Wharton Council hosts Hostile Takeover

Wharton-style dodgeball is back - but this time it's called Hostile Takeover.

Hosted by the Wharton Council for the sixth year, the event is a version of the game Assassins.

Registration ended Tuesday, and the game began yesterday. Those who signed up received a small green ball and the name of a target.

"Participants are known as corporate raiders, and their goal is to achieve a hostile takeover of all their competitors the way companies do it in the business world," Wharton sophomore and Council member Camilo Maldonado wrote in an e-mail.

"Everyone that is playing the game is a target," said Wharton junior and Council member Joanna Wu.

The game is open to the undergraduate community, but also has some faculty participants.

According to Wharton junior and Council member Mariana Kvitko, who is also a co-chairwoman of the game, faculty first became involved last year.

The game is divided into four total rounds, and the final round is called the "Boardroom," according to the Wharton Council's Web site. Participants must survive the first three rounds to make it to the Boardroom.

The point of the game is to tag your target but not get tagged yourself before the round ends, said Maldonado.

He added that the last 10 people are allowed two bodyguards while participating in the final boardroom, which looks like a dodgeball game and will take place in the lower Quadrangle.

The last person remaining will receive a Bose iPod SoundDock. Also added this year is an additional $250 prize in the event that the winner is a representative of a club, Wu said. The money can go toward a future club event or banner.

Although the game - which occurs in the spring of each year - has existed since 2003, it has become a strong tradition in the past three years, she added.

Since some students take the game very seriously, rules govern how participants can be eliminated.

Participants are not allowed to tag others in classrooms, bathrooms and dining halls. However, they can try to catch their targets immediately after class, said Maldonado. Some people also change or delete their Facebook profiles, sleep in friends' rooms and remove their names from their college-house room doors to prevent being eliminated.

Since the game is based on an honor system, in previous years there have been disputes about whether a person was or was not tagged, said Kvitko.

The members of the Wharton Council are not allowed to participate in the game.

"The mission of the Wharton Council is to build community within the Wharton community," said Kvitko. "We like to get students to interact with each other, and this game plays on the competitiveness of Wharton students."

Maldonado added that the game is a great way to make friends and build social networks.

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