While the Super Bowl is not a nationally recognized holiday, it is often treated as one in many American families. To celebrate the significant annual tradition of the Super Bowl, people in the United States party with friends and family or sit down with a big bowl of chips to watch the games (and, for the non-football fans, the highly anticipated halftime shows). At Choate, there is as large a fan base as anywhere else, making it essential for the campus to have many offerings to enjoy the big game.
This event offers much more than a football game in terms of entertainment. Ms. Alex Long, Director of Student Activities, stated, “Regardless if you like football, there’s something for everybody in the Super Bowl. Whether it’s the game itself, the commercials, or the halftime show, I feel that even if you’re not into the sport itself, you’re kind of into the whole.”
Due to its wide appeal, the Super Bowl is a great time to enjoy friends, family, and the excitement surrounding every aspect of the day. Zoey Schamis ’26 said, “I love to watch the halftime show, but I’m not really into football.” Sky Hinton ’26, a Connecticut local, shared, “My favorite part is to watch it with my family.”
The Super Bowl is not just a yearly game or show; it is a chance to sit back and enjoy the moment regardless of what that means to each individual. Choate provided a wide variety of traditional snacks to aid in the enjoyment of the event. The dining hall offered wings, pizza, and a taco bar for dinner, while the Student Activities Center (SAC) had snacks such as dips, cupcakes, and even popcorn in team colors.
With a winter term that feels like it may never end and term-end experience on the horizon, the event was an excellent way to bring much-needed joy to the student body. Unfortunately, because of curfew hours, many students were unable to participate. According to Ms. Long, boarding students needed permission in order to spend their study time watching the Super Bowl. This meant that all underclassmen, or the majority of the Choate population, needed verbal consent from their advisers to view the game.
On top of this, when viewing the game, underclassmen had to remain quiet during study hours. To some, this hampered the entire point of the Super Bowl. Community is something we strive to cultivate at Choate. When the Super Bowl used to fall on Long Weekend, students could celebrate uninhibited by work. This year, however, the SAC was notably uncrowded due to its mainly senior attendance, wasting the food and thought placed into the event by Ms. Long and SAGE. Schamis stated, “I didn’t get to watch it because you had to ask your adviser, and I had homework.”
When asked if she would like to watch the Super Bowl with the same privileges as seniors and without the burden of homework, she stated, “I would appreciate that … hopefully something can happen next year.”
Day students and seniors are the minority who can watch the Super Bowl without explicit permission, and, even then, homework presents another obstacle. To address such challenges, Ms. Long hopes to make changes to the scheduling of the event next year. She said, “I’m always willing to do what the students want.” However, as of 2023, while not under-recognized, the Super Bowl remains an isolated celebration on the Choate campus.
