Chapter 2

I'd actually half expected nothing to come of it, college kids being known for bullshitting without action, so I was a little surprised when I was asked to meet with Tau's president and house committee the following Wednesday evening. When I walked into the meeting room, besides 5 guys, there sat next to William, a nice looking diminutive girl. She looked a little out of place and uncomfortable so I wasn't surprised when she was introduced as Rhonda, Randall's sister; and the Vice President of the Rho's.

Harold, the Chapter President, wasted no time getting to business.

"William and a few of the guys told us about your little talk the other night and after a couple meetings we think what you seem to suggest is a good idea. We haven't had any luck with social mixers the last few years and the general agreement is that it's time to do something different."

I just nodded.

"So when I discovered Rhonda was Randall's sister, I got in touch with her and we discussed the situation, generally. What we don't understand is what the Rho's have to do with it."

I decided, then, to plumb into Rhonda's thoughts a little to see what her relationship with Randall was and, more important, her attitude toward this house and 'nerd-dom' in general. I was pleasantly surprised that she had a real fondness for Randall as he was and also had felt no repulsion toward boys who were outside her social group. Apparently her and Randall's father was also rather geeky and her mom was a stay-at-home wife who occupied herself with voluntarism and other community activities.

"Well, my immediate thoughts were that the guys here need some socialization with girls on the peer level. And when I found out the Chi's had previously held this event with the Rho's, I wondered first, why the change, and second: if the Rho's wanted to do something about it. Either from a temporary allegiance with your house, or push back against what the Chi's have planned."

Rhonda looked unhappy, as she spoke up.

"They didn't even consult us about it. We didn't find out about bringing in town girls till they put it up on their site. Put it this way, we aren't happy ... for a couple of reasons."

I decided to put it on the line. "Let me guess, you girls didn't project the image they wanted?"

She laughed. "Yes, we didn't look 'slutty girl' enough to suit them. They complained about that last year."

Then she took on a serious look.

"Don't get me wrong, we have quite a few free spirits in our house ... so the real slut factor isn't an issue. What those guys want is to take advantage of the townies and get laid by strange pussy."

"There's a couple of issues there. First, they will demean those girls by what I consider is too close to actual rape in a few instances, that's happened before. And, second, they don't know where those girls have been in the practical sense. We don't need fresh incursions of STD's on this campus. There's enough problems with that, as it is."

"So this is really about the image you girls project during the event, right?"

"Yeah ... we held a meeting after we found out and realized the boys had a little bit of a point. We found enough girls to participate who would be willing to run it up a notch but when we talked to the guys at Chi, they weren't interested."

"And that's where it stands?"

"Yes. We discussed putting on our own car wash benefit but most of the girls thought that was too weak in the first place. Car washes are so 'high school' and, if the Chi's weren't there to organize everything, it wasn't worth the effort. All we had to do, before, was show up in bikinis and get wet for a couple of hours."

I laid it on the table.

"So ... what if Tau did the organization and found the charity?"

Rhonda didn't say anything for a minute.

"Well, no offense to my brother, or any of the rest of these guys, but not only no, but 'Hell, no!'"

Eyebrows raised and a few of the Tau's looked like they were biting their lips.

"Some of us have actually talked about the issue. Tau's need help but other than a few of the upperclassmen girls thinking it would be fun ... just not in a nice way, and I'm not going to let that happen ... it's a no go. Let's get real, there's no way a bunch of upper middle class girls, a lot of us being 'legacies', are going to take on a nerd project. It's just the way it is."