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For Immediate Release
November 17, 2004
nebraska wesleyan university celebrates 30
years of rat infestation
LINCOLN, Neb. — Nebraska Wesleyan University
is celebrating 30 years of rat infestation when its Xtreme Rat Challenge
event returns to campus on Thursday, December 2.
The Xtreme Rat Challenge is the capstone project
to a behavioral science psychology course in which furry white rats
compete for gold and grub in five competitive events. Twenty-two
students have trained their rats throughout the semester for events
including hurdles, rope climb, weight lifting, tightrope walk, and
long jump.
The Xtreme Rat Challenge is a tradition at Nebraska
Wesleyan University, debuting in 1974. Special guests at this year’s
event will include alumni who have participated in the event throughout
the last 30 years, and former professor Marty Klein who started
the event in 1974.
Several changes have been made to the celebration
since its inception including the use of all female rats, shifting
the affair from a classroom activity to a campus and community-wide
event that attracts approximately 300 people, and its biggest transformation
which came in 2003 —changing the name from “Rat Olympics”
to “Xtreme Rat Challenge" after the United States Olympic
Committee threatened a lawsuit against the university claiming the
word “Olympics” is a trademark of their organization.
The event has been featured on ESPN, CNN, the Discovery
Channel, and in USA Today. Two popular television shows,
Saturday Night Live and The Simpsons, have each performed spoofs
of the annual rat event in recent years.
This year’s festivities will begin at 4 p.m.
in the Great Hall of the Smith-Curtis Administration Building, located
one block east of 50th and St. Paul Avenue in Lincoln. The event,
which will last approximately one hour, is free and open to the
public..
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