"801 Day" explainer from a recent former student

[Dr.bannedman]

I don't get why it matters for the non-Greek community.

I do remember the Saturday before classes that there was always a huge all day kegger at that apartment complex in the middle of the frats and sororities. But as others said, the whole week before class (****, the whole month of August when I was living in an apartment or house) was an extended party.

Said apartment complex amongst the Greeks looks like it's still there.

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

goo.gl

And good lord, that street view is absolutely hilarious.

used to get a lot of cool stuff on the side of the road end of july

 

[Pope]

This is a big reason why the Destination Iowa State program was created. The idea was to bring all new students to campus on the Thursday before classes start, divide them into groups of about a dozen or so, assign an upperclassman (who is paid) to lead each group, and have them do activities together right up until the following Monday.

The hope was that it would help new students make friendships with other new students, acclimate them to campus, and keep them from getting drunk.

 

[isufbcurt]

I've had two daughters go through sorority recruitment at ISU, their days from Saturday through bid day on Thursday are jam packed so they don't have a lot of down time to do much socializing. They're still not allowed to socialize with frats/frat recruits on the Friday after bid day but most use that day to chill and catch up on rest anyways.

Yeah the entire Greek system is weird

 

[HFCS]

You have to laugh about a policy where 18/19 year olds aren’t supposed to get drunk for a week out of some sort of standard.

I’m not raging against it in the slightest but one has to admit it’s funny.

The official legal liability policy for the houses has to be that the only 801 day is the morning of their 21st bday.

 

[Gonzo]

Yeah the entire Greek system is weird

I was never in a frat and didn't like most of the guys who were. I will say our older daughter made a group of friends in her sorority who lived together in apartments in their last two years of college, went on spring breaks together, and I have no doubt will continue being friends now long after they've graduated. Our younger daughter is a little more introverted, has a harder time opening up to new people and making new friends, and just through the recruitment process has made good friends already and I think being in a sorority will provide a good social structure for her in terms of meeting people and making more friends. So while I agree some of the stuff with sororities and frats is weird, there are benefits.

 

[cytor]

My son, who is a Freshman, just experienced 801 day. He told me he spent most of the night puking.

That wasn't a thing when I was at ISU. Like others mentioned, we just partied whenever we felt like it.

I went to ISU in the 80's and Puking was definitely a thing.

 

[ISUCyclones2015]

I wanna say 801 got really big in 2012? It was when that one frat got a couple dump trucks full of sand dumped in their backyard to have a beach party that day. Then it got outta control and lots of **** went down, like didn't some guy jump from the roof and break a ton of bones? It's been a while so memories are fuzzy.

Then the same frat bucketed all that sand into their basement. It basically turned into a litterbox by the end of the year.

 

[NetflixAndClone]

Yeah from what I've heard the frat recruitment process is way, way different and much more laid back compared to the sorority recruitment, which is pretty formal and, honestly, kind of brutal.

My rush process was a bbq and a game of basketball. They gave me a bid card the same day.

 

[HFCS]

I wanna say 801 got really big in 2012? It was when that one frat got a couple dump trucks full of sand dumped in their backyard to have a beach party that day. Then it got outta control and lots of **** went down, like didn't some guy jump from the roof and break a ton of bones? It's been a while so memories are fuzzy.

Then the same frat bucketed all that sand into their basement. It basically turned into a litterbox by the end of the year.

This could be in the horror movie thread.

 

[Cy Hard]

I don't get why it matters for the non-Greek community.

I do remember the Saturday before classes that there was always a huge all day kegger at that apartment complex in the middle of the frats and sororities. But as others said, the whole week before class (****, the whole month of August when I was living in an apartment or house) was an extended party.

Said apartment complex amongst the Greeks looks like it's still there.

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

goo.gl

And good lord, that street view is absolutely hilarious.

Ha! I lived there back in the day and it was pretty much 24/7 ball gags, brownie mix and clown porn. You had to leave to study if you ever actually wanted to.

 

[Billups06]

The few days before class started and the couple days after your last final were the best days of the year.

Agreed. Finishing finals by Tuesday/Wednesday of finals week was such a great feeling. I always had a class or two I was able to take the final during dead week, which relieved some pressure during finals week.

I always preferred ending of the fall semester, versus ending of the spring semester. Something about Xmas break, seeing childhood friends at home, and also knowing you'll be back to Ames in 4+ weeks to reunite with everyone for spring semester. Ending the spring semester always had a feeling of finality to it.

 

[NickTheGreat]

That wasn't a thing when I was there in the early 00's. We just drank and didn't make a big deal about it!

Oh wait, there were riots and VEISHEA suspensions and such.

Nevermind.

 

[CRCy17]

In my time, 2005-2009, 801 day was more referenced to the day after Greek Week ended (Greek Week was dry in the houses, could still go to bars) and an "unofficial" Greek Holiday that Monday at 8:01am with parties all day long.

I remember the Friday of the week before school started was the first night sororites were able to go out after rush week, with all the new girls just learning which houses gave them bids, but don't remember the specific 8:01 timing being a formal thing

 

[deadeyededric]

I went to ISU in the 80's and Puking was definitely a thing.

I didn't puke when I drank. I puked when I didn't.

 

[CyPhallus]

Yeah the entire Greek system is weird

Truer words have never been spoken.