Just Desserts - Cold Call Dinner Parties Redux
The GSB Wreaks Havoc Across Chicago
Anthony Feret
Issue date: 10/13/05 Section: GSB Life
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On Thursday, October 6th, the GBC sponsored our annual Cold Call Dinner event, spearheaded by 2nd year students Irene Buzyna, Joscelyn Fanelli and Erin Grimes aided by 1st year students Andrew Brown, Erica Davenport and Jean Liang. During the evening, I surveyed about a half dozen of these parties in person and after follow-up conversations, I'm here to not only talk about their success, but also share (slightly embellished) stories of love connections and glass-eating 1st years and 2nd years banned from holding parties ever again under order from the Chicago Police Department.....
For anyone who is still unfamiliar with this event, each year a slew of 2nd year students open up their homes and welcome in 1st year students who are randomly assigned, or "cold called" upon, to have dinner at one of the hosting venues. This year, there were 46 separate parties and the slew of 2nd years totaled over 100. As for 1st years, almost 300 members of the Class of 2007 came out to take advantage of the opportunity to make new friends.
The Cold Call Dinners offered students a variety of options and we tried our best to match each student's dining experience with their preferences. Three cuisines (Italian, Asian and Mexican), three potential locations throughout the city (North Side, Downtown and South Side) and two start times (8:00pm and 9:30pm) were offered to accommodate everyone's social, academic and recruiting schedules. Our average party size was eight people and, in order to provide an intimate setting for meaningful conversation to foster friendships, we had a ratio of 1st-to-2nd year students of between 2:1 and 3:1 at most parties.
As for the actual ongoings, the partying really began on Wednesday at lunch time when alcohol was being distributed from the central location that is the GBC office. As several people noted, it was "very Chicago" to see the Social Chair sitting in a back room, counting the stacks of money set around the table and doling out hooch to those friends who came by to visit, very much like a Windy City speakeasy circa 1925. However, this didn't last long as the last of the sauce was distributed by 2:00pm on Thursday and all of the hosts set about their merry ways in eager anticipation of the camaraderie and tomfoolery that awaited them.....
And they were not disappointed. Having visited multiple parties, I saw a range of activities. At one party, two groups had joined forces, providing an Asian/Italian fusion party with Dave Matthews in the background and included a member of the GSB faculty, one of the greatest gatherings of beautiful people ever amassed and one student who was tee-totaling because she was running in Sunday's Chicago Marathon. At another party, held in Columbus Plaza, in a very, very dimly lit room another group was listening to house music and another would-be marathoner doing sake bombs under the justification, "as long as I don't drink starting on Friday, I'll be fine." Two other "highlights" from this party included a guest announcing to the room, "Nobody is allowed to eat until we do another shot of sake!" while holding a bottle of Kettle One in his hand followed by security showing up to shut down the party due to excessive noise and informing the residents that they are forbidden to host anymore parties during the term of their lease, under penalty of law.
Moving to a few other parties, I saw a much more tame environment, including people casually enjoying the Braves/Astros playoff game and another with people listening to music at a level that allowed everyone to answer the "GSB questions" (where are you from?, where'd you go to undergrad?, etc.). At one of these parties, some kid actually tried to procure his date for Winter Formal as his 1st year target inquired, "what's that and why would I want to go with YOU?"
And then, from the pure hearsay department, there have also been reports of an emotional foosball tournament breaking out in one North Side abode, with participants almost becoming the world's first "foosball hooligans" and starting a riot in the kitchen which detracted attention from a couple GSBers getting to know each other "really, really well." Meanwhile, a little further south, one 1st year made the mistake of mentioning that he was "able to eat glass" at which point the 2nd year hazing began, through the cruel yet ingenious use of a light bulb. Not to be outdone by the 1st year (who had clearly done this before), a 2nd year decided that this was the perfect venue for their rookie campaign as a glass eater (apparently Ringling Brothers is recruiting for full-time positions this Fall).
So, to recap, there is more than one way to approach a marathon, GSB hazing knows no bounds, foosball and eating shards of glass are both apparently fun and over 35% of the school participated. Yeah, I'd say we had a pretty good time this year.
You stay classy, GSB....
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For anyone who is still unfamiliar with this event, each year a slew of 2nd year students open up their homes and welcome in 1st year students who are randomly assigned, or "cold called" upon, to have dinner at one of the hosting venues. This year, there were 46 separate parties and the slew of 2nd years totaled over 100. As for 1st years, almost 300 members of the Class of 2007 came out to take advantage of the opportunity to make new friends.
The Cold Call Dinners offered students a variety of options and we tried our best to match each student's dining experience with their preferences. Three cuisines (Italian, Asian and Mexican), three potential locations throughout the city (North Side, Downtown and South Side) and two start times (8:00pm and 9:30pm) were offered to accommodate everyone's social, academic and recruiting schedules. Our average party size was eight people and, in order to provide an intimate setting for meaningful conversation to foster friendships, we had a ratio of 1st-to-2nd year students of between 2:1 and 3:1 at most parties.
As for the actual ongoings, the partying really began on Wednesday at lunch time when alcohol was being distributed from the central location that is the GBC office. As several people noted, it was "very Chicago" to see the Social Chair sitting in a back room, counting the stacks of money set around the table and doling out hooch to those friends who came by to visit, very much like a Windy City speakeasy circa 1925. However, this didn't last long as the last of the sauce was distributed by 2:00pm on Thursday and all of the hosts set about their merry ways in eager anticipation of the camaraderie and tomfoolery that awaited them.....
And they were not disappointed. Having visited multiple parties, I saw a range of activities. At one party, two groups had joined forces, providing an Asian/Italian fusion party with Dave Matthews in the background and included a member of the GSB faculty, one of the greatest gatherings of beautiful people ever amassed and one student who was tee-totaling because she was running in Sunday's Chicago Marathon. At another party, held in Columbus Plaza, in a very, very dimly lit room another group was listening to house music and another would-be marathoner doing sake bombs under the justification, "as long as I don't drink starting on Friday, I'll be fine." Two other "highlights" from this party included a guest announcing to the room, "Nobody is allowed to eat until we do another shot of sake!" while holding a bottle of Kettle One in his hand followed by security showing up to shut down the party due to excessive noise and informing the residents that they are forbidden to host anymore parties during the term of their lease, under penalty of law.
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Moving to a few other parties, I saw a much more tame environment, including people casually enjoying the Braves/Astros playoff game and another with people listening to music at a level that allowed everyone to answer the "GSB questions" (where are you from?, where'd you go to undergrad?, etc.). At one of these parties, some kid actually tried to procure his date for Winter Formal as his 1st year target inquired, "what's that and why would I want to go with YOU?"
And then, from the pure hearsay department, there have also been reports of an emotional foosball tournament breaking out in one North Side abode, with participants almost becoming the world's first "foosball hooligans" and starting a riot in the kitchen which detracted attention from a couple GSBers getting to know each other "really, really well." Meanwhile, a little further south, one 1st year made the mistake of mentioning that he was "able to eat glass" at which point the 2nd year hazing began, through the cruel yet ingenious use of a light bulb. Not to be outdone by the 1st year (who had clearly done this before), a 2nd year decided that this was the perfect venue for their rookie campaign as a glass eater (apparently Ringling Brothers is recruiting for full-time positions this Fall).
So, to recap, there is more than one way to approach a marathon, GSB hazing knows no bounds, foosball and eating shards of glass are both apparently fun and over 35% of the school participated. Yeah, I'd say we had a pretty good time this year.
You stay classy, GSB....