Mutant Mania may not come until spring, but Dickinson Community’s new “Color Combat” competition may make the wait a little easier.

Dickinson residents will form teams of 10 to 14 people and choose a color to represent themselves. According to the rules and regulations, each team must have at least five girls and five boys with one captain.

Adrienne Victor, head resident assistant of Champlain and Whitney Halls, will coordinate Color Combat, a two-day long community event consisting of relay races, trivia, contests, food competitions, a volleyball tournament and a lip-syncing contest.

“One of the best features is that it’s student-made teams so there can be teammates across all the buildings in Dickinson. The residents are already preparing and talking about it,” said Ashley Ragusa, a resident assistant for Rafuse Hall and junior majoring in psychology.

Victor, a senior majoring in English, has been working to bring the idea to life since July as part of her third-year resident assistant project. The events were organized to build excitement and school spirit for Homecoming weekend.

“My reasoning for creating it was that Mutant Mania, the Dickinson dorm wars, has always been a key element in creating social bonds throughout the community,” Victor said. “However, it takes place all the way in April and I was disappointed that the social atmosphere it creates could not be fostered earlier on in the year.”

According to Victor, Dickinson holds various community events such as football games, RA events and community builders to help foster camaraderie throughout the year, but events like Mutant Mania are the most successful in bringing the community together.

“It seems to me that a little extra friendly competition with bizarre and unique events really is the best way to create bonds in our community,” Victor said.

Jeffrey Horowitz, assistant director for Dickinson Community, hopes the event will help students feel included with other residence halls.

“We are hoping to provide a sense of community and competition for Dickinson students not by competing for their buildings like they do for Mutant Mania, but to make teams from any student in the community, be assigned a color and compete,” Horowitz said. “The goal is to get our students active in Homecoming events such as attendance at our traditional object dedication ceremony.”

Alex Zoitos, Dickinson Town Council president and an undeclared sophomore, said with the recent hall government elections, Color Wars will enable halls to be more united.

“A sense of unity will surely be created for the upcoming academic year,” Zoitos said.

As a new event for Dickinson, many students are excited about participating in Color Wars as well as the other Homecoming events.

“It is great timing in conjunction with Homecoming weekend and a perfect opportunity for people to get to know each other in a fun setting so early on in the semester,” Ragusa said. “I’m excited that we are having this event so that people can show their true colors.”

Arsen Zargarov, a resident assistant for Rafuse and a sophomore majoring in political science, agreed with Ragusa and added that it livens the spirit in Dickinson.

“I’m excited for Color Wars because it brings out the entire community and builds a sense of Dickinson pride,” Zargarov said.