Courtesy of David DresnerDue to the overabundance of freshmen this semester, the Office of Residential Life placed many in upperclassmen dorms. Although many students initially believed that this placement would hinder their social lives, Eliot House resident David Dresner was determined to have an enjoyable freshman year.
“My friend came out of the bathroom one morning and said, ‘It smells like a frat bathroom in here, we should start our own frat,'” said Dresner.
Dresner agreed. He is now the philanthropy chair of the only frority at Washington University.
“A frority is a combination of a sorority and a fraternity,” said Dresner. “Both males and females can join. It’s sort of a crazy idea.”
To ensure both sexes are equally represented in the organization, Tess deBlanc-Knowles was named vice president of pledges.
“I help organize events and make sure both guys and girls feel welcome,” said deBlanc-Knowles. “We are very pleased that right now it is basically half and half (male and female).”
While Dresner is pleased with the amount of interest students have already shown, the group is only targeting freshmen as of now. The frority, which operates out of Eliot House, has 5 brothers and 37 pledges this year.
“All of us are extremely excited that this has grown as much as it has already,” said president Pat Book.
Dresner credits the strong following to the chapter’s activities this semester. The group is involved in several community service projects as well as planning for social events.
“We held a sandwich-making event and made 200 bag lunches and donated them to a food pantry in St. Louis,” said Dresner. “We also had a team pumpkin-carving contest and put the seeds in nice bags with attached letters of appreciation and presented them to Bear’s Den staff to show our thanks for their hard work.”
The frority also held a meet-the-chapter night and a barbeque to spread awareness about the organization.
Upcoming events include an Anheuser Busch Brewery tour, bowling, an all-frority campout, philanthropy week and a trip to demolition ball. The group will sell their first t-shirts soon.
“The slogan that will be on them is ‘the only frority on the South 40,'” said deBlanc-Knowles.
Similar to official Greek organizations on college campuses, the frority holds weekly chapter meetings to discuss upcoming events and issues within the frority. Executive positions have been distributed among the freshmen members including grand master, pledge president and master of ceremonies.
The frority founders developed a mission statement for their organization.
“Our mission statement is ‘building cohesiveness through service while staying classy,'” said Book. “Our Greek letters are Tau Sigma for ‘through service.'”
Although Book has not decided whether or not he will participate in spring fraternity rush, he said it is possible to be part of the frority and participate in another Greek organization on campus.
“This is nothing like a huge time commitment,” said Book. “It is an easy rush process and is open to all freshmen.”