It was a breezy afternoon on Feb. 3, when skibidi sigmas gathered at the Owl Statue to watch the inaugural brain rot contest.

The contest featured eight contestants each taking turns doing their own unserious acts for a chance to take home a $20 prize and gain more aura points.

Freshman radio, television, and film (RTF) major Bryce Corcoran organized the event. They said the idea aimed to use brain rot as a way to unite students during such trying times.

“I was like, ‘How can we bring Rowan University together in a beautiful way?’ And my first thought was brain rot because no matter who you are or where you are, everyone is brain rotted,” said Corcoran.

The first act featured junior chemical engineering majors Alessandra D’Alessio and Max Palmer. 

D’Alessio stood on a bench blasting Fetty Wap from a JBL speaker while Palmer, wearing an “I love LeBron” t-shirt, a nod to the Los Angeles Lakers star, showed off a binder full of brain rot images.

“We [D’Alessio and I] saw those videos on TikTok where the guy goes up to random strangers with a binder full of brain rot faces and brain rot images,” said Palmer. “And we’re like, you know what? We should do that, but blasting Fetty Wap.”

One last-minute participant in particular also stood out. 

Senior RTF major Zachary Geada decided to chug a can of Diet Pepsi and then burp the phrase “Fortnite battle pass.”

“I saw the flyer like five minutes ago and I came here with no plan other than just saying Fortnite battle pass. And I had a show and a hand and had to make do with what I had,” said Geada.

Other notable acts included an appearance by Big Justice of the Costco Guys and a “hawk tuah” chant to conclude the competition.

The winner was decided by an audience vote, giving a big boom to the contestants they liked and a big doom to those they didn’t.

D’Alessio and Palmer ended up winning and proceeded to sign autographs after the event by handing out and signing the brain rot photos used in their act.

“We put in a lot of time, a lot of  TikTok hours, and screen time for this moment. We came in prepared and we executed,” said D’Alessio.

Palmer also made sure to pay homage to his glorious king LeBron James after the win.

“LeBron is my everything. He’s the goat. He is my sunshine. He’s the greatest player that will ever be,” said Palmer.

In his eyes, winning the contest isn’t something he takes lightly.

“It feels like a true treasure to be crowned the most brain rotted,” said Palmer.

For Rowan journalism alum and contest spectator Abigail Twiford, the afternoon just felt fitting for the university.

“The competition is exactly the kind of dumb, nonsense fun college exists to provide,” said Twiford.

While the brain rot contest garnered many confused looks from passersby, including a poor professor who looked on at the future generations in disappointment, it perfectly summed up the chronically online culture that college students live in today.

A true spectacle of organized chaos and absolute absurdity, it left the crowd and confused onlookers saying “Erm, what the sigma?”

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