It was a regular day, nothing out of the ordinary until a crowd of lovely house moms came from all directions to splash around in the fountains.
Wait what? Yeah that's right. Not only does Purdue University have an amazing Greek system filled with inspiring young men and women but we also have the best house moms out there! Recently they took on the time-honored tradition of a fountain run in order to show support for their respective houses and the PanHellenic community as a whole.
“But why?” You might ask.
According to Becky Fehsenfeld, the house mom at Kappa Kappa Gamma "It all started when [she] got together with Janis Brennan, house mom at Chi Omega, to find a way to support [sorority] girls during rush because they work so hard and find themselves very stressed." Speaking for the group, she added that "We're all for 'em and we think rush is special!"
Basically the moms who wanted to participate all met at Kappa Kappa Gamma this year to wait for the Boilermaker Special, or as the house mother at Gamma Phi Beta, Marj Strasser, would say “that choo choo train,” to pick them up. While riding in such style they waved around posters encouraging friendship and loyalty while yelling “Go Greek!” Finally, the passengers were let off at the fountains and spent time running through as members of the Purdue community. Some did it more than once and one, who has 80 years under her belt has done it every year so far! After their fun in the water and sun they made sure to snap some cute pictures before heading back to the train.
(Left: Right: Janis Brennan, Chi O House mom; Becky Fehsenfeld, KKG house mom)
Despite this being their fourth annual fountain run and these women having narrowed this adorable event down to a science, things still go wrong here and there.
From Mama Marj herself “The train got stuck in the mud so we had to find our own way home.” She then added that “the poor [driver] must’ve been so embarrassed. We even tried to push it!” That’s right. You heard it here first. The house moms of Purdue actually tried to push the Boilermaker Special out of the mud. If that’s not awesome then I don’t know what is.
Instead of train hopping all the way home the moms who lived closest walked to their cars and drove the others home while catching a glimpse of the little engine that couldn’t getting pulled out.
After hearing all about the shenanigans from Marj she added with such sincerity, “This is just a fun thing for us house moms to get out and do to show that we love being around the kids and that we really care about them.”
First off, shout out to the house moms of Purdue who not only went out of their way to make this gesture in support of recruitment season to their respective houses and the Greek community as a whole, but also for literally exuding generosity and compassion. For those who may not know, house moms are not just ladies who happen to live with a bunch of collegiate sorority women in order to keep the house from falling apart. House moms are a friend when you need one, a mentor when you didn’t know you were lacking one and a consistent reminder to be women building women up. At least that’s what I get from Mama Marj and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
