Baton Rouge, Louisiana (PRWEB) August 19, 2015
Gone are the days depicted in the movie “Animal House” where toga parties for college fraternities were the rage. The trend today is specialized training, community service, campus involvement, high grade point averages and a modern fraternity house where members live in upscale comfort. The Pi Kappa Alpha (PIKE) fraternity at Louisiana State University is leading the way in this new trend with recent improvements to their fraternity house, even going so far as to work with interior designers to coordinate colors, lighting and materials to make the house more functional for the members, as well as more inviting for next week’s participants in LSU Rush Week, who are looking to be accepted by one of the 20 fraternities on campus. Pike President, Paul Hood, says “PIKE has been working all summer for a successful Rush Week and both members and parents have been working on improvements to our house to get ready. We are looking forward to seeing the students participating in Rush and inviting a select few to become a member of PIKE.”
Big Screen TV’s On The Walls
PIKE members have spent the last two weeks making improvements including trimming the shrubbery, painting the walkway and porch, polishing dining room floors, installing LED lighting and big screen TV’s on the walls of dorm rooms, which are being redesigned to be the largest dorm rooms anywhere on campus. The paint was eco-friendly low VOC and the LED lighting is more energy efficient, resulting in a lower carbon footprint.
Members are hoping to make their best impression on the 872 young men participating in Rush week this year. PIKE organized the improvements to their house by coordinating help from their 87 actives and parents, and expect to capture more new members than any other fraternity from the largest class ever of students participating in Rush Week.
Rush Week Is Here Followed By Bid Day
Rush Week at LSU starts with students visiting the fraternity houses every night from Wednesday, August 19th, until Saturday, August 22nd. Then on Sunday the bids are given out and the young men must decide which fraternity to join. The average fraternity at LSU costs $1,800 per semester in dues, but some fraternities add hundreds of dollars in additional fees after members join. The final day, Bid Day, is filled with enthusiasm as new members accept offers to join a fraternity that can offer new friendships and a support group. New members, known as pledges, go through a shorter trial period than in previous years-now often just weeks or even a few days-but the pledge class always forms a bond and experiences camaraderie while going through the trial period, followed by an initiation ceremony which transforms the pledges into active members for life.
About LSU Pi Kappa Alpha
The LSU PIKE fraternity, located at 15 Fraternity Lane in Baton Rouge, was founded in 1902 and has been on the campus of LSU the longest of any fraternity. PIKE currently ranks among the top 20 fraternities in GPA, has received the Best Philanthropy Award, and has the distinction of having the LSU mascot “Mike the Tiger” named in honor of PIKE member Mike Chambers. For more information, visit the LSU PIKE Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/LSUPikes.
