ANN ARBOR, MI — Despite harsh rain and winds hitting Ann Arbor this week, members of the University of Michigan fraternity Theta Xi continued to guard the brass block M on the campus Diag.

“We’re making do, we bring blankets out here, we bring sometimes space heaters, we make do, we figure it out,” Theta Xi fraternity philanthropy co-chair Mohan Badhwar said.

An hour’s drive away, the Michigan State University Spartan Marching Band takes a more kumbaya approach to its protection of the 9-foot-7 Sparty statue.

“We’re all here as Spartans, so being at that statue is a very symbolic moment,” Caroline Beckrow, a fourth-year MSU student and band member, said.

UM and MSU have decades-long traditions of protecting their respective campus gems ahead of the big Michigan vs. Michigan State foo

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