<p>can any students please give me some info about spring frolics? i hear it's a pretty legit weekend but i just wanted to know a little more about it. what exactly goes on? is there any purpose for it or does it just exist for its own sake?</p>
<p>What is spring frolics?</p>
<p>its basically a spring festival that davidson throws every year, i think. as far as I can remember, I think its just like random events and parties.</p>
<p>I can't WAIT for spring frolics! Everyone raves about it! It's apparently right before exams. The way my friend put it, "The teachers practically expect you to come to class wasted." Apparently just about every house (frats and eating houses) has a party or a picnic or a barbecue or some sort of fun event. I heard last year there was a slip-n-slide and lots of inflatable fun-castle-sorts of things (giant slide?). I wish I could give you a better answer, but apparently it tops Self-Selection Night and First Night Down, just because it's a whole weekend.</p>
<p>What are Self-Selection Night and First Night Down?</p>
<p>Self-Selection Night (or Court-Selection Night):
The Friday night after freshmen are permitted to join Eating houses or being pledging. In January, when you get back from the long winter break, you will have a meeting early in the week you return with your whole class to discuss Patterson Court procedures. At this meeting, women submit their forms indicating whether or not they wish to join an eating house. Then, they rank their preference on the form. Connor tends to be the intense party girls. Warner and Turner seem to both be middle of the road. Rusk is usually considered the least alcohol-focused (which was part of the appeal for me). So, you don't get a lot of people putting Rusk first and Connor second...usually it's one of the two first and then the other last haha. That Wednesday, those in charge of the Patterson Court regulation process the forms and check all students hoping to participate for social probation status and the required minimum GPA of 2.0 (C). They formally tell the girls that they will learn of their selection Friday afternoon if they come down to the Patterson Court office and find their name on the bulletin board list. Again, it's a formality. Really what happens is late Thursday night, the presidents of each Eating house are informed of their new members and where they live on campus, so all of the current members get the names of the girls and move together loudly around campus banging on the doors of their new members (I woke up to a very loud TURNER!!!!! TURNER!!!), from four in the morning until six. Most girls get their first or second choice, but this year too many people put Warner first so there were a lot of displeased girls when a house that was not Warner came a-knocking (but really, personalities aside, the houses aren't so different so most were later content). The current members take the girls down to their new house after all new members are collected from bed, and there's an impromptu dance party, breakfast, and usually alcohol (yes, at 5 in the morning). You are REQUIRED to go to class the morning of Self-Selection. So everyone goes to class and early in the evening, everyone goes down to their houses for the party. The eating houses usually "haze" the girls just by taking them out in the cold and dumping chocolate sauce or shaving cream on them, and then everyone comes back into the house to dance and get very drunk.<br>
For guys, if they got a bid first semester or at the very beginning of seconds semester, they can begin pledging and have meetings starting that Friday to prepare for the parties that night.
While the girls are partying, the new pledges run through all of the eating houses (wearing very little to nothing at all -- SigEps were in diapers, and unless my eyes deceived me, the Phi Delts were wearing nothing but Barbecue sauce) and dance, cheering for their frat. House group photos are taken outside and eventually everyone goes to one house to party together. It's a long night, because the houses tend to start their parties around or before 8 o'clock and most people aren't wandering back up the hill until the wee hours of the morning. Very fun night if you remember it.</p>
<p>(Copied from a previous post of mine)
First Night Down:
For the first three or four weeks of school, freshmen are not permitted "down the hill" to the Martin Court senior apartments (like F and B) or Patterson Court: the eating houses (Rusk, Warner, Connor, Turner), the BSC (Black Student Coalition House), and the frats (SigEp, FIJI, PhiDelt, SAE, KA, KS, PiKA--actually now off-campus and you <em>can</em> visit) to party. Freshmen can still party on their halls or down the hill at the nasty sophomore apartments (Irwin, Akers, Knox). If you are found partying down the hill at prohibited locations, there are serious repercussions, not just for you, but for the residents or members of the place where you were and for whichever upperclassmen sanctioned your entrance. There are plenty of Union Board events for freshmen instead. The theory behind the delayed First Night Down is that the freshmen class should bond before parties are open to them. Partying is much safer if you are with friends -- that's a fact. All parties are open after FND and there are plenty of them as frats/eating houses quickly attempt to recruit new members as soon as they possibly can.
