Get “Chicken’d”: A New Freshman Bonding Experience

Image courtesy of Cierra Wolckenhauer

By Abby Marinari

Have you ever wanted to find a fun way to bond with your class? Perhaps, you’d like to do it in a way that’s silly and a little bizarre. Well, that’s exactly what the freshman drama class has been doing.

On September 26th, freshman Cierra Wolckenhauer and I opened a brand new package from Amazon. What was inside of it? None other than a bright yellow rubber chicken. While I only just found out that day what the plan was, Cierra, the primary game master and social media manager, had an idea for a new bonding experience within the freshmen theatre community. She says, “The idea for the chicken game came from one of those fever dream memories of my summer camp when I was little, and I just remember it being super funny to watch. I recently thought: You know what? These people [the CUA Drama Freshmen] are kind of cool, and they seem to love life, so let’s try some sort of chicken game to really make a bonding moment… so that way we can try new things together.” Soon after that, a declaration of rules was established, participants were gathered, and the game was afoot.

Now, you may ask: how does the chicken game work? Overall, the chicken game is a version of Assassins where the goal is to not have the chicken by 5:00 pm on the Friday of that week. If it is in your possession then, then you are subject to a “punishment,” which entails either buying snacks for all the other participants or doing the chicken dance at dinner in Garvey Hall (which nobody has been brave enough to attempt yet). When the game was first created, the idea was to sneak it into your friends’ bags without getting caught. However, since then, the players have found much more creative ways to pass off the chicken. Gwyneth Palermo, has seen some examples of this: “We used to put it only in bags and since then it’s gotten more unhinged. I had a chicken placed inside the case of my iPad once, just sandwiched in there like a book. Today, Abby had the chicken placed inside the handle of her water bottle. And I once placed it in the wallet of a keychain! So, it’s gotten more unhinged.” So, as the rules of the game develop, so do the creativity and tenacity of the players.

The chicken game also specifically tests the trust of players. Constantly being on the defense, you never know who will strike and when. Nick Hehl is specifically haunted by the chicken: “You look away for one second, BOOM: the chicken’s in your backpack. BOOM: chicken’s in the side compartment, it can be in a hoodie, it can be anywhere.” While there are rules in place to prevent distracting someone in class, there are ample opportunities to attack within such a close cohort, therefore, you are never sure who to trust. David Hunter, also comments, “My strategies are to make sure all the backpack pockets are occupied with something, and to retreat when you hear a squeak. TRUST NO ONE.” While some students are worried about being “chicken’d”, others are more excited to pass it off. Gwyneth Palermo and Shannon Shipp are particularly skilled at passing it off quickly, with Palermo’s longest time having the chicken in her possession being 10 minutes, and the shortest being 20 seconds. In addition, Mackenzie Ouellette strengths lie in keeping track of who has the chicken, which is harder than it looks.

Many people report that the chicken game has really helped them with building trust with other members of the class. Between alliances and betrayals, all players view the game in a light-hearted way that allows for it to be fun and unserious. When you do actually get “chicken’d,” it doesn’t feel personal, which is a sentiment shared by Shannon Shipp, who says, “In the few short months we’ve been playing it, it has really helped us bond as a class and grow in friendship—which can be so challenging as freshmen. But having something like this really breaks the ice.” 

The game also has a fairly substantial online presence, with 30 posts varying as Instagram reels and weekly overviews. Cierra Wolckenhauer, the social media manager, has spent hours upon hours creating content with the help of Scarlett Staiano and others. This has garnered some attention beyond the freshman drama class, including older drama students. James Moledor, a sophomore musical theatre major, heard about the game before the rules were written and says, “It’s silly and a great time. And it’s not harmful fun, like you see fairly often these days.” In addition, Margaret Schumacher, another sophomore musical theatre major, has taken a great interest in keeping up with the Instagram page: “What I like about it is watching you guys lose their little minds over who has the chicken and strategizing how to avoid getting chicken’d. It’s greatly amusing to behold, and it seems like you guys are really enjoying yourselves.” As the fame of the chicken continues to rise, it has reached the ears of other majors. Funny enough, both of their favorite Instagram reels have been “POV: The Chicken Gives you CPR”. David Wiechec, a freshman Markets and Political Economies major, has heard of the game and has an interest in the downfall of one particular participant. “My favorite post is definitely where someone attached the chicken onto Abby’s water bottle,” he says, “Her face is comparable to that of the rubber chicken as she was probably filled with both shock and disappointment at having been “chickened” again.” 

Overall, the chicken game has been a grand success at bringing the freshman drama class together in good fun. I certainly have had a great experience focusing so much on something so trivial, and I’m happy to hear that so many others are enjoying it as much as I do. In a game of love and war, and trust and betrayal, the freshman class has grown closer together, and it has connected us with the rest of the CUA community. I would highly recommend it to everyone. You can follow the chicken on Instagram at @cuadrama_chicken_game2029.