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The U of Mā€™s Very Strange Lettuce Club Has Gone Very Viral

Racket scored an exclusive interview with the president of the University of Minnesota Lettuce Club.

TikTok

Update (4/26/24): After a years-long hiatus, U of M Lettuce Club is BACK:

Hampton Weber might be president of the University of Minnesota Lettuce Club, but his reign isnā€™t encumbered by a technocratic obsession over details.Ā 

ā€œI actually donā€™t know anything about the history,ā€ the freshman business major tells us, hastily assembling documents he inherited. ā€œI believe itā€™s only a few years oldā€¦ it says the first official winner was in fall 2019ā€¦ I guess they didnā€™t take time back then.ā€Ā 

It took Weber 2 minutes and 35 seconds to consume an entire head of iceberg lettuce, which is the entire premise of U of M Lettuce Club. (He smoked last semesterā€™s best time of 4:41.) By winning the fastest time, he automatically became president.Ā 

Weber learned of Lettuce Club just an hour before his Nov. 14 victory; a buddy convinced him to compete at the last second.Ā 

ā€œI said, ā€˜Screw it, letā€™s go,ā€™ā€ Weber recalls.Ā 

Lettuce Club only convenes for twice-yearly scarf-a-thons, and this most recent gathering of around 70 students happened to be recorded by Adam "Rone" Ferrone of Barstool Sports. The podcaster/blogger posted the leafy carnage to TikTok, resulting in almost 2 million views.

@_rone

lettuce club at the university of minnesota

ā™¬ original sound - Rone

That notoriety led to Weberā€™s first big win as president: The Ocean Mist Farms wrapper from his head of lettuce caught the attention of the California-based grower, whoā€™ll now be providing produce for the spring competition.Ā 

ā€œItā€™s kinda funny, they DMā€™d me,ā€ Weber says, noting that he purchased the lettuce from Cub. ā€œI had no idea what brand I ate.ā€

Nine written U of M Lettuce Club rules exist, Weber notes, including: iceberg only, heads must weigh a pound, dressing allowed, competitors must eat the entire head plus scraps, and only U of M students with a remaining semester of eligibility may compete. The winner must signal victory by hoisting a cleaned-off stem and demonstrating an empty mouth.Ā 

When asked earlier this morning, Weber said he has no idea if lettuce clubs existed on other campusesā€”ā€œI have not done any research.ā€ A cursory Google search reveals that lettuce clubs sprang up as a teen Tumblr trend around 2016, catching the attention of Buzzfeed (makes sense) and NPR (huh). Weber was kind enough to dust off and recite the U of M chapterā€™s creed, which begins: ā€œLettuce compete today with honor, glory, and, most importantly, a mild appetite for leafy vegetables.ā€ The puns, he notes, accelerate from there.Ā 

Expect steady, hands-off leadership from the U of M Lettuce Club for the next few months.Ā 

ā€œObviously, I have to kinda run it now, but itā€™s fun to know that I donā€™t have to really do anything," Weber tells Racket. "Itā€™s fun to be the head of something thatā€™s weird and kinda funā€¦ I donā€™t know. I think Iā€™ll definitely try to grow it as much as I can. Itā€™s not something I thought Iā€™d get into, but itā€™s a very, very minimal time commitment."

Most importantly, he adds: "It makes people laugh.ā€

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