The command written on the walkway spurred mass curiosity.
“Ask her,� it ordered.
Ask who? About what?
Written in pink and blue chalk covering the Fresno State Free Speech Area, the slogan “Ask her� got students talking.
Lilliana Torres, a social work major, said in an Internet post that her friends constantly hounded her about it.
“I don’t know anything about it,� Torres said. “I would even tell my roommate, why doesn’t someone just ‘ask her’ already and find out!�
Angie Lopez, a Fresno State junior, was curious about the message and speculated about a possible culprit in an Internet post.
“I wish I knew what it meant,� Lopez said. “Maybe women’s studies or the Women’s Resource Center is behind it.�
That seemed to be the general consensus: “Ask her� was a message concerning women’s rights, and that the Women’s Resource Center or other organizations on campus such as Women’s Alliance were behind it.
An official from the Women̢۪s Resource Center said it had no involvement with the message. A few students went to the center because they thought the center was behind it, but were disappointed when they learned that it was not.
“Ask her� is a promotional tool used by the Kappa Sigma fraternity for spring rush.
“Ask her� had spawned a MySpace forum, where students tried to find answers to sate their appetite for information about the message. One post by Chris Michel, a graphic design major, suggested that the answers may be found at one of the Greek societies on campus.
“I believe it was a sorority because I saw a bunch of girls wearing shirts that said that also,� Michel said in a post.
Bradley Norris, president of Kappa Sigma, said, “It was an advertising stunt for spring rush to try and recruit some new members.�
Norris said it worked really well. The goal was to have students wondering about the message. Kappa Sigma then had girls wear shirts that read, “Ask me� two weeks ago. When someone asked the girls, they would provide information about how to join the fraternity, and invite them to the information and dinner nights that occurred Feb. 15 and 17.
“It was just really cool seeing all the reaction and speculation before we had the girls out there,� Norris said. “I couldn’t believe there was a whole MySpace discussion board about it.�
Laura E. Williams, Greek life and activities adviser, said the spring semester brings a whole new approach to recruitment for fraternities and sororities.
“Spring rush is less formal than fall recruitment week,� Williams said. “There isn’t just one week of events and advertising. For the spring there is continuous open bidding throughout the semester.�
The vagueness and obscurity of the message caused so much speculation and interest in the fraternity that Norris plans to eventually use the tactic again.
“It was fun,� Norris said. “And with the reaction that followed, we will be glad to do it again.�
