Joe's Blog : Greek Life

Phi Psi 500!

JoeW — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 23:08:00 GMT

The Phi Psi 500 graced campus this past weekend. It is one of the last social events of the year and as one of the largest put on by a Greek house.

Phi Psi 500 is a celebration of all the service that Phi Kappa Psi does through out the year. Last semester we completed 813 hours of community service and are on track to pummel that amount this semester. We also complete 500 hours of service the week of 500, which is where the name originates.

It was a large and eventful day. The main festivities began at 3:00 with our beach volleyball tournament; which continued well into a free dinner for all at 5:00 and go-kart time trials at 6:00. (500 has a racing theme.) Then at 7:00 our lipsync competition started. I was in charge of organizing the days events. Because of Butler’s passionate and rhythmic student body these lipsyncs were FANTASTIC- not a bad one in the bunch. However, because this event also showcases our days stiffest competition it was very stressful for me.

After the Lipsyncs were finished on the rise hip-hop artist Krypton Flo took our stage by storm. Keep in mind, this entire event was outside, free, and open to all of Butler- so there were tons of people there. K-Flo was out of this world and you should check him out.

http://kryptonflo.com/HOME.html

The last thing on our agenda was our closed party at 11:00. This was really the only VIP event, but with over 400 people on the list it couldn’t have been too exclusive. 500 was an amazing end to our year, and I’m sure all of the participants agree. 500 let me spend the entire weekend outside in fabulous weather. It was the perfect prelude to my exam week.

Tips for Formal Recruitment

JoeW — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 04:08:00 GMT

I am writing this because I wish someone had given me a little advice before I went through recruitment.

Take things with a grain of salt- Keep in mind that everyone loves their own house and you should not get caught up in how much they like their house, it is how much you like it. Also, please, please, please be wary of some of the theatrics of Rush week. Keep asking yourself if people are being real with you. If you think people or a certain house are not representing themselves truthfully- do your best to sift through the façade. Don’t allow them to shuffle you around.

Ask good questions- When I was rushing I had new (and difficult) questions prepared each day. You need to do this before you leave, if you don’t think of them beforehand they won’t come to you. As someone on the other side of Rush, I can verify that we love questions. It shows you are really thinking about your decision, and you care. You should also not be afraid to ask difficult or touchy questions. Remember, this is a huge decision and if you don’t ask questions like “Do people in your house do drugs, Do you haze, is there binge drinking” they won’t volunteer the answers. There is no reason to ask difficult questions just to try and stump people. Ask questions that you think will yield good answers or reveal things about the house and please, listen to the answers. (something I forgot to do)

Be Yourself- If you act/dress/talk differently than normal and a house gives you a bid-they gave a bid to the person you were pretending to be. Once rush is over and you stop the act- both you and the house will be disappointed. During rush Greeks are looking for the people who are being fake, if you aren’t genuine you will not get a bid. If a house isn’t crazy about you- that’s fine, you would not be happy there anyway. Remember, you can only get into one house after all.

Think it over- It is tempting to go with the house most of your friends like, the house your family members are in, the house with the prettiest colors, etc. but all of these reasons are not enough. Make sure the houses you are visiting are for you. And again, make sure the house you join is one you will be happy in for a long time, not just rush week. While I do not often hear “I like my house, but I should have gone (insert house)”, it is said more than it should be. We schedule recruitment before classes so that you have all the time you need to make a good, focused decision- use your time.

Keep in mind what you want- Each house has lots of positives, but they are not all for you. If a house offers lots of help with your studies but you don’t need help, don’t view that quality as a plus. If a house helps you get involved but you are already involved, you don’t need their help. Lots of rushees find themselves excited about things they don’t even need.

All of that being said my last tip is to have fun. Rush week is fun. It is. But only if you make it. Going into recruitment may seem daunting, but thousands of less friendly, dumber, more boring, angrier, and lamer people have gone before you. Everything will be ok! I promise.

Good Luck!

I Never Thought I'd Go Greek

JoeW — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 02:52:00 GMT

Many people cannot wrap their heads around why anyone would want to join a fraternity. I can’t say I could either. I grew-up beside ‘big’ Greek Life- the large university scary Greek Life that ends up on the news. Because of this when I came to Butler, I was not only never going to join a Greek House- I wasn’t even going to go inside of one. But I did, however, fill out the recruitment application on the last day it was due; so if, sometime over Winter Break, I decided I did want to rush, I would be able to come back. I came back.

