As Red & Gold weekend at Servite approaches, do you ever wonder what it would look like if Servite had their own version of Red & Gold? Yeah, so do we. So, for our entertainment and yours, we have outlined exactly how Black & Gold would play out.
Black & Gold will require some faith-filled young men to lead the season. First, the White Team would be composed of all the top Priory leaders who would ensure the success of this new tradition. Servite Prior General Pierre Balta ‘25 shared his opinion on the idea: “A Servite version of Red & Gold would be quite entertaining. I think it would definitely have extreme levels of competition and commitment from the boys.”
Instead of the traditional thank you speeches by the White Team before the performances, Servite’s White Team would begin scattered throughout the audience and take turns singing solos of “Take Me Home Country Roads” in tear-away tuxes. After that, they would take the stage to thank the important people behind the performance.
The category captains would be selected through a very special process. Every Friar interested in being a captain would put his Core Book into a pot and would be randomly selected by Servite’s version of Ms. La Bonte ‘09. The category options for captains would include monologue captains, miscellaneous captains, athletic captains, hut drill captains, stage tech captains, props captains and fit coordinators. If you do not understand, don’t worry, and keep reading to understand what each category really means.
Since the Producer and Co-Producer selection is complicated and competitive, these leaders would depend on sports teams’ performance throughout the year (i.e. the two sports that go the farthest in CIF would elect their varsity and JV captains as Producer and Co-Producer, respectively). However, the Producer and Co-Producer would not come from the same sport; the JV captains would switch and be with the varsity captain of the opposite sport.
Next step, Kick Off! The six-week-long Black & Gold season would begin with a Freshman Formation-inspired day. Starting bright and early in the morning (4 a.m., to be specific) there would be an induction ceremony led by the Priory leaders that would commemorate the new tradition within the Servite community. As a part of the ceremony, each student would be marked with either a black or gold eye black cross to signify which team they are on. The ceremony would close with the lighting of an eternal flame in the middle of the quad that would last the duration of the six-week season.
Upon hearing our idea, Jack Wright ‘26 thinks that Black & Gold wouldn’t get too much love from the Friars: “I think everyone likes the tradition, but I couldn’t see Red & Gold at Servite. I can’t see any of us actually performing because I don’t think we would want to do it or get the same out of it as Rosary students do.”
Kickoff would continue with the typical formation activities: standing for long periods of time, strenuous pushups and crab walks and oddly fun bonding exercises, like boat races in the pool. The theme would also be announced and be something around the lines of “Take Me Home Country Roads.”
Next up, it’s time to explain the categories. The fit category would be in charge of planning lit outfits for each category. This category would assign the miscellaneous category a surprise look, the hut-drill would be dressed in all things Servite, monologue would be in pro-dress, and athletic would be patriotic.
Stage tech and props would not be too different from Rosary’s stage tech and props. However, here’s where we get creative: the monologue category would end the show for each team. They would be most like drama and would have a 10-minute speech about their show’s connection to the theme.
The miscellaneous, hut drill and athletic categories are closest to dance, drill and choral at Rosary. The miscellaneous category will come up with their own act: more points for creativity! Some suggestions include a parkour or ping pong routine performed to a song of their choice. The hut drill category is inspired by Servite’s famous hut drill. Each team will perform a drill inspired by the hut drill to a song of their choice. Lastly, the athletic category would put together a routine of their athletic talents, for example, through a dunk contest or performance like the Harlem Globetrotters.
Black & Gold would not be complete without a stunning finale from each team. Of course, they would have a black-out and gold-out theme for each student’s costume. However, when the curtain closes, both Black & Gold teams would chant “We are…Servite!” together.
Just like Red & Gold, it’s hard to explain Black & Gold to someone who doesn’t know what it is. If you were a little confused along the way, that’s good: Black & Gold would be a chaotic performance. Shiloh Newman ’27 had a different idea of what Black & Gold would look like: “They would be judged on different games and sports activities. With the categories being separated with sophomores and seniors on one team and freshmen and juniors on the other.”
Let us know in the comments if this is a show you would attend or if you have any song recommendations for the Friars, and, Royals, don’t forget to have fun this Red & Gold weekend!
