Miami University sorority Alpha Omicron Pi (AOPi) and fraternity Delta Upsilon (DU) will host their annual spring puddle pull with a twist: for the first time in 20 years, the non-Greek community at Miami is invited to participate in the competition.
"It was kind of a general thing we wanted to ask the IFC advisors," Andrew Cramer, philathropy chair for DU, said. "We decided after Greek week in the fall that the spring puddle pull we would open the event up to a bunch of other organizations on our campus that don't really get to compete in things like that."
Cramer said spring puddle pull hadn't been open to the non-Greek community because of availability and time. Traditionally, the spring puddle pull took place at Yager Stadium and the teams would be able to practice at the stadium.
Kara Burghardt, AOPi's philanthropy chair, said she didn't know why spring puddle pull hadn't been open to the non-Greek community in the past 20 years. She suspected it was because the non-Greek community hadn't expressed interest in puddle pull because of the lack of knowledge of the tradition.
"I think it's because puddle pull is unknown," Burghardt said. "The community probably figured that a lot of non-Greeks didn't understand the tradition behind it and why we are sitting in pits in the middle of a field."
Burghardt said AOPi and DU decided to offer the event to the non-Greek community in order to get more of a response from Miami.
"It's a great opportunity for them to see what Greek life is all about and get involved with a Miami event," Burghardt said.
Burghardt said AOPi and DU are stressing to get the word out to the non-Greek community about the event because many people are unfamiliar with the preparations for puddle pull matches.
"A lot of people are intimidated by it but we offer coaching and will lead them through the whole process of practicing," Burghardt said.
Cramer said neither him nor Burghardt have received interest from anyone after sending out information about the annual event to the Greek community and they will be waiting until March 25 for anyone to sign up.
Cramer said the most important thing to keep in mind when getting involved with spring puddle pull is that all the proceeds go to AOPi and DU's philanthropies, Juvenile Arthritis and the Boys & Girls Club of America, respectively.
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"We are just excited to see who is going to show up and participate," Burghardt said. "It's a great event that is a lot of fun and it raises money for charity."
Each roster can have up to 11 people including one caller who does not need to be a new member of a sorority or fraternity or not in the Greek system. The event will begin at 2 p.m. Sunday, March 28 on Western Field.
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