Name: Jason von der Linde
Year: Senior
Major/Minor: Finance major with Entrepreneurship minor
Hometown: Madison, N.J.
Relationship Status: Single
Sigma Chi’s annual philanthropy – Derby Days – starts next week, collegiettes! What better way to get ready for a week filled with concerts, friendly competition, and some sick dance moves than with this week’s Campus Cutie? He won’t pull some cliché pick up line on you and would love to take you to Ireland for the perfect date. Meet this year’s head Derby Daddy, Jason von der Linde!
HC (Her Campus): For those of us who don’t know, can you tell me more about what Derby Days is?
JVDL (Jason von der Linde): Derby Days is a weeklong event that [Sigma Chi] puts on each year to raise money for Brenner Children’s Hospital, which is a part of Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. We work very closely with a gentleman named Dr. Skelton, but we call him Dr. Skeleton! Essentially, the money that we raise goes to those who may not be able to afford all the services for their children. It also goes to Brenner FIT – a program that helps families who are seeking a healthier lifestyle. A lot of kids in the fraternity work as part of a group called Strong Guys, which teaches kids at the Brenner Children’s Hospital how to live their lives in terms of nutrition and physical exercise. We also work with Dr. Skelton, and he shows us how to cook more economically sufficient meals.
HC: Tell me more about the events that will be happening next week!
JVDL: On Monday, April 13, we will host a concert featuring the Ying Yang Twins. Tuesday, we host a field event that includes relay races, where all the different sororities will send different people to participate. Wednesday is the staple event called Airbands, where the sororities will come together and perform their own dance routines; in between each performance, a few guys from Sigma Chi work up enough courage to dance by themselves and get auctioned off. It’s a competition for the girls and an auction for the guys, and the money raised from that goes entirely to Brenner Children’s Hospital.
HC: How did Derby Days originate?
JVDL: Derby Days is a national philanthropy event of Sigma Chi. The cause is different based on the school you go to. It’s held across the country as a weeklong event. We’ve worked with other schools this year, like with Miami University in Ohio, and discussed what they do. It’s a good structure in the fraternity that helps everyone come together both on a level within Wake Forest and on a national level, because it transcends all chapters of Sigma Chi.
HC: What is your role as Derby Daddy?
JVDL: My job as Derby Daddy is to organize everything – from calling the venues to working with whoever is in charge of Derby Days within each sorority, as well as working with others in the fraternity so we can make it the best week possible!
HC: So is their only one Derby Daddy?
JVDL: There are two Derby Daddies: One is a junior and one is a senior. The junior is Rob Valdes-Rodriguez, and I’ve been working with him to plan all the events. He was the one who contacted the Ying Yang Twins, so it’s a give and take relationship. Last year, I worked as an understudy. As a junior, you learn what you need to do as a Derby Daddy and form relationships with venue owners, Dr. Skelton, and people in other organizations to make it the best possible event senior year. It makes it more seamless for the juniors to take over senior year.
HC: How do the rest of the brothers get involved in Derby Days?
JVDL: There are a few judges who judge certain events, and there’s also an MC. We split the remainder of the brothers up into teams, and there’s a head coach for each sorority – usually a junior or senior.
HC: What is your favorite part about Derby Days?
JVDL: I like seeing everyone else having fun and having a good time. I was Social Chair my sophomore year for Sigma Chi, and seeing everything come to fruition and having an event where everyone is smiling and having a good time and saying that they had fun is the most rewarding time for me. When it comes to events, the thing I’ve always liked is seeing the brothers on stage, because the brothers who are coaches for the sororities also participate in the dances. Just seeing how horribly awkward my friends are on stage in and of itself – the hilariousness of that – is priceless.
HC: How did Sigma Chi come up with all the different events?
JVDL: Some of them change year after year. Most of them have been here since before I was at Wake. I’ve contacted people to see what they did in past years. There’s always been a concert; always been Airbands. Some of the events can change year after year. One of the events is Mackerel Slap, where alumni from 10, 15 years ago come out just to relive it. One of the brothers wears tights over his head, and there’s eggs on both of his legs. We pass out mackerels, and a girl from each sorority has to sit on his back and hit the eggs with the mackerel, so it’s a smelly and fun event for everyone!
