It is my favorite time of the year. Yes, the weather has gotten cooler and my cute sundresses and flipflops have been replaced by sweaters, Uggs and a Northface, but it does not matter. I have always loved October, probably because I am a die-hard New York Yankee fan. And well, Yankee baseball in October has been a staple of my childhood, especially their dominance when I was a child in the late 90’s. Plus, there is that little holiday where kids dress up and are given free candy, Halloween. I mean really, what kid does not love Halloween, but for me the candy was just a little bit sweeter because it was often accompanied by a Yankee World Series victory (especially in 2000 when they beat the Mets!). Now that I am in college, I still love the month of October and it’s not just because the Yankees avoided being eliminated by the Rangers last night (thank you CC for showing you still can pitch in the postseason). As a sorority girl at the University of Delaware, October also means Courting!
Courting is the process where a fraternity tries to convince a sorority to agree to spending Homecoming week mixing with their fraternity. Basically, for most of October a fraternity spoils the sorority. It gets even better when two fraternities are trying to court the same sorority because then they both work extra hard to convince the sorority to pick them.
I am not sure how the fraternities feel about the whole courting process, but sorority girls love it. This year, my sorority had two fraternities courting us. I did not walk anywhere for two weeks. I got safe rides to pregames, then to the bars, next to a late night, and finally back to my house every night for about 3 weeks. Plus, when it was raining I got rides to and from class, and picked up from the library. It was wonderful.
Other than safe rides, fraternities usually provide the sorority they want with tons of tasty treats. I had chocolate covered strawberries delivered to me and a few of my sisters while we were at Happy Hour. Also, one of the fraternities courting us made the whole chapter homemade penne vodka and caesar salad (with homemade dressing and croutons). At every chapter meeting, we had delicious baked goods to snack on. People think sorority girls are very conscious of what they eat and would never eat cookies and cake, but that is just not true. The way to a sorority girl’s heart is through her stomach.
Not only do fraternities feed the sorority they are courting and provide them with tons of rides, but they also make them feel special by expressing their affection on campus. Fraternities literally hold signs at the busiest parts of campus stating things like: Omega Chi <3’s ZBZ (I love Greek). Frat boys spend the rest of the year being douchebags, so it’s kind of nice to see them actually act sweet, gentlemanly, and behave like the boys in romantic comedies.
Courting is so fun for sorority girls and I think the frats like doing it, too! Plus at the end of it all, everyone involved gets to spend a week drinking and hooking up (unless you are not picked), and who does not love that?
