Pecs flexed, triceps burned and Homewood deans
displayed some physical prowess at the Johns
Hopkins ROTC's first-ever push-up contest, held
Wednesday on the Freshman Quad.
Chris Cottrell, a senior public health major and ROTC
recruiting officer, said he organized the
event to draw attention to the Blue Jay Battalion and have
some fun on what turned out to be a
beautiful spring afternoon.
"We hear from a lot of seniors and recent graduates
who say they wish they had known about
the ROTC program when they were freshmen and sophomores,"
Cottrell said. "We just want people to
notice we're here and what we do."
More than 130 participated in the event, which lasted
four hours.
The cadets gave away prizes, such as ROTC bags and
shirts, and everyone who did at least 10
was entered in a raffle to win an iPod and various gift
certificates donated by local merchants.
Stephen David, vice dean for centers and programs in
the Krieger School, got the muscle
flexing started with an impressive display of repetitions
and solid form. Not to be outdone, a half
dozen other deans soon appeared on the horizon, ready to
roll up their sleeves and shed their ties.
The academic heavyweights included Adam Falk, James B.
Knapp Dean of the School of Arts and
Sciences; David Bell, dean of faculty in the Krieger
School; Nicholas Jones, dean of the Whiting
School of Engineering; Andrew Douglas, vice dean of faculty
at the Whiting School; and William
Conley, dean of enrollment and academic services at
Homewood.
Dean Jones, who had his own cheering section, used the
well-wishing to best Dean Falk, but it
wasn't enough to topple colleague Douglas. Conley, who
arrived on his bike, dusted them all.
Who was the overall champ? That would be Rajiv
Mallipudi, a sophomore biomedical engineering
major, who powered his way through an amazing 225 push-ups
— we assume without the use of bionic
implants.
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