University of Minnesota students race to … eat lettuce?

For University of Minnesota sophomore Nathan Tomas, final exams didn’t matter on Sunday afternoon. All that mattered for him and 40 other college students was to be the first to chow down a 1-pound head of iceberg lettuce at the Knoll on the U’s campus.

Students hung from hammocks and soaked in the afternoon sun. Others sought an early-summer tan.

But at a table parallel to Pleasant Street, junior Maddy Hezel weighed lettuce heads to ensure they met the required weight to compete in the U’s Lettuce Club competition.

The premise of Lettuce Club is to consume an entire head of lettuce before the other contestants. The winner is crowned the ”head of lettuce” and bears the responsibility of leading the next meeting.

“No one can see how locked in I am right now,” junior Ben Popp said while preparing for the competition.

The club’s Head of Lettuce (president) Russell Brown stood next to Popp, his “person in chard” (vice president), and led the bunch in the lettuce creed. Competitors placed their right hand on their lettuce heads and raised their left, repeating the Lettuce Club creed.

“Lettuce compete today with honor, glory, and most importantly a mild appetite for leafy vegetables. … We must romaine calm if we do not win, and beleaf in the new Head Lettuce to guide us. …”

Brown delivered a countdown and the competitors furiously dug into their lettuce heads as “Gonna Fly Now” by Rocky Orchestra blared on repeat from a black JBL speaker.

Brown surveyed the hunched-over collection of students stuffing their mouths. Senior Hannah Krause, an onlooker, encouraged the competitors. “Do not be afraid to be a legend!” she yelled, quoting Gophers football coach P.J. Fleck.

It took four minutes and 35 seconds for Popp to raise his lettuce stem in victory as he presented a mouth clean of lettuce scraps. The Tuscan Garden ranch dressing that kissed his mustache was all that remained. Popp, though, was declared ineligible to be the next head of lettuce because he graduates in the fall.

Just over a minute later, Tomas claimed the title.

“It’s unreal,” Tomas said. “I couldn’t be prouder of myself.”

While Tomas was on one knee, Brown removed the Burger King crown from his head emblazoned with the words “head lettuce” and bestowed it upon Tomas as Patrick J. Brill’s “Royal Coronation Overture” — the club’s official coronation song — played.

Students bowed to their new head of lettuce. “God save the head lettuce,” they said.

As the group dispersed, Brown chatted with friends. He just organized the Lettuce Club’s first meeting in three years.

Jack Walsh, head of lettuce in fall 2021, was the last to lead the event. He said the club’s disorganization led to its hiatus. Members used university rooms and the group claimed to be the University of Minnesota Lettuce Club but wasn’t a registered student organization.

The club’s only requirement was for the head of lettuce to call the meeting and get people to show up. There were no other rules.

“It‘s a college student running it,” Walsh said. “There’s really no organization or passed-down knowledge.”

Barstool Sports provided the club with a bigger platform when Adam “Rone” Ferrone messaged Walsh on Instagram asking if his team could feature the club in a short film. Walsh said the documentary “blew up” the club and led U officials to scrutinize its operations.

“Barstool is Barstool,” Walsh said with a chuckle. “They’re loud voices.”

Hampton Weber won the competition in 2021 but never planned another meeting. Three years later, Brown, one of Weber’s competitors, sought to revive the club.

Brown said the U lost some of its culture since students returned to campus after the pandemic in fall 2020. He felt compelled to bring a club back that he said added to the U’s charm.

“If not me then who?” Brown said. “I want this to exist.”

The Lettuce Club isn’t exclusive to the U. Rachel Katcoff founded the University of Massachusetts Amherst club in 2023 during her senior year. David Matevosian is the two-time winner.

Former club presidents from the U believe Minnesota was the first college to have a Lettuce Club. Spring 2020 Head of Lettuce Mason Padilla noticed the club’s Instagram page changed from @umnlettuceclub to @originallettuceclub.

“Try to maintain some of that credit after those other ones popped up,” Padilla said.

The 10 hours of work Brown spent gathering his friends to serve on the club board, drafting the constitution and registering as a student organization left students with a belly full of lettuce and a sense of accomplishment.

“I know that it’s just a dumb little club but I think that dumb little clubs need to exist,” Brown said.