#GreekMeans

When the only other big schools in your state are two Big Ten schools, you’re Greek life gets compared to theirs ALL THE TIME. Whose is better? I can’t really say merely because I’ve only attended Ball State. But… our Greek life is the best. Sure not all of our fraternities have houses and we only have 10 sororities, but I know we party just as hard. Probably harder.

This is how you know you’re in Greek Life at Ball State.

1. Frat Row. Notice I didn’t say Greek Row… Head east down Riverside and you’ll pass fraternity house after fraternity house. But no sororities. Because of some old Muncie laws, we aren’t allowed to have sorority houses. And most girls love it. We’re allowed to live where we want and with whom we want. And throw some awesome house parties.  
  
2. Bust. Every first weekend in October Delta Tau Delta and Alpha Chi Omega host Watermelon Bust. Each chapter pairs with another chapter and have a week long of events leading up to the Saturday of Bust (for 42 years now.) On the day of Bust, everyone gets up early and “prepares” for the event, which consists of muddy slip n slides, wrestling in a pool of smashed watermelons and Redbull DJ’ing the event.      

3. Air Jam. Each Thursday of Homecoming Week everyone gathers at Emens to watch sororities and fraternities dance and cheer on their chapters. The teams practice for months to perfect their routines so they can be crowned Air Jam Winner. Cheer on your Homecoming pair and your own chapter the loudest, and you’ll win Crowd Favorite.     

4. Sigma Chi registered events. Oh Sigma Chi is having their first registered event for the school year? And they’re passing out shirts? And it’s a highlighter party? You know where every single sorority girl will be that night. And what shirt they will be sporting Monday morning in class.      
5. Paddles. Whoever started the tradition of paddles at Ball State, I hate you but love you even more. You turned 21? Here’s a paddle for you! You went to all of your classes for a week straight. Here’s a paddle for that. You get a paddle! You get a paddle! EVERYBODY GETS A PADDLE! But none for you Gretchen Weiners.     

6. “Stealing”. Oh, you know that flag that’s hanging up in your fraternity room or that favorite t-shirt with your letters you have… I give it one weekend until it’s gone. For whatever reason we like to steal each other’s things. It’s a never-ending cycle. I’ve had anything from posters, to flags, to drink coasters, to the TFM book stolen from our house. And that’s not even counting all of the paddles that we’ll never get back. RIP.  

7. Cousin Vinny’s & their cups. I think people get Vinny’s just to have the cups. You happen to snag one of the St. Patty’s day ones with the “Keep calm and keep drinking” or the glow-in-the-dark Halloween ones… guard it with your life. **The cups make for a terrible flippy cup/beer pong game. Invest in real cups. You’ll keep your guests from becoming very angry.  

8. Obnoxious block stitched bags. Go on campus the first week after Bid Day and all you see are the new sorority members sporting their new bags up and down McKinley. If you are questioning whether or not someone is in a sorority, they probably aren’t in one because everyone is wearing their new bags.  

9. Anoraks & Hunters. If it’s raining at school, expect everyone to be wearing their anoraks. And you better believe their letters are stitched on the upper left hand side. Hunters… A girl’s best friend. Sorry boys, I don’t think you’ll ever like a fashion statement that we catch on to. (Uggs, high-waisted shorts… you get it.) At least we can walk down all of the Muncie flooded streets without getting our shoes (Sperry’s) wet.  

10. Not making the Blue Loop. This goes out to all the fraternity men living on Riverside. The Blue Loop is my best friend from November until March, but that’s only because I live on Carson. I truly feel horrible for all of those living on Riverside when the bus drives right past the stop. I don’t blame you when you don’t go to class when it’s -10 degrees with 10 inches of snow. I know your Sperry’s and Chubbies can’t handle that weather.  

11. You know who Nate Gossett is. That is all.