanied by the symphonic din of students dispersing from one class to the next. Suddenly: BANG! English Department Chair Brian Wogensen strikes the side of a locker, breaking into a sprint in pursuit of Alex Martin (’24).

This fierce breakaway coupled with the heightened nerves of the senior class can only mean one thing: The annual Senior Hunt is afoot, and no senior is safe.

The Senior Hunt is a yearly tradition upheld by the senior class and participating faculty, according to Wogensen. Each senior and faculty member is assigned a clothespin with the name of another participant written on it, with the ultimate goal of clipping that clothespin to the corresponding target. Clips could be attached to a target’s shirt, sweater or shoes, but clipping elsewhere would not count.

The event was originally anticipated to last from Jan. 8-12 but ran long this year. The game met its end when Sabrina Walker (’24) emerged victorious from a final “Hunger Games style” battle on the backfield Tuesday, Jan. 16.

Bathrooms, staircases, classrooms, the front veranda, driveways and parking lots, busses and off-campus locations were designated safe spaces from clipping. However, all other areas on campus were fair game for pursuing one’s target between the hours of 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. Ahead of this year’s Senior Hunt, 12th grade Dean of Culture, Community and Belonging Stephanie Nicolard sent an email to the Archer community providing context for the “chaos” set to ensue over the week.

“In case you notice seniors and teachers looking especially paranoid, devious or like they’re lurking in the hallways waiting for someone to walk by,” Nicolard wrote, “this is what’s going on.”

Wogensen said he survived the Senior Hunt for two days, only to be “betrayed” by one of his mentees in the servery, who clipped him in what he said was a moment of complete vulnerability. He emphasized the tactics and strategies he and the seniors have employed to increase their chances of survival — ranging from mimicking bird noises to employing a gaggle of middle school students as a human shield.

“It’s a free-for-all, so there’s a lot of negotiating with teachers to try to get let out [of class] a little bit early,” Wogensen said. “Another strategy that people used was to set lookouts and then have signals. I was involved in that, where I gave a ‘cuckoo’ sound as soon as I saw someone’s target coming around the corner, and … it worked.”

Junior Sofia Cianciolo said she witnessed one senior drop to her knees on the stairs, begging her corresponding hunter for mercy. Cianciolo explained the hilarity of the situation, emphasizing the confusion and silliness ensuing across campus this week.

“At first, I was really confused. I don’t remember it being this competitive,” Cianciolo said. “Maybe just because now that I’m a junior, I see it more, and I’m like, ‘Oh, that is going to be me next year.’ That is insane.”

Senior Sophie Sackett said energy is high amongst the senior class amidst the hunt. She emphasized the extent to which seniors are going to in pursuit of their targets and the grade-level connection the game has produced over the week.

“The seniors are bustling,” Sackett said. “We have so much energy right now … I think this has been a great activity that has really bonded us more because we are talking to people who normally [we] maybe wouldn’t have talked to … I think it’s been a great experience overall.”

Wogensen agreed with Sackett and said the Senior Hunt fosters connection and community within the senior class and adds some unserious fun to a potentially stressful time of year for seniors.

“It’s another example of this senior class being just up for embracing whimsy and also just enjoying themselves and being [in] the moment. If you’re running down the hall from someone, or strategizing how to, you know, be in an alcove … you are in the moment,” Wogensen said. “You’re not thinking about the future. You’re not thinking about something negative from your past. You’re in that moment.”