Part of the DNA of Greek organizations is the social aspect.  We can find socials and mixers taking  place any given night on college campuses.  Commonly, organizations have an e-board member thats in charge or coordinating all these type of activities.   Some of these turn into elaborate events, other times, it’s just getting the members of two organizations at someone’s apartment or clubhouse.  It really is dependent on the comfort level between the organizations, and how much time is available to plan out the details of the event.

Creativity is the only limit to what the theme for the social/mixer could be.  To paint a better picture I’ll give you a few examples of some popular and often used ideas.

Nuts and Bolts

Once you have the number of people participating, you buy variations of nots and bolts.   The gentlemen get either the nuts or bolts, and the ladies get the other.  Then through out the evening, your mission is to find the person with your respective missing part.

Red Light Special

In a red light Special all the attendees wear red,  yellow, or green tops.  All depending on their relationship status.  Red means you are not single, yellow means you’re somewhere in between, and green signifies you’re “Single and ready to mingle.”  The idea isn’t necessarily for everyone to pair up and wind up on dates, but it is a fun twist on a theme.  Hilarity often ensues when you see what attire your brothers or sisters choose to wear.

Continuing our traditions series, we’ll talk about Date Functions. While not found exclusively, it’s prevalent in IFC and PC organizations. Date functions are pretty self explanatory. It’s a special event planned by the organization’s chapter where the members get to bring a date. There’s normally a theme, gifts, and generally a good time. Some of examples of the most common place are:

Woodsers
Woodsers are normally a spring time event. Different organization have several variations on it, however, the premise is basically going on a camping trip. Some organizations head back home in the late evening/early morning, others actually set up tents, start a fire, and have the full camping experience.

Formals
Formals are normally take place in the fall. As it’s name eludes, it is a formal event. It’s basically a college greeks prom. Each hosted by the respective fraternity or sorority. The traditional formal even fan-fare is included: formal attire, a nice meal, and some time on the dance floor. Another nice tradition tied to Formals are the announcement of invitees. Most of the IFC organizations dress up in formal attire and make the rounds to the different sorority houses, offering a flower, or some other symbolic gesture to the young lady invited to formal. All adding to the magic of a very special date function.

We talked about stepping, strolling and saluting earlier in the blog.   These are deeply rooted traditions for many sororities and fraternities, and often are showcased at talent shows on various campuses as well as coming out shows.   For some organizations, the members of their intake class are a closely guarded secret.  Once they have completed their intake process, the new brothers or sisters (neophytes,) with the assistance of older members (prophytes) come up with a performance to reveal the new brothers/sisters.  This is what’s known as a coming out show.  Coming shows are great entertainment!  They’re a wonderful way to welcome neos into greek life, and an opportunity to celebrate their accomplishments, all while on a  great stage in which to perform their respective traditions of stepping, strolling, or saluting.

Here’s a video of the brothers of Sigma Lambda Beta at Dickinson College