Life for Syracuse University frat pledge, Michael Wilkins isn’t all fun and keg stands. It’s hard work and keg stands, too. Now that the weather has warmed up, SU frats are beginning to train their prospective members for the shitshow that is Mayfest by a series of day-drinking events/challenges. It’s that time of year again and the sound of birds chirping is easily drowned out by the sound of fratboys yelling “chug or you’re a pussy!”
The training schedule is a rigorous one, but varied by the different houses. Some frats are sticking to conventional training methods, such as mini-keg races and impromptu flip cup matches, while others are stepping it up a notch, such as Michael Wilkins’ frat.
“We’re doing the 30 day absinthe challenge. That means everyday we have to wake up, take shots of absinthe and then go about our daily activities like nothing is different. It hasn’t been so bad, except there’s this rabbit with a suitcase that keeps following me around. You see that too, right?”
The training does not only consist of alcohol-related challenges, but also musical ones.
“We have to be able to identify a Dave Matthews song by the time the 5th note rings out or something terrible happens. We’re not really sure what; no one’s messed it up yet, but I heard that it gets pretty ugly.”
