For students, Friday nights at Westmont are typically reserved for hanging with friends, going out to the beach and even hosting worship nights, all while completely forgetting that homework is even a concept. For people, specifically those named Ben, having fun on a Friday night looks much different.
A group of Westmont students, all sharing the same name “Ben,” whether short for another name or simply just the three letters, got together and had dinner one Friday night in September. After having their fun, which they are not completely open to sharing details about, they then made it a routine to meet for dinner on Friday nights and called themselves the “Benquet.” Ben Work, a fourth-year student at Westmont explains, “the Benquent is simply an autonomous collective of Ben’s united by a common identity.”
The group was formed after Benton Hruska, a second-year student at Westmont, decided to add all the people sharing the name Ben to a group chat, with the amount of people remaining anonymous by request of the members of the Benquet. Hruska, after seeking out all of his fellow brothers, suggested all meeting up and forming a sort of “secret society.”
The Benquet, sharing this common identity trait of all having the same name, made it clear that they are not open to accepting “outsiders,” but they are not completely strangers to them, considering these “outsiders” do not share this elite name. They fear that if outsiders get in, their Friday night festivities will no longer be “Benfidental” as they put it.
Work admits, “I’m afraid the Benquet sees it Beneficial to maintain a unit, finding the widening of our entry permission to be against our interests as a group. We are, however, quite open to acknowledging individuals not known as Ben.”
Although they are keeping their operations completely confidential, the group seeks to add to the Westmont community in a unique way, which also remains Benfidental by request of the members of the Benquet. Work says, “I’m afraid my Benefactors have elected to keep our conduct and operations internal to our group, however, we seek to be an active element in the Westmont Community.”
Although it is a rather silly concept, the Bens have come together weekly to discuss, plot and maybe even find cures to deadly diseases. What they do in these meetings is completely unknown, yet they still keep the brotherhood completely Benfidental and stay true to each other while doing so.