Freshmen are not permitted to join social organizations (frats/eating houses/sororities) during their first semester on campus.
There are freshmen who do go down the hill before FND. Again, they're risking a lot doing so.
Again, all of the parties are open, so there is no <em>need</em> to join an eating house or fraternities. But as a member of Rusk (joined at almost the last moment I possibly could), I have to say it's turned out to be quite fun.</p>
<p>What on earth is an eating house?</p>
<p>Also, one of our seniors last year went to Davidson this year, and I cannot possibly imagine him doing any of this.</p>
<p>Traditionally, Davidson has not had sororities; rather, it has eating houses (like the eating clubs and associations at Princeton and Harvard, respectively). The four houses are Rusk, Warner, Turner, and Connor, and each has its own history on campus. When women were first allowed to enroll at Davidson as students, they felt excluded from the social scene and proposed the idea of an eating house to the president of the college. They figured that sororities might come later. Nearly all of the ~150 girls joined Rusk, the very first eating house, and shortly after Warner, Turner, Connor, and (briefly) a co-ed eating house called Co-Ho were founded as the Davidson female population expanded. Now 51% of the Davidson population, the women may elect to join one of the non-selective eating houses after they have successfully completed a semester with a grade point average of no lower than 2.0. Eating houses are most different from sororities in that they are not selective. There is no bid-pledge system. Freshmen do not have to "rush." There is no application process the summer before. When the time comes, you simply rank the houses in order of preference and wake up to the cheering girls of your new house in the wee hours of the morning. The eating houses have parties, formals, semiformals, and socials at set times of the year, and most of the parties are open, at least after a certain amount of time has passed. Each house has about 100 girls. There are weekly meetings. Upperclassmen are required to eat a certain number of meals at the houses. The food is prepared by professional chefs that work at each house (some chefs are shared - FIJI and Warner share a cook, I think). Our chef is AWESOME. Freshmen get one meal a week (usually a set dinner), and dessert at their mandatory house meeting. There is a community service component involved (4 hours / semester for Rusk). There is a social fee ($325 for Rusk). You have the option to be very involved with house committees or as uninvolved as you please. Every so often, "Sisterhoods" are hosted, designed to let you get to know the other girls in your house. Also, at the beginning of the semester for the new members, there is a week called "Big Sister - Little Sister" week. A secret big sister is assigned to each new member and they are given a set amount of money to spend on their little sister. New members fill out surveys about what they like at an early house meeting (do they drink? what kinds of movies do they like? what kinds of food? what's the favorite candy? etc.) and the big sisters try to bring presents that align with the student's interest, giving a theme to each day. I had "Meditative Monday" (got a mug, relaxing tea, stationary, and a chick-flick), "Toasty Tuesday" (Graham crackers, marshmallows, Hershey bars, cuddle-socks, a notepad, hot cocoa, and another mug), "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory Wednesday" (LOTS of different kinds of chocolates), "Thank Goodness I'm a Ruskie Thursday" (Rusk T-shirt and Rusk shot-glass), and "Florentine Friday" (Chianti, Room with a View, a calendar with Italy photos for each day, and more chocolate). Some girls just put alcohol on their survey...so they get a lot of alcohol haha...but I put that I don't really drink, so I got lots and lots and lots of chocolate! Yum!
