Homecoming week continued into its third day with a friendly competition on the back patio of the Chamberlain Student Center.

Groups of fraternities and friends got together for the CANstruction Competition by stacking and building canned goods into a Hollywood theme.

“All the cans donated today are going to The Shop here on campus,” said Megan Henry, Homecoming Committee CANstruction lead. “We’re hoping to get somewhere between 400 and 1,000 cans today.”

The entries included iconic movies like “The Godfather,” while others stuck to Hollywood landmarks and trends. 

Dominic Gigliotti, a biological science major, came together with his fraternity to build a boom box, a bulky CD player that was popular in the ‘80s and ‘90s.

“What is more iconic than the boom box from the ‘80s?” Gigliotti said.

The team constructed the boom box with multiple layers of cans and placed a speaker inside that played popular ‘80s music. 

Another fraternity created a replica of a baseball stadium. Layers upon layers of cans were stacked to build the seats and foul poles. The team consisted of about 10 people and had gotten inspiration from the movie “The Sandlot.”

“It’s Fiji guys and then AST girls,” said Sam Messler, a business marketing major who is in the Fiji fraternity.

Other entries included the Hollywood Sign with the Los Angeles skyline, an American Flag and a car.

Competitors had 3 hours to construct their cans, starting at 11 a.m., with judging beginning at 2 p.m. Not all the teams arrived at the same time. While some began right at the start, others arrived 25 minutes before judging. The judges browsed each entry looking for creativity.

“Most of the organizations did movies and if their theme was correct and they’ve done Hollywood theme, then they got points for theme,” said Noah Weinstein, a judge in the competition.

A booth having free t-shirts were given out to students who showed their Rowan student I.D. The purple shirts showcased the theme and upcoming events for the week of homecoming. A table full of free food was also setup on the patio with waffle fries and burritos. 

The local news media also took part in covering the event. SNJ Today and 6ABC briefly showed highlights on their nightly newscasts.  

After the competition was complete, the cans were collected and brought to The Shop, Rowan’s food pantry and resource center for students who have financial restrictions.  

Update:

Rowan SCCA’s announced the winners of the CANstruction competition on their twitter account.

“Team SCC-Fame took first, Team @rowanthetaphi & @RowanSkulls took second, and Team AST & FIJI took third” said RowanSCCA. “Also, the event allowed over 1,100 cans to be donated to @RUTheSHOP”

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