A Shove to Tradition

Spirit Splash is an honored tradition, but how did it start?

Jennifer Alvarez (far right) cheers with her fellow sorority sisters as they wade into the pond in 1995.

A SHOVE TO TRADITION

An eyewitness account of Spirit Splash's origin.

BY RANDY VUXTA

It's early November 1995, and Luis Cruz is surrounded by crowds of students who’ve gathered for UCF’s annual pep rally. Cruz suddenly hears a splash — the ‘95 student government president is shoved into the pond. Shortly after, Cruz’s brother, Nick Cruz, gets pushed in. After checking on Nick and laughing at him covered in pond water, Cruz and the crowd get an idea.

“We said to ourselves ‘Well, they can’t get mad at all of us if we go in’,” said Jennifer Alvarez, Cruz’s girlfriend at the time.

And in they went. A group of roughly 30 students sprung into the Reflecting Pond.

While it may seem like a refreshing way to spend a November day in Florida, the Reflecting Pond was anything but refreshing back then, Alvarez said. “The water was green and filled with leaves, and they never cleaned the Reflecting Pond,” Alvarez said. “It was gross, but we didn't mind because we were having fun.”

A year later, a group of students would go into the Reflecting Pond again. The year after that, the homecoming board decided to make it an official event, and Spirit Splash was born.

Before Spirit Splash, there was a pep rally, and the only people who would attend were Greek life, a fact that came to no surprise to Greek students Alvarez and Cruz.

“Back then, there was no pride in being at UCF,” Cruz said. “All the homecoming events were held by Greek life.”

This was in part due to the competition hosted by Greek life, where each Greek house competed to win the “most spirited” title each year. The winner got bragging rights until homecoming the next year, which is why Cruz and Alvarez attended the pep rally — for spirit points.

The pep rally was held next to the Reflecting Pond, and if it was up to Alvarez, she would have skipped the event.

“The pep rally was really the most boring part of homecoming week,” Alvarez said. “It was just the cheerleaders doing their routines, and that was it.”

Spirit Splash would go on to grow into UCF’s signature celebration during homecoming week, something that shocked both Cruz and Alvarez.

“When we went in, we didn’t think it would turn into this big, new thing,” Cruz said. “We were just being dumb college kids.”

This wasn’t the first time students went into the pond. Cheerleaders did ask students to get into the water in 1994, according to UCF archives. However, the notoriety of the SG president being shoved in has set 1995 as the precedent for splashes to come.

Before the pep rally in 1995, the SG went around to each Greek house to figure out how to raise school spirit.

“The SGA president came to our body meeting and asked us to find a way to get normal students involved,” Alvarez said.

Two years later, Kelli Belfatto, the Pep Rally Director for Homecoming ‘97, sat at her desk tasked with coming up with a way to make a new school tradition. Every year, it seemed people would skip the pep rally to attend Gator Growl, the pep rally hosted by the University of Florida for its homecoming week. Belfatto remembered seeing people go into the Reflecting Pond in ‘95, and decided to put a name on that.

“We want a tradition; we want something, let's name it,” Belfatto said. “It's something that's going to happen. Let's make it something.”

Administration was hesitant at first due to the Reflecting Pond sanitation upkeep. When Belfatto heard it was just an issue of funds, she quickly found the money in the homecoming budget.

“If it's just a money issue, I came up with a solution, and they said ‘Okay, if you pay for it, sure,’” Belfatto said.

Spirit Splash has continued to grow, attended by thousands and earning the title of Best University Tradition in the State by the National Association for Campus Activities. Instead of being weary to go into the green water, students wait at the edge of the Reflecting Pond to run into the clear, clean water.

The new event, which is held the Friday of every homecoming week, replaced the pep rally. Cheerleaders still do their routines, football players come out and dance around and students get a designed shirt.

The biggest difference is the ducks, something both Alvarez and Cruz knew nothing about. At the event, people throw ducks to the students in the Reflecting Pond, and catching one is said to bring luck to the person as well as a serious payday with some selling for over $100.

As for Cruz and Alvarez, they recently celebrated their 20th anniversary together. The two live in the Orlando area, have three daughters and cheer for the Knights as often as they can. However, one thing they haven’t celebrated but are hoping to experience is an official Spirit Splash.

“Each year, I consider taking that Friday off and going to see what it has become,” Cruz said. “Just to walk around and say to myself ‘Hey, I helped start this.’”