
For my ethnograhy I studied a fraternity intramural game (IM's) in the gym at CSUN. IM's are a pretty big deal in the Greek system, almost everyone goes to watch. As I'm sitting against the bleachers in a corner the first thing I notice is a boy in a red cape that reads: My Big Sis Is The Bomb Like *Tick Tick*. For those of you that don't know what that means, it's a refrence to a rap song, but this guy was completing one of his many big sis missions before she reveals to him (meaning, he doesn't know who it is and has to complete a bunch of stupid tasks before she lets him know it's her). Although they can be somewhat humiliating, he wasn't the only one in there that was completing a mission. Two other guys had on white shirts with writing all over them, having to get girls from different sororities to sign them.
The guys are playing volleyball. Aparently, from what i've been told, the guys take Volleyball more seriously than any other sport they play. Sigma Chi is playing Lambda Chi Alpha and they are really big rivals. The entire game has been super close. My friend Jose is stretching... he thinks he's going to finally be able to play. I don't think he will.
Fraternity IM's are usually held on Monday nights, just after the sorority meetings. It's funny to me how girls are in business attire for meeting and apparently walk straight over to the gym right after, but some how they're in their regualr clothes that just happen to be their most revealing . There is so much flirting that goes on between all of these people it's ridiculous, and that is pretty much the main reason girls go at all. Taking a quick scan of the room, most girls aren't watching the game. Most of the guys are cheering for their brothers and those that aren't are talking to at least one girl. Some guys even have 5 girls surrounding them, making IM's the single easiest way to get all the people in the greek system together so they can flirt and get to know one another.
When you put all of the one on one action between the sororities and fraternities you really do get to see the brother and sister unity within each organization. In a school so big, it is so easy to feel lost, but when you join the Greek System, there's a feeling of belonging, everyone knows everyone. Watching everyone interact with one another, you really get the sense that people have created bonds that will last longer than just throughout the rest of their time here, in school.
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