Every campus has its “big thing.” At Northern Illinois University, the big thing is IFC Tugs – an annual Tug-of-War competition amongst fraternities that emerged as a campus tradition in the 1940s. The sport has evolved over the decades, but one thing remains - the fraternity hoisting the championship trophy each April receives tremendous exposure and massive social capital that trickles into every aspect of the chapter’s reputation and identity. It’s a big deal. Theta Eta Chapter at NIU recently earned its fourth consecutive Tugs Championship. The “four-peat,” was exaggerated by a two-year tournament layoff due to COVID (no tournament in 2020 or 2021). Theta Eta Chapter hasn’t lost a tournament match since the 2018 season. In other words, today’s NIU students have never witnessed anything other than a Sigma Nu Tugs Championship.
A University Tradition
Unlike traditional tug-of-war, where teams pull against each other across a flat ground surface, NIU Tugs presents a more intense version that involves teams pulling the rope from a stationary position in a series of two-foot by two-foot trenches dug six inches in the ground. Tuggers use wooden boards, firmly staked into the ground, to anchor themselves to gain better footing and maximize leverage. They wrap their arms and ribs with towels and shin guards for protection, as the rope is held under the upper arm and over the forearm. This technique safeguards the tuggers and allows for a more efficient and powerful pulling and “hitting” motion. The team “Caller” adds elements of strategy, timing, discipline, and tactical complexity to the contest, which lasts 20 minutes or until one team takes the entire rope to their side.
This setup allows teams to orchestrate coordinated offensive and defensive moves to pull the rope through their opponent’s grip. The result? A violent, hard-hitting battle that can result in rope burns, and without proper technique and conditioning, broken ribs, and torn muscles.
The Impact of Tugs on Sigma Nu Members
For members of Theta Eta Chapter, Tugs is more than an annual tournament; it’s a rite of passage. Participating in Tugs builds physical and mental toughness but also instills a sense of camaraderie and brotherhood that lasts a lifetime. The shared experiences over 14 weeks of grueling practices, strategic planning, and the thrill of competition forge strong bonds among team members. Delayed gratification is a virtue. Tugs is a grinding journey, a gauntlet – training your body for an entire semester to participate in a one-week tournament. The internal competition to make the team, wear the jersey, and represent your fraternity in front of 1,000 spectators. The self-imposed pressure to win – to live up to that championship legacy and bring home the fifth consecutive win... It’s become an expectation. It’s difficult to say what’s greater – the desire to win or the fear of losing. Either way, it’s great for the culture of the chapter. It brings the brothers together in a common cause like nothing else.
Alumni often look back on their time in the Tugs program with pride and fondness, cherishing the lessons learned and the friendships made. The tradition of Tugs at NIU, specifically within Sigma Nu, creates a legacy of resilience, teamwork, and excellence that inspires new generations of Tuggers.
Former Sigma Nu Tugs Captain and Theta Eta Chapter Commander Raaif Majeed aptly puts it, “Tugs, as a tradition, has always held a strong reputation for bringing individuals together. Just as athletes in other team sports develop a high level of fellowship amongst each other, Tugs has a similar effect, only heightened. When competing for the letters on your chest, you are competing for an organization that is more than a brotherhood. It is a family of individuals you live with, eat every meal with, and spend the most transformative years of your life with. The bond created amongst that group of men transcends any level of camaraderie that most ever get to experience with a group of people.”
A Championship Culture
Sigma Nu is the current undisputed sport champion. The chapter’s four consecutive championships place them in a rarefied league, comparable only to the legendary Eta Nu chapter of Pi Kappa Alpha (now closed) and their unparalleled reign of success with 27 championships in 33 years. Sigma Nu alumni like Paul Keeler have schooled the current undergraduates on the history of Tugs. With it comes respect for Pike and their dominance of the sport through the 1980’s and 1990’s. Keeler recounts, “Pike owned the sport. They set the standard. Everyone else was just trying to catch up. What Sigma Nu has accomplished in recent years feels a lot like that. Total domination – stringing multiple championships together, taking the sport to a level of excellence the other fraternities can’t seem to achieve.”
