On Friday August 29th, a group of house moms from various sororities in Purdue’s Greek system banded together to complete a famous, time-honored Purdue tradition- a condensed fountain run. By doing so, the moms hoped to induce excitement amongst the girls in their houses for upcoming recruitment events beginning on Sunday and also to garner attention from freshman onlookers who may be potential new members. The idea for the House Mom Fountain Run event originated with Becky Fehsenfeld, house mom of Kappa Kappa Gamma, and Janice Brennan, house mom of Chi Omega. Later, at a house mom gathering, the pair successfully recruited other moms to jump on board with them in participating in the fountain run.
Nine house moms in total participated, including Gerry Sollors of Delta Gamma, Donna Tiger of Phi Mu, Jan Smith of Alpha Chi Omega, Carrie Sandorf of Sigma Kappa, Marjorie Strasser of Gamma Phi Beta, and Anita Sutton of Tri Delt.
Meeting at Kappa before they began their trek, the energy and excitement amongst the ladies was palpable. Their interactions flagrantly demonstrated their persisting friendship, an encouraging symbol of Greek system unity. They departed from the sorority at 4:30 pm on the dot with groups of girls from their various houses in tow, happy to join as onlookers supporting their house moms. Upon reaching the Engineering fountain, the girls formed a human tunnel and then the moms gleefully ran through while receiving abundant cheers from spectators.
A traditional fountain run consists of a run to every one of the fountains on Purdue’s campus, and the mom’s recognized that they only wanted to complete a condensed version of the ritual. They joked that perhaps next year they could complete the abridged fountain run at one of the other fountains, just to change it up a bit. In doing so, the intent to create an annual tradition was clear. Hopefully next year the House Mom Fountain Run will continue to grow and will again successfully incite enthusiasm for the rush season!