By: Essence Buckman, Staff Writer
During the fall semester of the 2014-2015 school year, the activities surrounding Greek bids were associated with Fountain Fest during Fall Weekend (sponsored by Wofford Activities Council or WAC), followed by parties thrown by the fraternities at the now non-existent Fraternity Row. The method of the way bids are given has not changed. The only changes that have occurred surrounding Boys Bid Day are the day of the week and parties that occur as an unofficial celebration of the new bids.
In contrast to this “official” day, Matthew Hammett, assistant dean of students, states otherwise. “Boys Bid Day [hasn’t] happened in years. It was a joint decision between the national organizations and the college as it didn’t adhere to the risk management policies,” says Hammett. This means that Boys Bid Day is an unofficial term used by students.
Some students are upset by this change since Boys Bid Day occurred on a Sunday this fall semester compared to last year’s bid day being on a Thursday. The weekend following that Thursday consisted of a foam party in the horseshoe between Shipp and DuPre, the sororities dressing up in themed outfits, a dinner on the lawn in front of Burwell and parties.
Some non-Greek students were under the impression that the weekend was an official celebration for the Greek bids sponsored by the Office of Greek Life. Hammett, however, cleared up the matter for the Old Gold and Black.
“The Office of Greek Life has never sponsored a Fall Weekend. That was operated through Campus Union and WAC last year…The fraternities and sororities individually offer activities that are meaningful to their own groups following bids being distributed,” says Hammett.
Hammett also gave more information as to why recruitment is different this school year compared to in the past.
“Recruitment was moved up this year because of the decision to change the timing of recruitment. Dr. Samhat approved the recommendation made by the Taskforce to Examine Recruitment…[Also that] women had their bid day festivities just as last year, and the men had a formal ceremony which mirrored last year as well. There were not any changes regarding how bids were given out,” says Hammett.
Given this information, some wonder why Greek and some non-Greek students expressed disappointment with recruitment this year.
The answer is that the meaning of sorority and fraternity recruitment is understood to be officially associated with entertainment in contrast to the purpose that Hammett explained. Matthew Nocella, a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, known as SAE, believes that “bid day being on a Sunday took away the celebration of the new bids and took away that extra excitement” that he experienced his freshman year at Wofford.
Jake Brice, a member of Kappa Alpha, or KA, believes that “bid day in general is a great time to truly welcome the new members into [a] fraternity…not having a bid day party kept a wonderful tradition from going on…without a bid day party, the school has prevented the best time for bonding early on into their tenures as fraternity men and also kept suppressing Greek life as a whole.”
On the other hand, Mary Margaret Holden, a member of Kappa Alpha Theta, is aware that “the boys gave bids on Sunday but did not have a big celebration like the one last year that was sponsored by WAC.”
Comparing the information from Hammett and the opinions from the students on campus, a misunderstanding is present: while some students believe that the releasing of bids is associated with parties that the administration has “taken away,” that method of celebration was stopped years ago due to safety concerns, and the term of Boys Bid Day was used continuously by members of Greek life. The overall concern from all sides is having something exciting occur during the fall semester, and the Fall Concert on Oct. 2 is believed to satisfy that concern.