For students looking for an exciting fraternity party this Friday, Jan. 30, the Row is not the place to go. There’s a new frat in town, and its location is far from Mayfield Avenue.
Stanford’s Freshman Sophomore College (or “FroSoCo” as most students say) is holding “PhiPsiChi: FroSoCo’s Premiere and Only Frat Party” organized by their Dance Marathon Committee. The party will be held from 9 p.m. to 12 a.m. in the Schiff Courtyard, and requested donations will go to Partners in Health Rwanda (PIH) through Stanford’s Dance Marathon.
The idea for PhiPsiChi came from Michael Becich ’18, a resident of FroSoCo, who decided with friends earlier this year to create the “FroSoBros,” a group that models itself after a fraternity and attempts to liven the atmosphere of a dorm seen by many students as more academically serious.
“We modeled our room after a fraternity house,” Becich explained. “No joke, we have a flag with Greek letters, a ping pong table…It’s pretty legit.”
Becich got the idea to combine his passion for philanthropy work with his love of house parties when Cindy Lu ’18, FroSoCo’s dorm captain for Dance Marathon, was searching for a fun way to raise funds for PIH Rwanda.
“This isn’t just a party,” Lu reminds those who plan to attend. “We’re trying to raise money for a really good cause. ”
Lu is passionate about PIH because of the non-governmental organization’s tremendous success in lowering infant mortality rates and starting a successful HIV/AIDS campaign in several countries across the globe.
“I just felt so inspired by this,” Lu said. “This is our chance to challenge apathy.”
Kevin Khieu ’18, who is also organizing the party, is also adamant about the philanthropic emphasis.
“Having fun is a side thing,” Khieu said. “All in all, we want to raise money for the cause.”
Just the same, plenty of fun is promised at PhiPsiChi, where Becich himself will be DJing. Food and drinks will be provided through the sponsorship of Sip, a new app designed by a group of Stanford freshmen who struck a deal with Becich to pay for the expenses of the party in exchange for requiring every guest to download the app upon entry.
FroSoCo has not, to the knowledge of the organizers, thrown a successful party of this kind in quite some time, if ever. The Stanford website describes FroSoCo as a residence that “provides the vibrant residential intellectual community of a small, elite, liberal-arts college while providing enhanced access to the academic resources of one of the world’s premier research universities.”
Even though FroSoCo is not known for being an especially rowdy or party-hearty dorm, Lu is confident that residents will enjoy socializing in what will be a completely new way for some of them.
“A lot of [residents] are super excited,” Lu said. “They’re curious to see what’s going on.” Lu did mention, however, residents who might have concerns about PhiPsiChi should, “let one of the organizers know.”
Becich believes that most of the dorm is thrilled to have the chance to host its own fraternity style party. “The RA’s especially are really pumped,” Becich noted, “They think it’s a great way to get FroSoCo on the radar.”
Khieu reminds students that guests of all classes are welcome Friday night.
“The intention for PhiPsiChi is to be an all-campus party,” Khieu explained but observed that freshmen and sophomores make up the majority of the 250 people who have already RSVPed to the party’s Facebook page. “That’s what frat parties are, anyway,” he added.
And according to Becich, “This is a traditional frat party.”