Addy Pittenger & Ellie Owen, Arts & Life Editors—
At some point during fall semesters, one might hear fellow students whispering in classes about dance practice, theme ideas, and coaching. Anchorsplash is an annual fundraising event hosted by Panhellenic Sorority, Delta Gamma. Events include tug of war, water balloon toss, and the grand finale, the dance competition.
Beta Theta Pi fraternity members Charlie Whalen ‘26 and Will Symonds ‘26 had fun with the experience because they were able to spend time with their fellow fraternity members.
“We’ve been practicing a lot, and that has been really fun because I got to know my fraternity brothers more. It was a bonding experience,” Symonds said.
“It was such a blast! We loved it—the coaches, everything! It was a really great brotherhood experience,” said Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity member, Joe Keserich ‘26.
Harry Quillen ‘25 from Kappa Sigma had nothing but enthusiasm towards his Anchorsplash experience. “It was amazing! I had a great time… I recommend it to all our sophomores in the years to follow. Everyone did a lot of preparation for this event… our boys are having a great time, and they killed it at the dance!”
Delta Chi members, Patrick Gavin ‘26, Doran Yustein ‘26, Justin Tharayil ‘26 and Drew Carpenter ‘26 all described their experiences as amazing, incredible, and such a great time. “We all went out there and gave it our all,” Carpenter said, “that’s all you can really ask for.”
Matias Olavarria ‘26, Spencer Brown ‘26 and Cole Tatro ‘26, members of Phi Kappa Psi wanted to give special recognition to Delta Gamma for their hard work on the event. “We had a great time, but we really want to thank the coaches. Shout out to Meghan McManus ‘24 and Sarah Lim ‘24,” Tatro added.
It is known that the sororities dedicate a lot of time, energy and effort into Anchorsplash with costumes, choreography and competitiveness. It appears as if it is a sorority oriented event. Yet, the fraternities are still having equally as much fun during the event, especially the dance portion. Here is what the fraternities had to say about the dedication difference:
According to Whalen, Beta Theta Pi this year was trying to break down the barriers of the expectations when it comes to fraternity involvement. “It’s like the sororities are expected to be better dancers and have these long routines,” Whalen stated, “It’s probably reasonable for that to be the assumption based on prior years, but we are coming to change that narrative this time around.”
Lambda believes that Delta Gamma and the rest of the participating sororities deserve all of the hype for how much energy they gave to the event and performance.
“When [the sororities] first told us that this was one of the biggest events of the year, I didn’t understand what they meant, but seeing it now, everyone supporting one another, it really makes the school special and it shows all the praise the sororities deserve,” Keserich added
Gavin from Delta Chi stated how there should be no exceeded expectations for sororities or fraternities. “At the end of the day it all goes to charity. You just need to go out there and have a good time.”
Worth Hinshaw ‘24 mentioned how it was “great to see the Phi Iota Alpha fraternity make an appearance and cheer on the IFC and Panhellenic Greek organizations.”
Anchorsplash brings a large part of the Denison community together for one big event that supports Delta Gamma’s philanthropy.