Fraternities compete in Holiday Light Celebration

Sigma Nu won the first Holiday Light Celebration.

By Megan Stroup

Published Dec. 11, 2008

The Interfraternity Council hosted its first Holiday Light Celebration on Tuesday evening. Members of the MU campus, including students and faculty, were invited to take a stroll through participating fraternities to enjoy the holiday decorations and hot chocolate.

Inside the houses, fraternity members were waiting downstairs to greet their visitors and share information about their chapter.

A panel of representatives from the Panhellenic Association, the Office of Greek Life and the Multicultural Greek Council judged each participating house based on indoor overall, outdoor overall, neatness, organization, creativity and friendliness of members.

IFC President Bryan VanGronigen said the event this year was orchestrated by IFC Vice President of Programming Rob Stretch.

"I ran on the platform of fostering interaction between fraternities on campus," Stretch said.

He explained he wanted to get everyone involved and have different chapters network and meet people from different houses. He said this celebration was a good opportunity to do all these things.

Of the 28 IFC houses at MU, 15 participated in the celebration.

Phi Kappa Theta's house lights stopped working Monday night and so they had no exterior lights for Tuesday's competition. The house still opened its doors to the public during the celebration.

Taylor Brune, a freshman member of the Alpha Chi Omega sorority, said she decided to brave the cold and see the lights because she loves Christmas and "thought the houses would be really cute."

"It's a good chance for everyone to come around and admire the houses together," Brune said.

Brune's fellow sorority sister freshman Stephanie Rizzolo likened the Holiday Light Celebration to Homecoming, when the community was invited to explore Greek Town and look at the house decorations.

VanGronigen said the idea for the Holiday Light Celebration started in October when Homecoming festivities were in full swing.

"We wanted one more interaction programming event before our terms were up," VanGronigen said.

Despite the snow on Tuesday, VanGronigen and Stretch both said they were pleased with the turnout.

"Participation was very good for the weather and the conditions," VanGronigen said.

Fellow university students joined his group of IFC executive officers and judges until it numbered about 50, in addition to other casual observers exploring the houses on their own.

"I think it was a success for the first year," Stretch said, but added next year he would like to invite PHA and other campus organizations to get involved and hopefully make the celebration a bigger event.

VanGronigen agreed that he would like to see next year's IFC officers capitalize on their experience this year.

The winners for the Holiday Light Celebration were announced last night, with Sigma Nu coming in first place.

VanGronigen said they would receive a wreath with a bow for their front door as their reward.