By GRAHAM BROOKS / Staff Writer

MONTEVALLO–A night filled with cheers, singing, dancing and lots of emotion ended with the Purple Side capturing a victory in the University of Montevallo’s long standing and beloved tradition known as College Night.

Palmer Auditorium was packed on Saturday, Feb. 13, as both the Purple and Gold sides faced off for the 98^th time.

Current students and former alumni descend upon the UM campus for four days of Homecoming events, leading up to the grand finale on Saturday night when the winning side is announced in a one-of-a-kind fashion.

UM SGA President Jacob Gordon reminded those unfamiliar with the College Night tradition of how the winning side is determined.

“Remember, the winner of College Night is decided by the highest total number of points,” said Gordon. “Sides earn pre-production points and production points, which are totaled to give us our College Night winner.”

The Purple Side production was titled “All hands on deck” with the majority of the scenes happening at sea on a ship with pirates in the Bahamas around 1720.

The mixture of props, singing, dancing, acting and entertaining storyline was enough to propel the Purple Side to victory, which happened to be their 50^th overall victory in the history of College Night.

Perhaps the most tense part of College Night occured at the conclusion of the grand finale when both sides were called to the stage to await the announcement of the winning side.

Another tradition of College Night is to reveal the winning side’s secret phrase instead of simply announcing the winner.

With both sides anxiously waiting on stage, Gordon pulled out the seventh book in the Harry Potter series and began to read passages.

After nearly a minute of reading paragraphs, Gordon uttered the phrase “This is something worth fighting for,” and the Purple Side immediately erupted in celebration and cheers after their secret phrase was read.

The Purple Side leaders were James Powers and Hannah Stephens.