Homecoming weekend kicked off Thursday afternoon with one of the longest and most looked forward to traditions at Wabash, Chapel Sing. Pledges from all 10 fraternities, as well as a group of freshman independents, lined up on the College mall to sing the longest fight song in the nation, "Old Wabash." Unfortunately for those singing, it is much easier said than done.
The Sphinx Club was out on the mall to heckle the freshman and test their knowledge of the Wabash fight song. Armed with the usual electronic humping dog, tobacco chew, and magazines, the Sphinx Club was ready to see who really knew the College’s song and who didn’t. The first freshman to get the infamous red "W" spray painted on their crisp white shirt was a TKE and soon, other freshmen followed.
After being brutalized by the Sphinx Club and nearly losing their voices for an hour, the fraternities with the least amount of red "Ws" were brought into the Chapel to prove their perfection of the song.
The five fraternities brought into the Chapel for the finals were Theta Delta Chi, Lambda Chi Alpha, Sigma Chi, Delta Tau Delta, and Phi Kappa Psi. When the Sphinx Club heard all five groups sing their final rendition of "Old Wabash," they made a decision for the final rankings.
The Sigma Chis took top honors in the Chapel Sing and relished in their win by joining the freshmen on the mall in a huge mosh pit and began to sing "Old Wabash" as a fraternity. Sigma Chi pledge Michael Vas ’11, who was heckled by multiple Sphinx Club members on two separate occasions, said this was what Homecoming was all about and the long hours spent practicing paid off with the ultimate victory.
"It feels really great to have won Chapel Sing," Vas said. "We practiced for four weeks and we initially had some problems with it, but not today. We could possibly win the rest of homecoming, but Chapel Sing is the most important." The Sigma Chis sported their traditional red and black face paint and marched to the mall arms locked while singing their chant. They were ready for yesterday’s event and it showed in their victory.
Senior Josh Day was proud of his pledges and acknowledged that the Chapel Sing win was a great way to kick of Homecoming weekend.
"It’s great to have won and this is the one thing we have been looking forward to this year," Day said. "This is a good start but for us this is what it’s about and this is Wabash Chapel Sing and everything else is superfluous."
Every year someone on the faculty or staff sees Chapel Sing for the first time and this year the new Swimming Coach, John Weitz, witnessed his first Chapel Sing and was intrigued by one of the oldest traditions at Wabash, one that dates back to the 1920s.
"It was definitely interesting," Weitz said.