If you live in Texas, you have definitely noticed the beautiful weather that appears immediately after Spring Break. It graces us until about mid-November which means that until then, we are seriously unproductive. The sun’s shining rays tend to cause students to leave the library and choose to kill brain cells instead. 

In the fall, Saturdays are for tailgating and football games. There is a short period of time where Saturdays turn into study days (short period of time meaning the Saturday before finals). After we get over that, Saturdays are dedicated to the darty. 

Darty, for those of you who don’t know, is the term short for DAy paRTY (see?). It is a springtime favorite for all. There are a few essentials that make a darty the talk of the town. I like to think that I’ve been to enough darties in my day to understand the difference between a decent darty and a darty that is so good it makes most incapable of rallying that night. Speaking from this experience, there are five things that every darty should have. 

#1. There must be water.

I’m not talking water bottles for thirsty people (although that isn’t a bad idea by any means) or water balloons for throwing (also not a terrible idea). I’m talking baby pools, sprinkler systems, slip ‘n slides, and/or water slides. Baby pools typically get turned into coolers (for the bottled water, of course), sprinkler systems can be weak, and slip ‘n slides leave our bodies bruised in places they shouldn’t be. The waterslide is what makes the darty unbelievable. You want an inflatable, multi-person water slide to give your party people a reason to darty.  

#2 There must be music.

An iPod in a cup is nice for a snack table, an iPod plugged into TV speakers is great for a small group doing the Macarena in the living room, and an iPod playing through Bluetooth speakers in the backyard is perfect for a bonfire. A darty, however, is most successful when a professional is involved. Hire a DJ or live band for kicks and giggles.

#3 There must be tank tops.

“Frat tanks” if you will…I mean, each fraternity and sorority member will most likely wear some representation of their affiliation (without actually wearing the Greek letters because we all know that is not allowed) to an “ok” darty. But, if your party really rocks peoples’ socks, it will have its own creative title, its own Facebook page inviting its hundreds of guests, and of course, tanks.

#4 There must be beverages provided.

I say beverages because not everyone is of age, and we aren’t here to serve alcohol to minors…so make sure you’ve got some soda, juice, milkshakes…whatever brings all the boys to the yard. The best darties provide homemade Jell-O shots, shot blocks, and trash can punch to those who have hit the 21 milestones on their real ID’s. Beer is a given…if you aren’t smart enough to buy that, you shouldn’t be throwing a darty. 

#5 There must be srats and frats.

No, I don’t usually use these terms. But yes, I find them unusually catchy, so let’s just go with it. You cannot have a good darty without the best mix of sorority and fraternity members. They are the final and most essential part of an enjoyable darty. As Greeks, we have more in common besides a passion for our philanthropies—we also love to have a good time. This commonality makes for the perfect darty.

Now that you know the essentials of the darty, I’ll be expecting an email inbox full of Facebook event invites. My contact info is listed below.