In an effort to ensure that members of the UT community are given priority for Roundup, the Interfraternity Council will be capping the percentage of Roundup wristbands, which are required for all Roundup events, given out to non-UT students at 20 percent.
"Texas IFC serves the UT Community first and foremost," IFC President Edwin Qian said. "We want to make sure our people are taken care of first."
Roundup is an annual event held each spring in which Greek organizations at UT host large parties and philanthropic events. Admission is restricted to those with college IDs. The move was voted on by the presidents and delegates of the IFC member fraternities and comes after complaints last year about the number of non-UT guests that were attending Roundup events, according to Qian. “The lines are getting longer every year even with bigger efforts from IFC,” Qian said in an email. "Fraternity and Sorority Presidents complained saying that UT Round Up is becoming a bigger thing for people who don’t actually go to UT.”
Qian said that last year more than 30 percent of Roundup wristbands were given to non-UT students. He said that in the future, there will be two wristbands: one for people that go to UT and one for people that don’t. He said that 20,000 wristbands have been given out each year for the last three years and that will continue in 2015. Next year's Roundup will take place on Friday, March 27 and Saturday, March 28.
Next year marks the 85th anniversary of Roundup, something Qian called “quite a milestone” and said could be incorporated into Roundup efforts. “I can see IFC and UPC doing a joint social media campaign around it,” Qian said. “Some fraternities and sororities are already planning on incorporating the number 85 into their theme for the weekend. At the same time, IFC will continue with our successes of safety initiatives to ensure a safe weekend for all.”
Qian said a UT ID will be required for a UT wristband and an ID from another college will be required for a non-UT wristband. He said for next year, he’s most excited to see the design and philanthropic outputs of the annual affair.
“Every year sororities put a lot of effort into their Round Up gear designs,” Qian said. "I am looking forward to seeing who has the coolest swags. I am also looking forward to seeing how much money fraternity and sororities raise during Round Up as the weekend is a big philanthropy weekend for many organizations.”