From mid September through October, members of campus’ sororities and fraternities gear up for one of the loudest traditions at Iowa State, Yell Like Hell.

For 47 consecutive years, frenzied greek students have dominated central campus during Homecoming Week by creating hubbub. As a way to show Cyclone pride, students paint their bodies in cardinal and gold and perform choreographed dance routines, all the while maintaining a deafening, shrilling and roaring yelling.

With the intention of promoting and fortifying school spirit, student integration and involvement, Yell Like Hell was introduced in 1963, and has grown to be more than a long preserved practice.

Chi Omega pledge Cerella Carlson said participating in Yell Like Hell has been a gateway to meet more people.

“I wanted to get to know more of the girls in my house, in addition to becoming active in my sorority.”

“Yell Like Hell is a Homecoming tradition that consists of a five minute skit featuring the Homecoming theme and the Iowa State fight song. The skit is yelled and choreography is set to chants that are unique to every group,” said Joseph Trpkosh, senior in music education and Yell Like Hell coordinator.

Sororities and fraternities team up and undergo three rounds of elimination. The first cuts feature all the Yell Like Hell skits — 13 for 2010. The pairings all wear their Yell Like Hell T-shirts and they are judged in six categories. 

Second cuts feature the top seven groups. These groups get painted from head to toe and perform on Central Campus.

Third cuts, like second cuts, happen on Central Campus. The top three skits perform Oct. 29 during the Homecoming Pep Rally and are again painted from head to toe.

Groups are judged on a point system in the categories: prep and enthusiasm, creativity and uniqueness, yelling expression, movement precision, portrayal of Homecoming theme and incorporation of the improvisation phase. Judges are picked from faculty and staff recommendations, Ames community leaders, and some representatives from the Student Alumni Leadership Council.

Awards are given out to participants and groups for best overall performance by an individual, best representation of the 2010 Homecoming theme, best choreography, best costumes and best script. At each competition round, the Homecoming Central Committee nominates the participants or groups for each award.

“All IFC [Interfraternity Council fraternities] and CPC [Collegiate Panhellenic Council sororities] houses participate in Yell Like Hell; however, this is not a greek-only tradition. When the tradition first started, residence halls and other organizations participated, too,” Trpkosh said.

Yell Like Hell has progressively turned into an all-greek event. Out of the 22,521 undergraduates from 2009, 11.1 percent were greek students.

The event is nevertheless opened to any student. It is neither mandatory, nor limited to first-year greek members. Because Homecoming embodies the entire university, participation is encouraged.

“The actives said that [Yell Like Hell] is a lot of fun. Also, I really wanted to socialize with other fraternities and sororities, and that’s one of the best ways meet people from the Greek Community. Now I look back and see that I met a lot of cool people and don’t regret it at all,” said Josh Flott, freshman in mechanical engineering and Theta Delta Chi pledge.

With the theme of “Highlight of the Year” this year, the Student Alumni Leadership Council is putting together a Yell Like Hell skit that will be performed in the non-competition category. Also, Sigma Nu, a new fraternity on campus, will be participating for the first time this year.

Veterans to the tradition, FarmHouse fraternity and Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity are household names when it comes to Homecoming. Both houses have been titleholders throughout the years following the event’s debut in campus.

“We take a lot of pride in being successful in all aspects of the greek community and Homecoming is no exception. Our fraternity has been able to establish a tradition of excellence in association to Homecoming, among other things, and that has been instilled in our members. It is a fun few weeks of activities and the friendly competition between greek houses keeps us motivated to succeed,” said senior in agricultural business and member of Alpha Gamma Rho, Justin Van Wert.

On the success of FarmHouse fraternity, Andy Pringnitz, junior in agriculture and life sciences and president of FarmHouse, said, “Like most houses, we try to have fun with the whole process. It is really all about making the most of the experience. If you work hard and have fun along the way, any additional recognition is a bonus.”

FarmHouse fraternity, who swept first place last year in Yell Like Hell with its pairing with Alpha Delta Pi, Kappa Sigma and Phi Beta Chi, promises to continue its legacy as crowd pleasers.

“Each year brings the same events with new excitement. People can expect the pairing of FarmHouse, Theta Chi, and Gamma Phi Beta to have fun and work hard throughout this year’s Homecoming season,” Pringnitz said.

Due to this year’s increase in greek recruitment, Yell Like Hell is expected to be louder and more thrilling than ever before.