Greek houses prepare for spring break trips

For many greek houses, it’s tradition to go on spring break trips together, and this year is no different, said Josh Vollmer, vice president of communications for Interfraternity Council.

For Kappa Delta sorority, it has been a long-standing tradition for its sophomore pledge class to go on a spring break trip together, said sophomore member Rachel Rapp.

This year, 22 of the 40 women in her pledge class are going to Daytona Beach, Fla., she said.

“It’s a tradition within the house for your sophomore year to go with your pledge class somewhere for spring break,” Rapp said. “It’s like a good time after midterms to just relax, especially as one of our last big things with our pledge class this year.”

Vollmer said in previous years, many houses went to Acapulco, Mexico, because there was a company that worked closely with IU to get greek students party package deals.

But this year, many students have changed their plans because of the travel advisory in Mexico, Vollmer said.

“This year is unusual, and the majority of people seem to be going to Ft. Lauderdale as one collective group,” Vollmer said. “This probably has a lot to do with the violence in Mexico.”

Delta Zeta is one of the houses going to Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., for spring break. Junior member Meagan King said 12 women from her pledge class are going on the trip together.

While the destination varies each year, King said it’s a tradition for women in the same pledge class to go on spring break trips together.

“Every year they pick a place. Last year they went to Acapulco, and the juniors last year in our house went to Ft. Lauderdale,” King said. “I think it’s just kind of like when you’re a sophomore you go here, when you’re a junior you go here, and senior year you just kind of pick a place.”

King also said the women from her pledge class will be taking a coach bus to Ft. Lauderdale as part of their travel package.

“You could either just buy the package to stay in the hotel, or you could just buy the package to ride the coach bus down there and stay in the hotel, so all the people that are going that might not even be in our house will be riding the bus with us,” King said.
As an alternative to a traditional spring break trip, 10 members of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity are going to Slidell, La., to build homes for Habitat for Humanity St. Tammany West, junior member Jordan Fromm said.

Fromm said the building site is just outside the city of New Orleans, where many homes were destroyed during Hurricane Katrina, so there are still a lot of recovery efforts.

Eight members of the house went to the same building site last year as part of Habitat for Humanity’s “Collegiate Challenge” and wanted to return again this year.

“We’re building a house with hundreds of people we’ve never met, and what’s really cool about it is that everybody leaves their mark,” Fromm said. “When you’re done, you get to write in some sort of part of the house about your group, so last year we wrote our letters and our names, and they’re still in the house.”

Fromm also said each Habitat for Humanity house takes three to four months to build, and Lambda Chi men could be doing anything from installing insulation and plastering to painting, depending on how far along the house is when they arrive.

“Now is the time to show this campus, our dean, ourselves, our families, our community that we can do something,” Fromm said. “We are, as a greek community, so strong and so important to this school. We need to show that we can do something outside of our home and outside the walls of our fraternity.”