The frisbee teams have been the talk of campus this semester: After securing a spot in nationals, which will take place in California on Dec. 17, both Blu-Ray and SERF raised over $23,000 to send their players across the country. Student Council granted the teams over $10,000 to aid in the process. The origin of the names of both ultimate frisbee teams have interesting backstories.

Both of Kenyon’s ultimate frisbee teams, Blu-Ray and SERF, diverge from Kenyon’s classic team names, the Lords and Ladies, and instead feature their own creative monikers. This practice is not uncommon among other ultimate frisbee teams. Kenyon’s rival Oberlin College has a men’s team that goes by the Flying Horsecows, and their women’s team goes by the Preying Manti. Such creative titles must come with proper origin stories, and Kenyon’s team names are no exception.

Blu-Ray has gone through multiple name changes since its founding in 2009, when SERF, which was a co-ed team for 30 years, split into two teams. Originally, Blu-Ray was known as the Frisbeets, which transformed into Ransom, named after John Crow Ransom. Only this year, the team changed the team name to Blu-Ray. Team captain Janie Keenan ’22, who played a significant role in changing the name, said the change was due to the discovery of racist statements in John Crowe Ransom’s manifesto I’ll Take My Stand. “We collectively decided that’s not who we wanted representing our team and chose to change our name,” Keenan explained. The name Blu-Ray, which is in reference to the popular disc player, was introduced by Brynn Devine ’22 and the team chose it after a vote. 

SERF’s name has been the same since its founding in 1977 by Perry Degener ’79. The name’s origin is a simpler story as it is just a play on the Lords and Ladies moniker, with serfs being the laborers who worked at a lord and lady’s estate. 

Kenyon’s ultimate frisbee teams will both be sporting their jerseys equipped with these creative names as they travel to California on Dec. 17 to compete in the Division III College National Tournament.