Chili Challenge
Water runs from Titus McCotter’s bloodshot eyes, he grabs his
stomach and rocks himself to mitigate the pain. Then blows his
running nose.
The pain does not deter him; he takes another bite of chili.
McCotter was one of 180 students who signed up to be a part of
the first annual Residence Hall Chili Challenge last week.
“I’m an extreme, intense guy,” said McCotter, a senior history
major. “Stuff like this defines me.”
Each day, students arrived at a roped-off area in Corbett Hall
and had to eat an 8-ounce bowl of chili that became progressively
hotter throughout the week. Participants were only allowed one
Aquafina bottle of water and if they could complete their portion
of chili all five days they received an ‘I Survived the Chili
Challenge’ T-shirt.
Maggie Hersh, one of the cooks involved in making the chili,
said the chili contained the same ingredients every day, but the
key to making it hotter was how much of the ingredients were
added.
“We had poblanos, serranos, green bell peppers, anahimes,
habaneros, jalape�os and Dave’s Ultimate Hot Sauce,” Hersh
said. “By the last day we had three bottles of the habanero sauce
and the hot sauce and we kept the seeds in everything.”
Gabriella Horvath, a visiting scientist from Hungary, decided to
take part in the Chili Challenge.
“I love hot stuff and so I had to try it,” Horvath said. “The
chili is hot, but I’ve been practicing on jalape�os. Now
I’ve gotten to the advanced level of habaneros.”
The Chili Challenge, which took place during Fire Awareness
Week, had help from the Poudre Fire Authority Station 2 to raise
awareness about fire prevention.
“We hope it keeps people involved in fire prevention and helps
them to realize the importance of fire alarms,” said Ray Gillen, a
firefighter at Station 2. “We’ve had a lot of fun and it’s nice to
get to know kids this way, rather than the way we normally work
with them.”
Deon Lategan, director of Residential Dining Services, agreed
the purpose of the Chili Challenge went beyond serving fiery
chili.
“We thought ‘what better way to involve the community?'” Lategan
said. “We’ve had the fire department here serving chili, the fire
truck has been outside every day and we’ve invited VIP judges like
the city mayor.”
Although students made up the majority of Chili Challenge
participants, Doyle Thornton and Jeff Ioannone of the Housing and
Food Services maintenance staff bought five-day meal plans so they
could join in the challenge.
“If I eat something hot I get the hiccups and today I finally
got the hiccups,” Ioannone said.
Thornton said that the last day’s chili was extremely hot, but
with a little competition, hopes of a T-shirt and a plan to manage
the intense chili, he kept going.
“My plan is to go for the ice cream when I finish my bowl,”
Thornton said.
Ken Quintana, director of fire safety at CSU, indicated that the
first year of the Chili Challenge was successful in a number of
different aspects and is expected to become an annual CSU
tradition.
“I think everybody had fun; when I tried it my eyes watered, my
nose ran and it definitely cleared my sinuses,” Quintana said.
“Students got to see fire fighters without all the gear on and see
that they are people too. This year was the start and we hope to
make it even bigger next year.”
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