Stacey Barchenger
Managing Editor
Linfield’s Informed CHOICES class, which provides students alternative activities on Friday nights, is partnering with Greek organizations for the first time.
For Friday Night Live, commonly known as FNL, campus groups pair up with the class to sponsor the weekly event. The activity is different every week, and the group hosting the event usually tries to pick one that is in or related to their special interest, Ariana Randall, Inform-ed CHOICES Activities Coordinator said.
At the end of last semester, Linfield’s Greek organizations began expressing interest in hosting FNL, but overbooked schedules prevented Greek-sponsored FNLs earlier this year.
“That was the first semester we’ve had a lot of interest from Greek groups,” Randall said.
Because of scheduling conflicts created by many campus groups wanting to host an FNL, some fraternities and sororities have not yet planned on hosting one of the nights. However, most of Linfield’s Greek organizations are in the process of scheduling or planning an FNL event for the near future.
Informed CHOICES is a peer instruction class open to all students, and events hosted by the class are funded by a grant from the NCAA. The class teaches about healthy choices, especially related to alcohol use, Randall said.
The idea behind the class is that members from student groups, sports teams and clubs around campus will send representatives to class meetings. The representatives will then take that information back to their group, Randall said.
That is how two fraternities on campus became involved with Informed CHOICES.
Junior Mike Sladich, president of Theta Chi Fraternity, and sophomore Roscoe Anderson, community service and philanthropy chair for Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity, have both taken the class and said their fraternities got involved to help improve the perception of their chapters.
“Right now, I think a lot of fraternities have a really negative stereotype, and we just wanted to show we do a lot for the community,” Anderson said.
Pi Kappa Alpha is hosting an FNL pool, ping pong and air hockey tournament March 14 in the game room.
Sladich said Theta Chi will be hosting FNL on May 2, and although plans aren’t set, the house is leaning toward a night of dodgeball in the Rutschman Field House.
“It is important for us to show that Greeks are not all about drinking at night,” Sladich said. “We can have just as much fun playing dodgeball.”
On Friday from 9 to 11 p.m., Phi Sigma Sigma Sorority is hosting a game of hide and seek with a twist: sardines. Beverages, snacks and prizes will be provided.
Two of Linfield’s sororities have already hosted successful FNL events. On Feb. 29, Zeta Tau Alpha Sorority hosted a Bunco night and Feb. 22 Alpha Phi Sorority hosted Heart Trivia Hunt, a scavenger hunt. Alpha Phi was the first Greek organization to host FNL.