Record number of fraternity/sorority pairs participate in competition
Homecoming is nearly here, and all along Greek Row towering displays of steel are beginning to take form.
Each house dec, short for decoration, is a marvel of design and organizational ingenuity, requiring the coordinated effort of scores of people.
Participants say the dec is about sacrifice and commitment.
“I’ve put in 60 hours of work in the last three days alone,” said Chris Kinnamon, a construction management senior and member of Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity. “Between the outside and inside work, this will take over 10,000 man-hours to complete.”
Planning for the colossal projects starts in February for most houses, with actual construction beginning shortly after the start of the fall semester.
“Most of our material is recycled from previous years or donated by alumni,” said Brent DeMuth, an agriculture business senior and member of Alpha Gamma Rho Fraternity. “Many of our guys come from farms — they all know how to weld.”
DeMuth said AGR specializes in kinetic sculptures, moving displays that require plenty of mechanical creativity.
Time is running out, and each of the record 12 pairs of sororities and fraternities competing in this year’s judging is scrambling to finish by Oct. 19.
“I get up and work at 6, go to class at 11:30 and work more in the evenings,” DeMuth said.
“It’s going to be a long week.”
Away from the cherry-pickers, arc-welders and intricate webs of re-bar, teams are hard at work completing the ‘pomping,’ or decorative panels and coverings, that will become the outer layer of each dec.
Erika Wallace, a publications and advertising senior and team leader for Gamma Phi Beta Sorority, estimates that Gamma Phi and Fiji’s signature portrait alone requires more than 310,000 ‘pixels’ of tissue paper.
The hard work pays off, however, participants say.
A quality dec is a symbol of pride in one’s school and house.
“People come back from all over the country,” Wallace said. “We want to make them proud.”
Loading ...
All Articles