Bacchantes
This week’s ward (and The MOLLUSC Department’s first guest ward) was generously set up by the man of letters himself, @LCOLONQ.
bacchantes (pl. noun): mortal female human followers of Dionysus
‘In Vino Veritas,’ as they say — ‘in wine, there is truth.’ During the Greek rush week at Miskatonic University, in truth, there is wine — in that more and more library books are returned by nineteen year olds covered in wine-red stains. I should really be less critical — I partook in ‘Greek life’ myself in the not-so-distant past. In fact, I still get invited to some of the…gatherings.
Like some other institutions, Miskatonic makes its students wait until their sophomore year before they can ‘go Greek,’ as they say. They want to make sure students know the risks of partaking in ‘party culture’ and that they’re aware of the dangers of drinking. After all, Miskatonic is not a party school — it’s an institution of higher learning. Students are there to learn, after all.
The students do all sorts of stunts during rush week —spending the night dancing in the woods, drinking to excess at toga parties, and even eating raw meat without thinking. Some of them are legacy students, whose parents partook in these same rites themselves, while others are just looking to find a group that’ll take them to spring break in Rome.
The students do make quite a mess. Red footprints weave paths through the campus buildings, smudging on carpets, smearing on old wood floors, and leaving slipping hazards on the tile. I don’t know who ends up more bloody tired: the students or the janitorial staff. It’s no wonder that after all the dancing, so many of the young women wear those fluffy boots and pajamas to their classes.
Every year, there’s one or two girls that thinks she can handle it, who can’t — who has to go get her stomach pumped, or who drops out of university entirely, or who just…disappears after not getting tapped during Greek Week. But I’ve heard that’s a normal occurrence at many schools. Unfortunately, Miskatonic is not unique in this regard…but I still feel sad for those girls, and for their families.
I think the only reason Miskatonic allows Greek Week to continue is because of the alumni donors. Many of them say they had the best times of their lives during Greek Week, full of formative memories — their first ‘real drink,’ and of course, the ‘barbecue.’ I don’t know why they call it a barbecue, given they don’t cook the meat…But I digress. Those donors threaten to pull their generous donations and so of course, the administration dances like marionettes attached to their pursestrings. And every year, a good number of alumni come to Greek Week for the festivities.
Sometimes, I wonder if instead of allowing the Greek — well, more Roman — rush week, Miskatonic should allow its students to join sororities or fraternities. At least the activities of the Classics Department and their sophomore classes don’t encourage underage drinking, but the bacchantes, these new servants of Bacchus…these pretty young things, covered in the wine-red stains…soon, they’ll drink not just to forget, but to remember.