Sigma Nu has embraced the Tugs tradition wholeheartedly, fostering a culture of excellence and resilience. Their recent string of victories in the IFC Tugs tournament is a testament to their dedication and strategic approach to the sport. Sigma Nu’s success in Tugs is not just about physical strength; it’s about the meticulous preparation, commitment, and unbreakable bond between teammates. Each season, the team undergoes rigorous training, focusing on both physical conditioning and technique. They study video of past matches and practices, analyze their opponents, and continuously refine their strategies. This meticulous preparation has paid off, earning Sigma Nu its revered status in the Tugs community at NIU.
“Institutionalizing Excellence,” Pursuit of Excellence, and the Rock Chapter Award
The parallel between Sigma Nu’s journey to earning its first Tugs Championship in 2019 and the quest to earn its first Rock Chapter Award cannot be overlooked. “You don’t become a Tugs champion in one season,” says John Irwin, coach and captain of the first championship team and current member of the Alumni Advisory Board. “It took years to learn the sport, establish the foundation for our Tugs program, then build upon that foundation year after year, passing down knowledge learned from success and failure to our new members in pursuit of perfection.” As a student pursuing a degree in Health and Human Sciences, Irwin took an academic approach to align the unique physics of Tugs with the human body’s performance to achieve a sophisticated and physically dominant tugging style that earned the chapter its first of many Tugs championships.
Just as Sigma Nu’s Pursuit of Excellence Program (PEP) rubric has ten categories, Tugs has its own rubric, which requires excellence in several categories that are essential to earning a championship: power, speed, physical endurance, technique, strategy, mental toughness, teamwork, and more. Irwin elaborates, “You can be excellent in most categories, but a lack of speed, for example, can derail the stronger team. An inferior opponent can outlast a team that lacks endurance. A superior team can be outfoxed by a better calling strategy. Everything must be perfect – totally comprehensive.”
Similarly, Theta Eta recently scored “Excellent” in seven PEP categories and “Very Good” in two categories, but their “Poor” score in just one category knocked them out of Rock Award consideration. “That was a painful but valuable lesson we learned,” remarked former Commander and senior Tugs captain Zack Altoff. “I’ve celebrated three Tugs championships, which is great, but hoisting our chapter’s first Rock Award will also be very special.”.
Tugs has taught the chapter the valuable principle of “institutionalizing excellence,” which transcends the sport. Former Commander and 2023 Alpha Affiliate Award recipient Raaif Majeed popularized this concept within the chapter. “The concept of ‘institutionalizing excellence’ was born out of Tugs and the necessity to recognize when we are performing things at a very high level, then ‘institutionalizing’ that element into the Tugs program – or any other endeavor within chapter’s operation so that it can be passed down to each new member class. New members require instruction on how to perform with excellence. We want to build upon our success, stacking wins on top of wins. We cannot allow our success to erode as top members graduate.”
It’s a natural extension to bring the concept of institutionalizing excellence into all aspects of chapter operations and PEP submission. Theta Eta has not yet earned the Rock Chapter Award, but the principle of institutionalizing excellence has both undergraduate and alumni leaders laser-focused on that goal with an eye toward the 2025 Grand Chapter in San Antonio, TX.
Looking Forward – Tugs and Greek Revitalization
The future of Tugs at NIU looks bright as Sigma Nu continues to build on its legacy while maintaining the gold standard of the sport. The IFC uses the annual Tugs tournament to raise thousands of dollars each year for local charities, including Safe Harbor Women’s Shelter and Tails Humane Society of DeKalb. The NIU Alumni Association promotes IFC Tugs as a “Spring Homecoming for Greek alumni,” featuring food trucks and a live DJ. IFC Tugs is also an essential event in the university’s formalized effort to “Revitalize Greek Life” at NIU, which includes the proposed building of a $15 million “Center for Greek Life.” IFC Tugs is a key element for alumni engagement, inviting NIU Greek alumni back to campus to reunite with their brothers and sisters and support Greek Life revitalization efforts. “It feels amazing to be the leading fraternity at the center of this historic campus tradition and university effort to revitalize Greek Life,” says Altoff, NIU’s IFC President
With each new group of recruits, the chapter passes down its hard-earned knowledge and unyielding spirit. While competition and rivalries evolve over time, the core values of perseverance, strategy, and brotherhood remain constant. The Tugs tradition at NIU, especially within Sigma Nu, stands as a unique and cherished part of the university’s history and future.
