Social Life at PBE

At PBE, we realize that problem sets and classes can become a full time job if you let it. Many a student has fallen prey to the academia monster and found himself slogging in the library until 3 AM on a Saturday night. We hope that you, like most of us, don't see this as your ideal college experience. Instead, we strive to strike a balance between work and play--the Institute rules most of the week, but we take back the weekends!

Just like in everything else, every brother at PBE have varied and unique ideas of recreation. Socially, we keep ourselves busy in a variety of ways. From big floor shaking parties to small, in-house poker games, we do it all. Whether your looking to find a buddy to go clubbing, or somebody to check out a new jazz club, chances are, somebody in the house will want to go too. If there's one thing Phi Betes do well, it's find a good time.

Most guys in the house agree that having friends over and making new friends is better than just hanging out with each other day in and day out. To this end, we host at least four large, open parties every year where with guests from MIT as well as BU, Wellesley, Harvard, and as far away as Mt. Holyoke (I guess two hours isn't that bad of a drive!). Between our roofshaking roofdeck parties and our themed Halloween and Throwback parties, we keep our 4 resident DJs (DJ No Rhythm, DJ Deki Mas, DJ Bonsai, and DJ B-Rock -- The stories behind the names could be funnier than the names themselves!) busy. All in all, we often end up with more than 600 people coming through the door during the night--all the socialness you could possibly want!

Besides large, open parties, we also hold upwards of 20 smaller parties through the year, as well as weekly social mixing events. Usually more low-key, these events nonetheless attract an ample crowd and are a great way to get to know people you otherwise wouldn't have.

We also host events that aim to reward and congratulate members of the house--namely our fall semiformal and our winter formal. Each year, we host a fall semiformal in honor of our newly inducted pledges. Brothers, pledges, and their dates spend the evening of dinner an events getting to know one another, and it gives brothers a chance to dote on and brag about the house's newest members. Previous semiformal events included boat cruises, a trip to see the Blue Man Group,and theater events. Our winter formal is yet another excuse for us to look our best and show off the best side of Phi Beta Epsilon. A great pick-me-up during the winter months, past formals have featered food from our wonderful chef Beverly as well as trips to fine local restaurants, with the after dinner festivities ranging from Broadway musicals to quiet evenings in Tapas lounges.

With such varied social interests amongst the brotherhood, there is no pressure to be involved in any one particular activity. In fact, we expect that each member finds his own social niche and to that end, contributes to the uniqueness of the house. As with academics, athletics, and life in general, brothers of Phi Beta Epsilon aim for diversity, and strive for success.