If it meant the difference between winning and losing, immunity or no immunity, staying in the challenge or going home: how many coins could you balance on a Popsicle stick held in your mouth?
In the “Survivor” club at Indiana University, this is a real situation.
Founded in 2023, it has around 27 production members and 16 to 20 players depending on the season.
Each season, spanning the length of a semester, IU students chosen as “castaways” participate in immunity challenges across campus, which are competitions to earn safety from elimination. One example is “Coin Popsicle,” the aforementioned head-to-head challenge in which participants hold sticks in their mouths and must stack coins on the stick in order from largest to smallest while referees shout out values.
They also participate in tribal council, a weekend ceremony where the group votes to send one castaway out of the game until one is crowned as Survivor.
Each episode varies in length, and the length of seasons depend on the semester and the nature of the participants.
However, one thing remains constant: the production crew films everything, from the major events to private, one-on-one confessional interviews to see as much of the participants' game as possible.
Production members involved in the club edit and upload the episodes to YouTube and Instagram. Some members of the production club use real cameras to get high-quality videos to upload for the episodes. Club leaders encourage members of the production team to get involved with the social media, interview castaways and create questions for confessionals, as well as manage overall logistics and rules of game play.
Most of the production team are past players that joined to help continue the club. They create challenges and twists for the game while also facilitating the competition itself by gathering materials and working together on ideas.
Senior Maggie Shoup, Survivor at IU co-president, and Season 2 castaway, said she loves the social aspect of the club.
“It’s just really fun meeting people," Shoup said. “I was a freshman (when I got involved) so I didn’t know a lot of people and once you play a season with somebody, I feel like you automatically get pretty close with those people.”
Shoup said she hopes Survivor at IU will continue to grow as more people see the camaraderie between its members and the hard work of those participating in the show and working behind the scenes.
Several club members shared similar stories of hanging out together, as well as playing board games or other activities. John Malloy, a sophomore and castaway in Season 6, agreed it was a positive experience.
“It was my No. 1 highlight last semester,” Malloy said. “It really got me through the semester.”
Cooper Amirhamzeh, another sophomore and castaway from Season 6, said that the club was something he looked forward to every week, sometimes even taking priority over schoolwork.
“I'm just looking forward to Friday, Sunday and how many different things the club can do because it's like ‘Survivor,’” Amirhamzeh said.
IU senior and castaway Brooke Goeglein said she believes that students should join for the club’s “lifelong memories.”
Goeglein said while it’s easy to forget about other campus clubs, the Survivor club is “one of those things where you just have to be there.”
Updates are posted on the show’s Instagram account. Season 6 is currently releasing on YouTube, and Season 7 will film from Sept. 27 until roughly April 19. Students interested in becoming a participant in the show or assisting with the crew behind the scenes can contact the club through its Instagram page.
