This upcoming weekend, students can party and drink root beer on the fifth floor of Traber Hall during the annual T5 Root Beer Kegger. For the first time ever, students can take pictures with a leprechaun host who is actually Irish.
On Saturday, March 19, the entire campus is invited to visit the fifth floor of Traber between 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. to enjoy unlimited root beer poured straight from a keg. This long-time floor tradition has continued to grow in size and popularity over the past few years, and the student attendance last year was reported to be over 600 students.
The entire floor will be open for guests to explore, with each room exhibiting a unique theme. Popular themes from last year include the balloon room, hot yoga and the kissing booth. Senior Tommy Hekma, a former T5 resident, remarked, “The kegger is definitely worth a visit, and I’m looking forward to seeing the legacy of hot yoga room maintained.”
The T5 Kegger is organized and hosted entirely by the freshman and sophomore residents of T5. College Union and Residence Life is not involved in coordinating the musicians, purchasing the decorations or, most importantly, serving the root beer. According to the resident assistant of T5, senior Caleb Cochrum, the kegger is funded by “anonymous donors.” As always, live music will be performed in the floor lounge and a DJ will also be on scene.
The freshmen of Traber 5 are excited to experience their first T5 kegger. Freshman Caleb Neevel said, “I’m extremely excited, especially since George is going to be the leprechaun.” Neevel was referring to fellow floormate George Turkington, the chosen leprechaun for this year.
For the first time ever, the T5 Kegger leprechaun host will actually be of Irish heritage. Turkington is an international student born and raised in East Tyrone, Northern Ireland. As the leprechaun host, Turkington will have his hair dyed red and will be in charge of making sure all the guests are having fun. Students will be able to recognize Turkington by his poorly dyed hair and his bright green tie that reads, “Kiss me, I’m Irish.”
Sophomore Alex Prus was last year’s leprechaun and picked Turkington to fulfill the role. When asked why he picked Turkington, Prus explained that Turkington “has great characteristics to be a leprechaun, but he just needs to work on his accent.” Prus was unsure on the exact history of the leprechaun tradition, but he said, “I hear that C.S. Lewis was the first kegger leprechaun.” As Prus reminisced over his experience as the leprechaun, he happily uttered, “It was so much freak’n fun.”
The Record was able to schedule an exclusive interview with Turkington a week before his appearance. Throughout the conversation, Turkington maintained a mischievous smile as he shared how eager he was for the T5 Kegger to take place.
Turkington said he was proud to be chosen as the leprechaun, although he admitted that the kegger first appeared to be “fun that was strangled to death by the Wheaton covenant rules.” He was referring to the fact that dancing at the event has not yet been approved and that only root beer can be offered.
The kegger has maintained its entertaining reputation despite the annual change in floor residents. Neevel credits the upperclassmen for keeping up the hype and excitement that goes into coordinating and publicizing the party.
Other freshmen agreed that Cochrum and the sophomores have put purposeful effort into preserving floor traditions and continuing the legacy of the T5 kegger.
Whether it is due to the high expectations of the community or the guidance of the older students, T5 proves itself to be a fine example of how strong relationships that form in a dorm can encourage and serve the rest of the campus.