As the group of Phi Delts and Thetas walked into the local bowling alley Super Bowl, they received looks of astonishment from employees and other bowlers. On Memorial Day, some of the men of Phi Delta Theta and the ladies of Kappa Alpha Theta went bowling as a Greek mixer. The catch is they had to do so cross-dressed. The Phi Delts really got into the spirit of dressing up; most of them wore dresses and had make-up on. Even a few brave individuals donned stuffed bras for the event. The Thetas sported sweat pants (sagging, of course), baseball caps, bandanas and one Theta even wore a grill.
“My favorite part was seeing all the boys in dresses,” said junior Kappa Alpha Theta President Amanda Schlais. “They all made very attractive women, and just seeing how into it they got and how excited they were to spend time with us was really encouraging with our presence on campus — the comradery between different Greek groups is really nice to see.”
Phi Delt and Theta cross-dress bowling has been an annual tradition for the two groups to get to know each other better for a long time.
“Especially in the situation where everyone’s uncomfortable — it kind of gets rid of awkwardness, because how awkward can you really be around each other when you’re wearing a woman’s dress and you have fake boobs,” Schlais said.
But this year, in addition to dressing up as the opposite sex, another stipulation was made. Each Theta and Phi Delt had to have one of their hands tied to the other’s hand with ribbon, not only to make it more difficult to bowl (particularly if you happened to be right-handed and that hand was tied), but also to force people to get to know people they may not have known otherwise.
“I think everyone who was a part of it had a great time — I know it was really well received by both parties, I think the Thetas thought it was awesome and I think it will only get bigger and better,” said Schlais
In addition to the Phi Delt andTheta cross-dress bowling mixer, the Thetas do mixers with other Greek groups as well. In the past, they have had one with the ladies of Kappa Kappa Gamma. Also, there is the annual Beta and Theta Pie-eating contest, between the men of Beta Theta Pi and the women of Kappa Alpha Theta.
In addition to the importance of good relationships between different Greek groups, Schlais believes that the importance of Greek mixers includes defying the stereotypes that are commonly associated with Greek life.
“Sometimes I feel as though the Greeks get a really bad rap on this campus because of all the stereotypes there are concerning Greek life, however, I feel that Lawrence is a unique place, and thus so is the Greek community,” stated Schlais.
Phi Delt and Theta do cross-dress bowling event