Eating houses are a lot of fun, and you don't have to drink to be involved with them. A lot of sub-free students joined Rusk and Turner...and they love it...and they don't drink! Lots of stuff to do, always. Plus, it's a place where you have 24/7 access...cozy sofas and chairs and always leftovers, so a great place to do your homework or just get away from your roommate.</p>
<p>Davidson has one new sorority, as of last semester, Alpha Kappa Alpha, an historically black organization. They do not have enough members or funding for their own house on campus, but they are involved with the community.</p>
<p>If your friend came to Davidson and he's not the party-type, it's likely he did not participate in Court Selection Night. If he got a bid and pledged, he probably did, though, but that doesn't mean he drank heavily -- there is such a thing as a "dry pledge."</p>
<p>Also, just a note: we're not like most schools where people go out every single night. Most Davidson students go out once a week to the Court, if at all. The max is generally three (Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday night are the party nights). First Night Down, Spring Frolics, and Self-Selection Night are probably the only three sets of parties that could rival a state school's party nights for craziness. </p>
<p>I want to emphasize again that there is a TON of stuff to do every weekend if you're not into partying. And you'll be excluded from very few parties if you choose to remain independent of social organizations or if you don't get a bid.</p>
<p>See my previous response to the post "partying at Davidson."</p>
<p>Wow, I type a lot. Can anyone tell I'm procrastinating?
That, and I'm probably the only one on spring break now....</p>
<p>Thanks so much, Amplifiar! I'm a mom whose D is very interested in Davidson, and I really enjoy your info-packed posts. So I read this message to say that a freshwoman in an eating house stays on the regular meal plan and stays in the dorm, but eats 1 meal a week in the eating house. Does that change after freshman year? Like do students begin eating every meal there? Is the cost similar to a regular dorm-style meal plan? It sounds like fun - my D will love the idea that there's no rush and no selectivity and hurt feelings involved.</p>
<p>This information was very helpful and a enlightening perspective-I enjoyed reading it.</p>
<p>Ah - sorry to be so long responding FauxNom. I didn't see your post!</p>
<p>The houses of the fraternities and eating houses on campus are non-residential, meaning no students will ever officially be able to live in them (even though there are occasional sleep-over sorts of things). Some frats do, however, own/rent houses off campus in the town of Davidson (usually the students pool their own money -- not sure that the college pays for this). PKA and SigEp definitely have off-campus houses, but I am not certain about others. Don't think FIJI has an off-campus house anymore. These definitely are residential, but students must secure permission to live in off-campus housing before the housing lottery process starts. Usually, off-campus living requests are discouraged, because Davidson tries to stay very residential. </p>
<p>As for meal plan, I know that some eating houses absolutely require their sophomore members to pay for ten meals a week with them, and then the women can customize their Commons/Wildcat-Den/Union meal plan accordingly. I may be mistaken, but I believe Rusk is the only house that allows the sophomore women to choose between having seven meals or ten meals a week at the house. Breakfast food is at the houses (and I don't think it counts toward "meals"). Juniors and seniors have a little more say in how many meals they take at their house versus at Commons/Union/Den. </p>
<p>I don't know precisely how the cost compares (again, as a freshman, I've just had to pay a social fee of $325 for Rusk), but I would imagine that it's actually cheaper to have a frat or eating house meal plan. </p>
<p>The frats do have meal plans, as well, but I'm not exactly sure how it works. I know a lot of FIJIs and they eat dinner together at the house (except on Friday nights) and they eat lunch there sometimes, too. I think they share a chef with Warner. Again, not entirely sure how it all works, though.</p>
<p>To clear up an ambiguity expressed above: there is no "dorm-style" eating; eating plan members eat at commons (cafeteria, with buffet set up), the union (more restaurant-esque, made to order), or the WildCat den (only lunch.. pretty much sandwiches and smoothies)</p>
<p>As for spring frolics.. it is a week of crazy parties where everyone (who wants to) drinks and parties all day long. There are also a ton of activities; essentially the whole campus is hanging out all week. Most people say it is the best week of the year</p>