Upon admission to my third-ever fraternity (frat) party, I was immediately asked by one of the brothers who would win in a fight: a gorilla or a grizzly bear? My answer was tallied on a whiteboard, along with every other partygoer’s. Two brothers explained they had a bet going over which animal would get more votes, and at the end of the night, the winner would slap the loser.
As I continued into the party, I could hear the banging sound of someone repeatedly hitting the basement ceiling below me, and upon entering the basement, the blaring of pop music.
On March 22, I went to Sigma Chi’s – commonly called Sig Chi – “Sun Surf & Sigs” party.
There are no bars or nightclubs in Albion, like one would find in bigger college towns like Ann Arbor. So for Albion students looking to “let loose,” frat parties are one of the only options.
Brady Jaunarajs, Athens, Ohio, sophomore and President of Sig Chi, said frat parties bring together students with one common purpose: “Have fun on the weekend.”
“It gets people to interact with other members of the college who maybe they wouldn’t have talked to before,” Jaunarajs said.
Dressing to a T(heme)
When it comes to party themes, Jaunarajs said brothers come up with ideas and vote. However, it’s the social chair that gets the final say and access to a budget for decorations. He added that they like to “mix it up,” and put their own spin on the theme. At the “Sun Surf & Sigs” party, streamers adorned the basement ceiling.
According to Jaunarajs, Sig Chi’s signature theme is their “white lies” party, where guests are instructed to wear a white t-shirt sporting a written lie about themselves.
Front Market, Ontario, senior Eric Lucas said he tries to go out every weekend that a frat is throwing. He said a lot of the parties tend to “blend together,” except for “each house’s specific party that they always have.”
“They always have some extravagant setup,” Lucas said. “Those are the fun ones, specifically.”
Recurring themes that are unique to each fraternity house include Delta Sigma Phi’s (Delt Sig) annual haunted house and Alpha Tau Omega’s (ATO) “Tauchella” party.
Lucas said his “main issue” with a lot of frat parties is that the themes don’t “reflect the party experience.”
“They’ll choose what you wear and that’s about it,” Lucas said. “It’ll be like a Y2K party and then they put on T Grizzley. Like, that didn’t match.”
Playing the Perfect Playlist
Detroit senior Skye Dickson goes out two or three times a semester, and said the frats should “find better music choices.”
“It sounds like somebody’s playing their personal playlist,” Dickson said.
Jaunjarajs said that at Sig Chi parties, there are usually two or three brothers in the DJ booth, with a pre-made playlist of “traditional party music.”
Dickson said the DJ, or DJs, can make or break a party. A lot of her friends won’t go out unless they know who specifically is in charge of the music, she added.
“When the right person’s on the aux, it can be really cool,” Dickson said. “I’ve also seen times where it’s like five people rotating on aux; that’s normally chaotic.”
Detroit junior Hailey Manson-Wilson said she goes to frat parties about every other weekend. According to Manson-Wilson, the best music for this generation of college students is early 2000s pop.
“We really like feeling like we’re in an early 2000s club setting,” Manson-Wilson said.
Finding your House
Dickson said her favorite frat to go to was Sigma Nu, before their house was closed.
“That’s where I felt the safest, it was always fun, that’s one of the frats I feel like always played music for everyone,” Dickson said.
St. Clair first-year Claire Stier said Sig Chi, Tau Kappa Epsilon (TKE) and ATO have the most “fun” parties. She thought “Tauchella” was a good idea, but didn’t really get to enjoy it since the fire alarm was triggered.
“I think that ATO parties are really fun, it’s just they always get shut down, so it’s like, what’s the point?” Stier said.
Manson-Wilson said her favorite houses to go to are TKE and Delt Sig, but the real deciding factor of which party to go to is what music they’ll play.
“I can go to any frat house if they’re playing good music,” Manson-Wilson said. “That’s the problem.”
Coming to an End
Students responded to a Pleiad survey about music that they want to hear at frat parties, and you can find a playlist of their choices here.
My experience at Sig Chi’s party was short-lived. After dancing to a few songs in the basement, having an intense conversation about the temperaments and abilities of gorillas and grizzlies and standing around awkwardly for a while, my night came to a rather anticlimactic end:
The fire alarm went off.
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