East Campus REX Events! by Nisha D. '21

To all the prefrosh who are about to arrive / on their way here / already here: Welcome to MIT! All of us, no matter our class year or living group, are excited to have you here :)

We at East Campus are especially excited for the REX events we’re hosting for y’all this year. This year, our theme is “Wild Wild West” and we plan to deliver on this – come to the East Campus courtyard and you’ll probably see at least one person walking around in our badass Rush shirt or wearing a brightly colored cowboy hat. In particular, the people wearing the cowboy hats are around to give you tours and answer your questions (or your parents’ questions, if your parents are sketched out by how hardcoar East Campus is :P). But any of us hanging around the courtyard will be happy to show you around or answer your questions about East Campus or MIT in general!

Some of you have probably already looked at this, but if you haven’t: here’s the complete list of REX activities MIT is offering this year. I obviously can’t speak much about events other dorms are running, but I can talk at length about East Campus’s events! If you click on the little magnifying glass in the top right corner and click “Filter by dorm” “East Campus”, then you can scroll through all the events that we’re offering this year.

Things that will be happening throughout pretty much all of REX/Rush:

• Construction and grilling! (Grill and chill and build on the booklet): Every REX, East Campus has a tradition of building some very impressive structures to showcase to the prefrosh. This year, we’re building a fort and an arch bridge, and it’s going to look super cool. I’m not allowed to post any pictures of what it looks like / what it will look like so it’ll be a surprise :) but if you want to check it out, stop by the East Campus courtyard and help out! If you’ve never used a power tool – well, now’s the time to learn! Our grills will also always be in operation during construction hours, so stop by for a burger (vegetarian options available) and some good conversation with the grillmasters :)
• Brand Yourself (hair dye/henna), starting on 8/25: We have some ridiculously talented hair dyers here at East Campus, so if you’ve always wanted to dye your hair but have never worked up the courage to do it, the EC courtyard is the place for you! We have dyes in pretty much every color you could imagine and your hair will look pretty dang awesome after we’re done with you.
• EC dorm tours, *technically* starting on 8/26 (but most people will give you a tour anytime you ask them): Come with us through all ten halls of East Campus and we’ll tell you stories about each hall and show you all the cool and random stuff that generations of EC students have created.

Things that I’m personally super excited about, lol:

• International House of dinner (IHOd), on 8/25 from 6-8 PM: People will teach you how to cook and will also feed you. Double whammy.
• we’re not here, on 8/25 at 11 PM: we’re definitely not going to be here in case you were wondering
• LaTeX seminar/Flavorful fellatio (ie latex seminar), on 8/26 from 5-6 PM: Gain some in depth knowledge about both types of latex, lol
• East Side Party, on 8/26 from 8 PM – 1 AM: I missed this event during my REX and I regretted this deeply. Come party with us in the completed fort and participate in a variety of shenanigans, some of which are detailed in the REX booklet. Others will be surprises.
• Cruft smashing, on 8/27 from 4-5 PM: “Cruft” refers to old stuff – mostly old hardware, but we also call graduated East Campusers cruft as well. This cruft smashing refers to the former type of cruft.
• RIOT!!!, on 8/27 from 5-5:30 PM: Come make an impassioned speech about literally anything.
• where’d we go?, on 8/27 at 11 PM: Hm, I wonder…
• Make your own stone tool, at 8/28 from 3-5 PM: Make stone tools using other stones. It’s gonna be wild (wild west).
• WATER WAR!!!, on 8/28 from 7-8 PM (I believe): This isn’t in the REX booklet, but since prep is from 6:30-7 PM, I’m assuming that I’m right. The Water War is a yearly tradition in which we East Siders (East Campus, Random Hall, and rip Senior Haus) arm ourselves with a variety of harmless water-based weapons and launch an attack on the West Campusers on Killian Court. We always win, so be smart and fight for the winning side.
• Smol Desk Concert, on 8/28 from 8-9:30 PM: Come jam with us!! I’ll definitely be here singing my lungs out. East Campus’s own FRED Desk might also turn up to sing a few songs.
• Pinkies, on 8/28 from 10PM – midnight: EC’s very own diner! Their food is delicious and I highly recommend showing up for a lovely home cooked meal.
• Make your own fire spinning prop, on 8/29 from 11 AM – 3 PM: You might find me at this event pretending to be a prefrosh. I thought that fire spinning was *too hardcore* for me during my REX, but after living in East Campus for a semester, I realized that this isn’t really true and regretted not getting into it earlier. If you have any interest in fire spinning whatsoever, go to this event!

There are dozens upon dozens of events for you to explore during REX – enjoy them! REX is a great time to meet people and learn about all of the dorms, and an even better time to have fun. We at East Campus hope you come on over to our courtyard and spend some of that time with us!