By Nick Froment
It was declared today on numerous social networks that a new group of gents and some ladies will be paving the trail for Fitchburg State’s off-campus party scene. On Pacific street, an unofficial frat has emerged from the aftermath of a former sorority house. The unofficial frat is named after one of their members, Aaron Koepper, or “Leppy” for his leprechaun resemblance.
Another leader of the house, Brandon Woodard, or “Woody” for short, expressed that Leppy Pi is the most unofficial emergence of its time. “We don’t strive for excellence, hold initiation ceremonies, or anything like that. We have a good time and keep positivity.” With a giant poster of Morgan Freeman in the living room, it’s hard to not keep positivity.
Zack Reed, a former Fitchburg State student continues to keep the crew alive with his routine weekend visits to Leppy Pi. One of the more musically-inclined members, Zack (or his rap name, OG Loc) continues to expand his talents, creating high-energy music for everyone in the house to enjoy. He and the other rappers of the crew are always adding a creative influence to the Fitchburg community as they promote their work throughout the campus.
The several upperclassmen of Leppy Pi have been friends since their freshman year and they are a melting pot of talented individuals. The current members consist of rappers, writers, filmmakers, artists, and businessmen; all fired up for the upcoming year. The living room of Leppy Pi showcases an interesting wall of printed mugshots of all the members. Ryan Skelly, one of the frat’s leaders makes clear, “In order to get on the wall, you have to do something unforgivable and greasy.” The photographer of these mugshots, who goes by the name “Nickrox,” explains how printing a bunch of fake mugshots was his best idea yet. “It gives us a feeling of stardom, and notoriety,” explains Nickrox.
A crew of motivated individuals, Leppy Pi “has no chill” as Ryan Skelly says. During the first weekend, three of the guys coincidentally locked themselves out of their rooms. What happened afterwards will forever be remembered as “The Great Demolishing” as Nickrox elucidated, when all three doors were kicked off the hinges. “Our landlord must hate us,” says Nickrox, who was forced to sleep with an open door that night. Luckily everything has been repaired and the house is back on track for the time being. Aside from the smashing of an antique plastic map over the head of Ryan Skelly the previous night, the crew is resuming relative normalcy with an afternoon of cooking, Netflix, and reflecting. “It sucks to clean this place after a weekend,” tells Nickrox as he removes scrambled eggs and Cheez-Its from the kitchen floor, “but the nights we have here are well worth it.”
The leaders of Leppy Pi plan to prosper in the months to come as they weave their web throughout the university, enjoying the weekends and spilling more carbonated memories on the floor. Unlike most frats, it was made evident that to get into Leppy Pi, you don’t need existential qualifications. Since the group was built off a three year friendship, the simplest way to get on the wall is to become good friends with the leaders. They’ve built a fortress upon a foundation of respect and brotherhood. They don’t haze outsiders, fill out paperwork, or make people pay money to be friends with them. They’ve stripped the frat system of its qualifications and created an all-admitting house where good times can be shared.