#collegefunfact

🕵🏻‍♀️ The Glorious Absurdity of Scav: UChicago’s Legendary Scavenger Hunt 🔍

If you ever find yourself on the University of Chicago campus in May and see students attempting to build a functional nuclear reactor in a dorm room or racing to the Canadian border for a specific brand of ketchup, don’t be alarmed. You’ve simply walked into Scav.

Short for the University of Chicago Scavenger Hunt, “Scav” is not your average childhood game. It is a four-day, sleep-depriving, boundary-pushing marathon of intellectual rigor and sheer eccentricity that has been a cornerstone of campus life since 1987.

While most scavenger hunts ask for a feather or a local newspaper, the Scav List—which often exceeds 300 items—is a masterpiece of the absurd. Items are categorized by their difficulty and “points” value:

The Build: Teams are often tasked with engineering complex machines from scratch. (Yes, students actually built a breeder reactor in 1999).

The Road Trip: A designated group from each team piles into a car to find items located hundreds of miles away, often crossing state lines or international borders.

The Performance: Many items require choreographed dances, original compositions, or elaborate costumes to be presented during “Judgment.”

At its core, Scav is the physical manifestation of the UChicago spirit. It takes the university’s love for deep research and applies it to the most ridiculous goals imaginable. It’s where “where fun goes to die” is proven wrong, replaced by a community that finds joy in the impossible.

🧠 Did you know? Yale’s Science of Well-Being class reveals that our brains often misjudge what actually makes us happy.

We chase success, grades, and possessions—thinking they’ll bring joy—but research shows habits like gratitude, kindness, sleep, and connection are far more effective.

The best part? You can train your mind to be happier.

🕵🏻‍♀️ The Glorious Absurdity of Scav: UChicago’s Legendary Scavenger Hunt 🔍

If you ever find yourself on the University of Chicago campus in May and see students attempting to build a functional nuclear reactor in a dorm room or racing to the Canadian border for a specific brand of ketchup, don’t be alarmed. You’ve simply walked into Scav.

Short for the University of Chicago Scavenger Hunt, “Scav” is not your average childhood game. It is a four-day, sleep-depriving, boundary-pushing marathon of intellectual rigor and sheer eccentricity that has been a cornerstone of campus life since 1987.

While most scavenger hunts ask for a feather or a local newspaper, the Scav List—which often exceeds 300 items—is a masterpiece of the absurd. Items are categorized by their difficulty and “points” value:

The Build: Teams are often tasked with engineering complex machines from scratch. (Yes, students actually built a breeder reactor in 1999).

The Road Trip: A designated group from each team piles into a car to find items located hundreds of miles away, often crossing state lines or international borders.

The Performance: Many items require choreographed dances, original compositions, or elaborate costumes to be presented during “Judgment.”

At its core, Scav is the physical manifestation of the UChicago spirit. It takes the university’s love for deep research and applies it to the most ridiculous goals imaginable. It’s where “where fun goes to die” is proven wrong, replaced by a community that finds joy in the impossible.

When Thomas Jefferson imagined a university, he didn’t just think about classrooms—he envisioned a space where architecture, learning, and democracy would come together. That vision became the University of Virginia, a campus so historically and culturally significant that it’s been named a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 🌍

UVA remains the only college campus in the United States with this distinction. From the iconic Rotunda to the perfectly balanced Lawn, every building was intentionally designed to reflect Jefferson’s belief that education should be open, accessible, and centered on the exchange of ideas.

Walking UVA’s grounds isn’t just walking through a campus—it’s walking through history, philosophy, and the foundations of American higher education. 📚🇺🇸

🚪✨ Beneath the charm of Georgetown’s historic campus lies a secret world few have seen: a maze of underground tunnels. Originally built for maintenance and utilities, these dim, narrow passageways have become the stuff of student legend.

From graffiti-covered walls to steam-filled corridors, the tunnels under Healy Hall and beyond whisper stories of campus lore, secret societies, and the curious few who dared to explore them. 🔦👣

Not open to the public (for good reason!), but their mystery adds another layer to the magic of the Hilltop.

When Thomas Jefferson imagined a university, he didn’t just think about classrooms—he envisioned a space where architecture, learning, and democracy would come together. That vision became the University of Virginia, a campus so historically and culturally significant that it’s been named a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 🌍

UVA remains the only college campus in the United States with this distinction. From the iconic Rotunda to the perfectly balanced Lawn, every building was intentionally designed to reflect Jefferson’s belief that education should be open, accessible, and centered on the exchange of ideas.

Walking UVA’s grounds isn’t just walking through a campus—it’s walking through history, philosophy, and the foundations of American higher education. 📚🇺🇸

🚪✨ Beneath the charm of Georgetown’s historic campus lies a secret world few have seen: a maze of underground tunnels. Originally built for maintenance and utilities, these dim, narrow passageways have become the stuff of student legend.

From graffiti-covered walls to steam-filled corridors, the tunnels under Healy Hall and beyond whisper stories of campus lore, secret societies, and the curious few who dared to explore them. 🔦👣

Not open to the public (for good reason!), but their mystery adds another layer to the magic of the Hilltop.

🚴‍♀️💦 Water balloons, wild cheers, and wheel-to-wheel races—must be Beer Bike at Rice! 💥🎉

Every spring, the colleges go head-to-head in Rice’s most legendary tradition: Beer Bike! What starts with a chaotic water balloon fight turns into a high-speed relay race where bikers and chuggers team up for the win. It’s messy, it’s loud, it’s fiercely competitive—and it’s 100% Rice.

Whether you're racing, cheering, or just there for the breakfast tacos, Beer Bike is a rite of passage you’ll never forget. 🏆🚲🌞