The reason I showed-up to recruitment was so I could go through it and make absolutely sure Greek Life wasn’t for me. The first day of recruitment I was excited but skeptical. We took a tour of each house on campus and after that were left to our own devices. Each day following, students were allowed to visit Greek Houses during two 2 ½ hour appointments. Butler’s recruitment is dry and students aren’t allowed to go to houses outside of these specified windows. It is very structured, very well run and (to my surprise at least) very relaxed and fun.

I was a skeptic. I wasn’t at all sure about this Greek Life thing. So each day I asked good and important questions. Each night I called people who’s opinions I respected and where generally not for Greek Life. I was being won over, so I wanted to make sure that it was completely legitimate. I thought about it all for a long time. But when it came down to the end of the week- I wanted to be a Phi Psi.

Everything that happened after, mounds together in what happens to be the best decision of my college career. I love Phi Psi and it loves me back. I never thought I would ever be Greek, but that is true to many men in my house. Butler’s Greek Life is different. Many people can agree on that. Butler has just 4,000 undergrad students. Because just a little over a third go Greek it leaves a very manageable community for Butler to watch closely- we couldn’t get away with things that large schools could. Additionally, We do 2^nd semester recruitment only. This means all freshmen have an entire semester to get settled into college before they have to make the ‘big Greek decision’. Also, because Greek students spent an entire semester growing close to students that may not have gone through recruitment- everyone has Greek and Non-Greek friends; we don’t have a huge rift in our campus.

I would recommend recruitment to anyone, even if they decide not to go Greek in the end, you meet more friends in those four days than you could anywhere else. Men interested in signing up for Formal Spring Recruitment (rush week) can do so at

http://www.butler.edu/greeklife/?pg=528

The form for has to be completed by Dec. 12. Interested women should have already signed-up.

my Greek Life

JoeW — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 01:59:00 GMT

I love living in Phi Kappa Psi. I was very excited to be living in the house with nearly all of my closest friends, but I was concerned if all those great people would be too distracting and too loud. I'm pretty involved, so there are lots of times when I need to be up early or up extremely late or entertaining other odd hours. But my strange schedule melds perfectly with many of my brothers’ awkward agendas. I can sleep when I need to, but there is always something going on if I want to be up late. Generally when I get free time (as rare as someone who doesn't like 'doba) I just ping-pong from room to room. Doing things Kramer style and just barging in on my friends to catch-up, or eat their Easy Mac, or play some Brawl. (Super Smash Brothers) It takes me a long time to get focused, mostly because being unfocused is so much more fun. Procrastinating is wrong but it feels so right! I get work done when I need to, but there is always something more fun to do!

For example; this weekend it seemed like Broad Ripple was the destination of choice. Being a sophomore means that not all of my friends have meal plans, which means I get to eat out a lot more than usual. Just this weekend I went to Qdoba twice, Broad Ripple Bagel, and Noodles. All of which are very fantastic. We ran into other Butler students at each restaurant, each time. ( a common occurrence) Broad Ripple is truly like Butler's little village. Going to Qdoba ( or 'doba runs) is probably the most common food sojourn.

So- a little bit of Greek House Living in review-

1) Lots of going out to eat in very packed cars. (Once one person says 'doba, everybody wants 'doba)
2) A huge cloest - I don't mean this square footage wise. Part of brotherhood is that you get to borrow clothes from anyone who wears your size. (At Phi Psi, that gets me access to roughly 30 different wardrobes) (This may not excite everyone, but it does cut down on laundry)
3) Tons of eating. I don't mean the 'going out for dinner' eating. I'm talking -Hey, it's 2:12 AM, let's share a pizza- eating.
4) A Huge DVD/music collection. (See 2 for more details)
5) Everybody has your back like you wouldn't believe. This is the main difference between Greek Life and Dorm life. While living in a residential hall does provide a lot of time to grow close to others, and you do make really amazing friends- When you live in a Greek house individuals have an obligation to you not just because you live close by (like in residential halls) but because you are brothers/sisters; a bond you keep for the rest of your life.

Greek Life is not for everyone, but I sure love it. I loved living in Ross Hall my freshman year too! I just needed to have that close bond that only Greek Life could give me. I needed a family not just a unit.