what is buggy?
We can explain, but watch this first.
We’re the team in orange.
what just happened?
Carnegie Mellon has buggy teams, where students (mechanics) build a non-motorized rolling torpedo out of carbon fiber (the buggy) then put a VERY small person inside (the driver) in and push them around a course like a baton in a relay race. There are people with flags (flaggers) at two places on the course where the buggy is rolling downhill - they stick a flag in the driver’s face saying “turn now!” because it’s otherwise hard to see.
There’s a person in there?
Yes.
How did this become a thing?
In May 14, 1920, Carnegie Tech was preparing for its first university-wide celebration called Campus Week. By 9:30 that morning, a handful of students were racing downhill in what could only be described as “a conglomeration of rain barrels with bicycle wheels, four wheeled orange crates, and three wheeled trash cans.” This activity would soon become a formalized sport and a staple of Carnegie Mellon: a race called “Sweepstakes” more commonly known as “buggy."
Since then, a lot has changed. The Campus Week celebration is now called “Carnival,” an extended weekend where undergraduate classes are cancelled to make way for festivities -- including the multi-day Sweepstakes tournament.
What about your team?
Frats weren’t accepting of black students for a long time, so our founders built a team that was for and by black folks (and a handful of pivotal white folks). There’s more history about the team below.