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As the new semester continues, many on-campus groups are holding recruiting events that are modified to meet COVID-19 health and safety standards.
Chi Omicron Rho (XOP) Christian Fraternity hosted a social distancing bonfire at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 29 the at the Pittsburg, Kan public land lot located at the Mined Land Wildlife. The event was held outside, and face coverings were mandatory for every participant.
The event was open to anyone as long as COVID-19 restrictions were followed. The main purpose of the event was to introduce potential new members, hang out around the fire, and listen to music.
The bonfire is an event that the members of XOP try to hold every semester or at least every year. According to David Haag, senior in social work and member of XOP, the event wasn’t advertised as much as it was in previous years resulting in a small number of attendants at the event.
“We usually get a bunch of people coming every time we hold it, but this time it was noticeably smaller which facilitated social distancing,” Haag said. “We also invited the Christian sorority, Gamma Alpha Lambda (GAL), as well as a few guys who were interested in joining the fraternity.”
In order to make sure social distancing measures were being followed, members of the fraternity decided to have a bonfire that was bigger than the usual made in previous years. The expanded fire facilitated social distancing protocols to be followed as those present had their lawn chairs carefully positioned six feet apart from each other around the fire.
“We had to collect more wood than usual because of this but we also got lucky with a few piles of sticks we found at the land,” Haag said. “We added those sticks to our logs we got from one of our member’s family property so that we were able to have a big enough fire.”
According to Bradley Hartman, sophomore in mechanical engineering and XOP member, the event was a success and COVI-19 restrictions were properly followed by the participants at the event.
“Our whole purpose was to have a night were friends could get together and forget about the worries of school,” Hartman said. “We also wanted the new guys interested in Chi Omicron Rho to be involved and to start to get to know the guys”
The purpose of Chi Omicron Rho is to create an alternative from Greek life where Christian men can gather in fellowship, strengthening each other through the will of Jesus Christ.
XOP also focus their Christian power toward philanthropic activities and promotions. At the moment the Christian fraternity is doing a philanthropic fundraiser selling XOP hats and donating five dollars from every sale to the Neighborhood Life House. More information about this and other events can be found on the fraternity’s social media @ChiOmicronRho on Facebook and Instagram.