New Gregorian Chant Club Overshadowed by Sorority recruitment
by Olivia McCormack
The campus rats peaceful break ended this weekend as a storm of white Nike Air Force 1’s descended onto campus. If you saw all the matching T-shirts or crying underclassman you know that it was sorority recruitment. The synchronized yelling caused a new organization to get lost in the noise, the freshly established Gregorian Chant Club.
President of the club, Greg Orian, was very disappointed that their practice time was interrupted by the lack luster yelling of other organizations. He said: “We really wanted this week to practice our chants since we’re such a new organization. It was really discouraging for us to hear the constant squeaking of other cults while this was happening. Like, come on, they don’t even wear cloaks. It’s a disgrace to chanting.”
The club, which meets Monday nights from 5pm to 7pm, was planning to fill the campus with their monotone voices and recruit members by word of chant. But now they, like most of AU greek life, are struggling for membership. The club even reached out to the panhellenic council to offer their chanting training services once they heard there would be a conflict. American University was also asked for a comment, and taking a note out Panhellic’s book, responded with silence.
At least one recruitment member ended up there by mistake. A freshmen Political Science Major, who prefers to remain anonymous for fear of ostracization, spoke to Rival reporters. She said: “I thought that I was in the right place when I heard the incredibly loud chanting. But then I saw all the strained smiling faces and my stomach immediately dropped. This wasn’t right. It was confirmed when I sat down and was asked about my major and what I did over break. Anyways, I have a hard time saying no and now I’m a Zeta Mu Alpha for life I guess. I mean at least there’s some chanting.”
The club was able to recruit some members during the weekend. Orian describes how they positioned themselves on the quad to be present for people running out of MGC crying. One of those people was Sara Rity, who said: “I decided to drop my sorority after looking them up on Greek Rank. I really only wanted to join for the chanting so it all worked out. The only thing is I’ve asked about mixers and they keep telling me that Kay Spiritual has potlucks on Wednesday's. I’m more looking for a Bloody Mary rather than the blood of JC.”
The club has decided to monetize on Greek life runoff (and run offs) this informal recruitment season. They will be hosting video game playing nights with free wings for the individuals who have grown tired of discussing which presidential candidate could shotgun a beer best with men in dark red basketball shorts and sliders. The club plans on growing substantially after this recruitment endeavor.