Seniors Varna Jammula, Sonal Pai, Mounika Narayanan and Sudeep Raj expected the worst on May 1. As property of sophomore Mitali Shanbhag, the reluctant seniors groaned as they were forced to dance on top of the tables in the quad during lunch.
The sights of Senior Servant Day would probably surprise any student. Sometimes guys had to wear high heels and dresses and put makeup all over their face, while other servants carried their owners.
In preparation for this annual one-day event, seniors volunteer to be bid on as a fundraiser for senior prom. Students from any grade, including seniors who are not auctioning themselves, are permitted to bid for a senior through an online system. The highest bidder can command his or her senior to do whatever task they want, such as cross-dressing or pulling people in a wagon. Around $1,140 was raised from the day.
Taking advantage of the seniors’ fundraiser, Shanbhag bought seven servants but ended up selling three of them to other people.
With four seniors between Mitali and her friends, they devised several torturous tactics to make the seniors experience a day of fun-spirited humiliation.
“We dressed our slaves up in these overly ridiculous outfits and made them sing for us in the middle of class,” Shanbhag said.
Senior Neesha Malik felt humiliated when freshman Ashley Petters made her wear a giant tutu under a monk costume and lots of terrible makeup.
Though the seniors were ridiculed by the underclassmen, everyone had fun.
“Everyone who participated enjoyed it and I think both seniors and their owners had a great time. It was a fun way to tease the seniors but it was all in good spirit,” Malik said.
