PDM

Monday mornings are a college students' most hated enemy.  Not the last-minute email assignments, not the paper or project that you've been putting off for a month and now have less than 24 hours to complete, not the miserable Saturday morning headaches.  It is Monday mornings that are most dreaded, most despised. 


But this Monday was different.  Even though this Monday marked the beginning of the first full week of classes, campus seemed abuzz with excitement and anticipation.  No, this joy did not stem from the anticipation of acquiring new knowledge, nor from getting a great night's sleep, or even the "easy days" on which professors only review the syllabus.  No, the thing that brightened the faces of most UT students on this particular Monday morning was the anticipation of PDM: Panty Drop Monday.


Now, in order to fully understand what PDM is, you have to understand the process of Sorority and Fraternity Rush.  The sororities rush during Welcome Week, the first week that freshmen are moved in.  During the entire week of rush, the girls who are rushing have a nine o'clock curfue every evening.  They are not allowed to attend any parties, drink, or socialize with guys.  Sunday is the final day of sorority rush, and the grueling process ends for the ladies upon receiving their bid.


The very next day, Monday, is when Fraternity Rush begins.  So Monday night is the night that all of the campus fraternities throw huge parties in order to attract pledges.  This Monday night is also the first night that the newly inducted sorority girls are allowed "out."  They attend these fraternity parties, and having not been able to socialize with the opposite sex for over a week, well... I'm sure you can figure out why it is referred to as "Panty Drop Monday."


As my good guy friend put it:
"Monday is the worst day to get lucky.  Because only the girls who are complete sluts will put out on Monday.  I mean, it's the first day!  What does that say about someone who puts out on the first day?
Tuesday nobody will be out, because everyone is still exhausted from Monday.  Wednesday and Thursday there will be a few people out, but not too many and the parties won't be too crazy, because everyone has classes the next day. But Friday, Friday is the best day to get lucky.  Everyone's out and ready to have fun because there are no classes to worry about.  That's when the girls who think they aren't sluts, but really are, put out."


Anyhow, things can get pretty crazy.  PDM is common knowledge to the public now, so there were a lot of police patrolling the area.  Some frats booked entire bars for their party, while others hosted at their frat house.  A couple of my friends went to one of the frat houses.  Because of the large number of cops, the fraternity was taking every measure possible to ensure that no one would get "caught."  They had designated drivers to take people home (people who even lived within walking distance!)  They also had all of their guests upstairs to minimize the risk of getting into trouble.  Apparently, it was very crowded.  One of my friends even came back early saying, "It was too crowded; you couldn't even move in there.  And it was just a bunch of drunk sorority girls in dresses."


Sounds like a good time to me.


I went to the library with my friend (the one that came back early from the frat house) around 1 to get help finding an article for class.  On our way to and from Hodges we saw many interesting sights, most of which consisted of a completely wasted person being escorted/supported/steered down the sidewalk towards their home as they shouted loudly.


Apparently, now it is not supposed to be reffered to as PDM.  Instead, the sorority girls have insisted that it be called FNO (First Night Out). Something about the name sounding too... unclassy.


But I doubt that the student body will ever even consider referring to this epic holiday as anything other than Panty Drop Monday.