Swamp Water: Cold Beer, Live Music, and a Fake Swamp

One of the artifacts I have from my frat days is a T-shirt from Swamp Water in 1990. It was a party where we’d create a swamp behind the house that you had to go through to get in. The swamp was framed by wood and a layer of plastic to keep the water in, […] The post Swamp Water: Cold Beer, Live Music, and a Fake Swamp appeared first on Shawn Collins' Blog.

Posted on: 23 September 2026 | 5:46 pm

PIKAPALOOZA: A Frat Music Festival With Good Intentions

I went to Lollapalooza at Lake Fairfax Park in Reston, VA, on August 14, 1992, and I was floored by the opportunity to see so many awesome performers in one place. Check out this lineup… Ice Cube, Jesus and Mary Chain, Lush, Ministry, Pearl Jam, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Soundgarden. But that wasn’t all. […] The post PIKAPALOOZA: A Frat Music Festival With Good Intentions appeared first on Shawn Collins' Blog.

Posted on: 16 September 2026 | 5:00 pm

Cisco, Sanford and Son, a Payphone, and Post-it Notes

It was summer 1991, and the lease on my Knox Box apartment was up. I hadn’t renewed it because I was moving into the fraternity house for the next year. So, I crashed at the frat with a few other guys until Hell Week was set to start and we would settle into our rooms. […] The post Cisco, Sanford and Son, a Payphone, and Post-it Notes appeared first on Shawn Collins' Blog.

Posted on: 9 September 2026 | 5:55 pm

My Bloody Valentine, Beer, and Decades of Rats

You never know when some random moment is going to turn into a thing you talk about for the rest of your life. For Pat and me, it was when we watched the 1981 slasher flick, My Bloody Valentine. We were new brothers in Pi Kappa Alpha at the University of Maryland, and there was […] The post My Bloody Valentine, Beer, and Decades of Rats appeared first on Shawn Collins' Blog.

Posted on: 2 September 2026 | 5:53 pm

Fandango: A Road Trip to New Orleans After College

I graduated from the University of Maryland in May 1993 with a BA in Communications. My job prospects were pretty limited, since I didn’t have a car and was living at my Dad’s house in the suburbs. I needed a job I could walk or bike to, and the first one that said yes was […] The post Fandango: A Road Trip to New Orleans After College appeared first on Shawn Collins' Blog.

Posted on: 26 August 2026 | 2:34 pm

Cult of Personality and My First University of Maryland Homecoming

I was a freshman in fall 1988 at the University of Maryland at College Park, and I pledged Pi Kappa Alpha that semester. My pledge class had to dedicate a lot of time from Monday, October 10, through Saturday, October 15, 1988, setting up and cleaning after parties, participating in Homecoming activities, and holding seats […] The post Cult of Personality and My First University of Maryland Homecoming appeared first on Shawn Collins' Blog.

Posted on: 19 August 2026 | 2:47 pm

Spring Break 1993 – 1,200 Mile Road Trip to Key West

I was in college for 10 semesters and a summer session, but I only managed to go on a Spring Break trip for my very last year (I spent my first Spring Break doing community service). As soon as classes ended, six or seven of us piled into “Big Joe’s” station wagon to head on […] The post Spring Break 1993 – 1,200 Mile Road Trip to Key West appeared first on Shawn Collins' Blog.

Posted on: 12 August 2026 | 3:50 pm

I Thought There Would Be More College Activism in the 1980s

When I was a teenager, I would watch the Woodstock documentary whenever it was on PBS. Those days seemed so passionate and politically charged, and I wished I were around for it. As Country Joe and the Fish came on stage to sing the “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-to-Die Rag,” the lyrics would take me back to those protests […] The post I Thought There Would Be More College Activism in the 1980s appeared first on Shawn Collins' Blog.

Posted on: 5 August 2026 | 11:23 am

Fraternity Rag Sheets: Brotherly Love and Hate

It was the fall 1988 Christmas/Graduation party at the Pi Kappa Alpha chapter at the University of Maryland, where I first saw a fraternity rag sheet. As brothers and their dates mingled and downed drinks, a pile of photocopied, stapled pages appeared. The front page read, “The Four Pi’s,” and everyone raced over to read […] The post Fraternity Rag Sheets: Brotherly Love and Hate appeared first on Shawn Collins' Blog.

Posted on: 22 July 2026 | 5:53 pm

The Fake Advice Column That Got Me in Legal Trouble

I published four issues of a Greek life newspaper at the University of Maryland called The Greek Times, and I got a nastygram from a lawyer about content in the third issue. It was an advice column that caused the trouble. One of the staff members, Kendra, would answer questions submitted to the newspaper. They […] The post The Fake Advice Column That Got Me in Legal Trouble appeared first on Shawn Collins' Blog.

Posted on: 15 July 2026 | 12:56 pm