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Jim Bo Mr. Rybnicek English 1013 05 March 2019 Pig Dinner My community or fraternity, Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI), has many stories about how we came to be the great fraternity we are today. Phi Gamma Delta has traditions that many other fraternities and groups around the world that do not practice. Our traditions, chants, symbols and crest are what make us proud to wear our letters around college campuses and the outside world every day with pride and dignity. Fiji’s have a deep brotherhood bond because of the traditions, chants, symbols and stories we are taught throughout our pledgeship and carry with us the rest of our lives. I want to discuss with you some of these traditions and stories we have here at Phi Gamma Delta. Of course, I can not tell our secrets that we hold so deeply to our hearts but stories and practices the world should know. One of our biggest events or traditions we hold is Pig Dinner. It is a very big deal to our fraternity and hold it close to many of our hearts. One big tradition practiced each year and celebrated by FIJI chapters around the world is “Pig Dinner”. The legacy and tradition started at the University of California Berkley in 1893. Each year fraternities at the school would have participates from the “glee club” join and sing comically in competitions. These were big events that brought out many boys and girls to watch the fraternity boys make fools of themselves while still competing for a trophy at the end of the competition. A couple of fraternities decided it would be funny to bring a live pig in a barrel on stage that said, “U. of C. Glee Club”. This was a big insult at the time between two of the fraternities. At the time Phi Gamma Delta had no association with this pig in a barrel and sat

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back and watched. While one group was on stage the pig escaped from the barrel running around stage and the audience. With the crowd in a panic multiple FIJI’s got to their feet chasing the pig all around the room, stage, and looking under people’s feet for this wild pig. A couple of members dove and finally caught the pig. The story goes that the boys brought the pig back to the house that night, roasted him and had him as a big toast for winning the “glee club” competition. Member Frank Norris wrote a speech to prepare for the dinner, all members saying, “All hail the Pig” at one point in the dinner. This dinner went so well they then called upon every member present to renew his bond of allegiance, fidelity, and alliance, and to seal his vow on the bended knee by the solemn ordeal of kissing the pig's snout. Thus, the beginning of a tradition was born. There is a little bit more to the story as time goes on. Frank Norris in 1900, the man who wrote the first speech, would later get ill at his home in New Jersey and would not be able to attend Pig Dinner that year. He wrote, “An Exiles Toast”, which would later become a stand point for Pig Dinner and later be used at every Pig Dinner since. The speech is meant to be said in a fake German accent, having some humor, but paying respect to fallen brothers too. “An Exiles Toast” is always said before dinner is served. This is what Pig Dinner has been know as today. This past Saturday, March 2nd, 2019, I was able to attend my first Pig Dinner. Our fraternity rented out a local restaurant for this special event. I was very lucky to attend the event with my father. My father was a member of the FIJI chapter here at the University of Arkansas. As my dad and I got ready, we knew this was a very formal function, we got all dressed up in our suits looking spick and span. Thanks to pledgeship (as seen in my last paper) I was able to tie my own tie and when putting my suit together. When we got to the venue, it was very well decorated with many undergraduates all the way to many men in their eighties. It was a great experience

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being there with him and getting to meet really old alumni and some of the pledge brothers my dad had back in the day. Meeting these men was so amazing to my 18-year-old self. I was never able to connect with people in their fifties or eighties like I did this night. It’s so amazing to talk to these men that thirty years ago were practicing the same traditions and have the same beliefs these men were taught at my age and utilizing into their eighties. This blew my mind being able to converse with these gentlemen. As we all take our seats, we begin to listen to Dr. George Patton on of the founders of the Arkansas chapter back in 1969. This man was so old and wise and gave a great speech that all men in the room were able to relate to on some level. After Dr. Patton spoke, one of my pledge brothers gave this years, “An Exiles Toast”. It was amazing to see the speech I have read so much about, I was listening to it live right now. Very cool experience that I will never forget. After the Toast it was time to eat. In modern day I learned that a pig is no longer the main entre at the dinner. The meat served will be pork but there was not enough food for one pig to satisfy the whole room. I didn’t mind this thought I still thought the dinner was great. Half way though dinner the real roasted pig was brought out by six of my pledge brothers. This pig was very heavy and many of us braced for impact as we thought some might drop the pig. Luckily this was not the case. After the pig was laid down, another tradition that has came about over the years. The youngest person of the last initiated pledge class has to take a bite out of the butt of the pig. Silly little tradition but that’s what makes us who we are. Pig Dinner is a great tradition our fraternity holds so closely to our hearts. I have learned so much from these past few weeks about my fraternity’s traditions and events our fraternity holds. I have grown so much with getting to know what this fraternity is really about from the freshman guys all the way to the seniors who know this place inside and out. It has been a great experience and I look forward to the upcoming events we will have in the

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future. I cannot wait for Pig Dinner again next year. I would not trade the experience of Pig Dinner for anything. It really was one of the best weekends of my life and a great networking opportunity. As I prepare for the next paper, I plan to hang out with the seniors more to see which position I would like to hold in the fraternity. Knowing the in and out of each position would help me grow in my fraternity and as a gentleman of quality....