Anyone walking past Miller Fountain on Friday afternoon, Jan. 31, likely saw ongoing Greek festivities. However, Bid Day was only one event in a week-long Greek celebration. Greek organizations participated in many Greek Week festivities that culminated in the so-called Greek Christmas.
While recruitment kick-off began on Sept. 15, things began to get serious in January as second-round and third-round recruitment parties began to take place. By the third round, potential new members should have had their lists down to one or two organizations.
“A week and a half before bid day, RSVP happens where rushees put their name down on a list of students interested in certain Greek organizations. From there, organizations made cuts before their third-round rush parties,” said John Pederson, Greek Council member.
After third-round rush parties, while all of the potential new members nervously awaited the events to come, active members participated in the Greek Olympics on Jan. 26.
“Greek Olympics is my favorite part of Greek Week because all of the organizations come together to compete in a friendly manner,” said Xavier Vargas-Hall, junior Greek Council member.
On Jan. 28, after three rounds of rush parties and rush events, interested students went to Pref Day, where they ranked their top three choices for Greek organizations in hopes of receiving a bid from their top choice.
After three whole days of waiting, on Jan. 31, students who received and accepted their bids attended Bid Day at Miller fountain. In total, there were 128 bids offered to the women and 125 accepted. For the men, there were 91 bids offered and 79 accepted.
“Bid Day was a very exciting time. Accepting my bid from the Phi Sigs was a great feeling and a moment I had been waiting for for a long time,” said junior Connor Kloepfer.
After Bid Day, most organizations went straight into orientation.
“Orientation is about acquainting the new members with the old and informing the new actives about the values and mission of the organization. There is a lot of emphasis on teambuilding and academics. All organizations are required to hold study hours during orientation, and while each organization does their orientation somewhat differently it is essentially a time to get acquainted with your fellow members,” Pederson said.
While orientation varies by group, all organizations officially end the day before spring break, although some end earlier.
Afterward, the day-to-day activities of Greek organizations become more normal. These include regular philanthropy work and social aspects such as formal parties through CCI and informal lunches or dinners with group members.
Other events during Greek Week included a community service fair, research symposium, trivia bowl and photo scavenger hunt.
The winning sorority was Sigma Theta Tau with 254 total points, and the winning fraternity was Iota Chi Rho with 128 points.
