Colorado State University’s Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life hosted its annual Welcome Back Block Party to welcome new and returning members of CSU’s various Greek chapters.
On Friday, Aug. 29, over 50 fraternities and sororities gathered on the Lory Student Center West Lawn, where they played yard games, ate food and interacted with each other, both within and across chapters.
The party is part of CSU’s First 50 Days, an initiative created by Orientation and Transition Programs to expose first-year students to programs, events and organizations designed to acclimate them to life at CSU and in Fort Collins.
“It’s part of our outreach and communication plan, so we always host this event in partnership with our governing councils,” said Natalie Padrón, FSL associate director. “It’s a great way for students who have already registered for recruitment or (are) considering it to stop by and learn more in a casual way, which is our goal.”
Over 50 fraternities and sororities tabled, including regional, national and internationally recognized chapters. Although many fraternities and sororities are social, some have professional focuses, such as in agricultural sciences, engineering or business.
“We just highlight our professionalism and our professional events that we have, as well as the career opportunities that come from it,” said Kaylee Taulty, a member of Delta Sigma Pi and president of the professional fraternity council. “A lot of our alumni own their own companies or they go on to be recruiters, so there is a lot bigger of a professional network than you would receive in a social fraternity or sorority.”
Also present at the party were organizations that oversee and promote groups of fraternities and sororities on campus. Examples of such include the Multicultural Greek Council, which is composed of culturally based chapters; the National Pan-Hellenic Council, which oversees historically Black chapters; and the Professional Fraternity Council, which promotes professional and scholarly-based chapters.
“Being in college, whether it be first generation or being a minority of any type, is difficult. Whatever people can do to make the path that much easier, it’s worth it.” –Jose Rivera, member of Gamma Zeta Alpha
The primary focus of the party was to foster community and connection between the fraternities and to highlight the experience of not only individual fraternities, but those of FSL as a whole.
“It’s good to have all of us out here,” said Caden Burich, member of Alpha Gamma Rho. “No one’s at an advantage or disadvantage. Everyone has an equal opportunity to get a table, set up (and) get whatever they want out here. It builds a lot of camaraderie between us fraternities because there aren’t a lot of times when all of us are out here at once.”
At CSU, fraternities and sororities exist to build and foster small communities from the university’s otherwise large student body. Such a community is attractive to many incoming students, who are looking for their place at the university.
“Being in college, whether it be first generation or being a minority of any type, is difficult,” said Jose Rivera, member of Gamma Zeta Alpha and vice president of council development for MGC. “Whatever people can do to make the path that much easier, it’s worth it.”
Even though the block party is the largest recruitment event that FSL holds in any given year, the office also does smaller-scale engagement, both during the academic year and over the summer.
“We advertise and do presentations during summer orientation like many other departments and units’ outreach to incoming students,” Padrón said. “We advertise on campus, and then we support our individual chapters who are all in charge of their own recruitment processes, so we’re helping them do that.”
The party serves as an outlet for fraternities and sororities to share their accomplishments and goals, like charity, networking and professional development.
“One of our points of pride is our philanthropy event,” Rivera said. “Every year, we go down to the House of Charities down in Denver. We provide the supplies and groceries, and we cook a home-cooked meal for families that are in the hospital. To us, that makes a big difference.”
Reach Robert Sides at life@collegian.com or on social media @roberttsides.