HC: Derby Days definitely sounds more than exciting, but let’s get to know you a bit better! As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
JVDL: I still don’t know what I want to grow up to be! Looking at my senior experience, I want to do something that has a beneficial impact on people. I think it will probably change throughout my life. I went to a presentation by the Provost my sophomore year, and [they] talked about how our generation is going to have twenty jobs and careers by the time we retire. I think that’s pretty interesting, because that’s twenty different places that you can make an impact on the world. Right now, the thing I really want to do is work in a start-up and make something transformative in terms of society. But that could change by tomorrow too!
HC: Would you rather be twice as happy or twice as smart?
JVDL: Twice as happy. What good is intelligence if you don’t have happiness? My parents raised me so that friendships and relationships are the most important things you can have in life, and everything beyond that is isolated. You have your family and friends, and everything else is gravy on top.
HC: What’s the best pick up line you have ever used?
JVDL: When I was in the eighth grade, we had a literary fair and needed to make some sort of movie, write a poem, or write a paper. My friends and I had a genius idea of making a YouTube video of pick up lines. So we went to the mall, and the only pick up line I can remember is – I went up to this girl – she must have been a senior in high school at the time – and I said, “If you were a McDonald’s burger, you would be the McGorgeous.” And I just got the weirdest look! To this day, that look still haunts me. So I usually don’t use pick up lines, since they are too cliché. That turned me off from random pick up lines!
HC: What is the best pick up line a girl could use on you?
JVDL: If a girl could say a pick up line to me … if someone started talking about traveling or something along those lines, I would be pretty happy with that!
HC: What are the most attractive traits in a girl?
JVDL: The ability to hold a conversation. I can talk to anyone for hours. I probably talk way too much to too many people. And I’m very sarcastic with everything I say. I use puns as much as possible, and if that person could put up with them and maybe even get them, then that would be a pretty attractive quality in a girl.
HC: What do you think girls look for in a guy?
JVDL: I don’t know – that’s probably my detriment. Someone who’s smart enough, nice enough – someone who’s able to have a conversation but doesn’t need to be the center of attention in all situations. Somebody who they are willing to hang out with as much as they can.
HC: When talking to a girl, what is the first thing you notice?
JVDL: One of the best qualities in girls in terms of attractiveness would be the eyes. Eyes are the windows to the soul, as one great philosopher once said.
HC: If you could take a girl on a perfect date, where would you take her?
JVDL: There’s a restaurant back home called Marco Polo, and they have the best Chicken Francaise. On a budget, that’s what it would be. It has a nice ambiance and is adequately romantic without being creepy. Without a budget, I probably would do some kind of genuine ethnic food. When I was in Ireland, there was this place called O’Neill’s, where I had the best meal at a restaurant I’ve ever had in my life, so I would take her there!
HC: If you could be a woman for a day, what would you do?
JVDL: I would do what girls always do – [something] I just wonder about or haven’t been able to understand: I would see what they say in all their conversations. I only text when I need to, so I don’t understand the need to constantly text, so that’s probably one of the things I would do. Another is I would go to a restaurant that I like or don’t like as a guy, and see how I like it as a girl. Maybe like a brunch place of sorts.
HC: What are you most looking forward to before the end of the semester?
JVDL: It’s bizarre to be on the cusp of graduating, but it’s also kind of exciting. The thing I’m most looking forward to is called Senior Orations, where everyone talks about their college experiences and gives away pass-downs. It’s a really great way to culminate the year, and it brings everyone together. It’s seniors in the fraternity talking about what they already got out of their experiences at Wake. It’s nice from a younger person’s perspective because he is able to grasp what has worked for people and what to take out of his college experience. As a senior, it’s been something that has been on the back of my mind all year – what the significance of my college experience has been and what I want to pass down to other people. It’s something that’s had a pretty big significance with me since freshman year, and now it’s all coming full circle. It’s a really good way to end the year.