The first all-campus Greek event of the year, OcTAUberfest, will take place during Parents’ Weekend this Saturday at Hillsdale’s Beta Kappa chapter of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity.
“I think that emotionally, COVID-19 has taken a big toll on all of us students,” said senior Matthew Pfeifer, a member of ATO. “OcTAUberfest is the perfect event to lift our spirits and celebrate our awesome college with the great people who attend it.”
The fall-themed event is for students, faculty, and family. The event will take place on the side lawn of the ATO house from 7 – 10 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 17.
Junior and ATO Public Relations Chairman Andrew Szewc said the fraternity is excited to host one of the first Greek-sponsored, all-campus social events of the year.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Szewc said. “I think this is a great opportunity for underclassmen to meet people inside and outside of the Greek system. I think that’s a huge part of ATO — not secluding ourselves to Greeks only, but opening up and creating an atmosphere for people to meet.”
Junior Harrison Baer said community outreach is a main reason why ATO decided to host the event.
“I believe it’s important to have community in this time of uncertainty,” Baer said. “This is parent’s weekend, so we want to focus more on the campus family instead of just the brotherhood.”
Szewc said ATO has been mindful of COVID-19 restrictions and procedures in planning the event. He said the fraternity feels that at this time, the event poses little risk to campus.
“This will be our first campus-wide event of the semester and as we’ve been planning this, we found it was an appropriate time to host this event,” Szewc said. “The deans have been in the loop of this process entirely since about a month ago and have been instrumental in the planning of it.”
One way ATO will do this is by holding the event outdoors.
“It’s going to be in the ATO parking lot,” Szewc said. “Also, the event will be fenced off so that you have to come through a checkpoint. Masks will be required and food will be provided safely.”
Pfeifer said the fraternity members spent a long time planning for this event to make sure it would be safe for attendees. Pfeifer said he’s excited to see their hard work pay off this weekend.
“All the Brothers of ATO are very excited to host this event. We would love to meet the parents, faculty, and students who plan on attending,” Pfeifer said. “So, if you’re feeling that inescapable Autumn urge to sip hot apple cider and paint pumpkins to the tune of live music, come on down to the house.