Students with wooden clothespins attached to their clothing have been seen chasing after each other on the quad since the start of the Eliminate game on Monday, May 1. In this game, each participating 9th grader wears a clothespin with their name on it on their clothing and receives a target through a website coded by Michael Barr ’25 and Shimon Schlessinger ’26. They must remove the clothespin from their target in order to “eliminate” them from the game. Once a player removes their target’s pin, they receive a new target, and the last person standing wins a $50 amazon gift card.
As with most games at Harvard-Westlake, eliminate has quickly become hyper competitive. There have been 4 email reminders about the rules against running, cornering others, and physical defense. Despite all of this, the game has continued, but administration has been threatening to end the game.
“I think eliminate is a lot of fun, but some people took it too far, resulting in it being not as fun as it could be,” Mia Ushiba ’26, a participant in the game, said. “At the end of the day, it’s just a game to have fun.”
Eliminate was planned by the 9th grade student senators as a way to add some fun to the typically stressful end of year environment at school.
“I wanted to bring eliminate to the ninth grade because I value fun on campus.” Caroline Cosgrove ’26, a student senator, said. “I love watching students enjoy initiatives created by the student council.”
With the game drawing to close, there has been talk of a second round of eliminate.
“I would be excited for eliminate round two because it got me closer to my friends,” Ellika Lesage ’26 said. “I want redemption and a second chance to win.”
