by Parker Postlewait
Frolfing, also known as Frisbee Golf, has long been a tradition at Whitworth. For as long as students can remember there has been the dull ringing of a Frisbee making contact with the intended target.
This summer facility services and ASWU joined together to create a more sustainable and visible frolfing course on campus ASWU president Justin Botejue, and the director of facilities services, Chris Eichorst said.
One reason for the change was the risk of property damage caused by the Frisbees hitting their traditional targets such as resident hall signs.
Eichorst said he estimates the costs of new signs to be about $5000 with a general re-facing to be at least $800.
“We don’t want to have to raise tuition or have to fine students to pay for these damages,” Botejue said.
Property damage isn’t the only concern pertaining to the previous course. Certain holes in the previous course were aimed towards doors, specifically the HUB doors.
This creates worry as discs are blindly flying towards unsuspecting students exiting the building. The danger comes when the disc hits a student and causes bodily harm.
“We wanted to come up with something where we have the culture because we know it’s fun, but we want to limit the damages and concerns associated with it,” Eichorst said of frolfing.
Facility services and ASWU devised a campus map with the location of each hole and course possibilities shown. They also added signs and targets that show students which items to hit and which to avoid.
Dorm signs can be seen spotting a plea to avoid hitting the sign and thus preventing expensive damage repairs.
However, not every student is sold on this new course.
“I’m paying close to $160,000 for my degree alone,” senior Bryan Walsh said. “That alone could cover the property damage for the rest of Whitworth’s existence. It’s not that I don’t care about my campus’ property, but I feel like such a rich tradition shouldn’t be taken away.”
Botejue and Eichorst said they are hoping to provide the safest route while still allowing this integral part of Whitworthian culture and fun student activity to continue.
They also hope to add a par to the course soon, Eichorst said.
Contact Parker Postlewait at ppostlewait16@my.whitworth.edu