Students collect in entrance of the Sigma Chi fraternity home on W. College Street for the annual Polar Bear get together Jan. 17, 2026 in Carbondale, Illinois.
Shivering college students and loud music crammed West College Street on Saturday, Jan. 17 because the annual Polar Bear day get together rang within the new semester in below-freezing temperatures.
Polar Bear, the annual spring-semester kick-off get together, takes place every January on the weekend following the primary week of lessons. Students bundled of their warmest coats, scarves, gloves and carried round gallon-sized drinks. Borgs — gallon water jugs full of a mixture of alcohol, water and sometimes electrolytes — was the drink of alternative by many college students and are usually stamped with enjoyable, artistic names.
The occasion was held at Sigma Chi and Phi Kappa Tau fraternity homes, inside strolling distance of each other, which allowed college students to maneuver forwards and backwards between the 2 events. An enormous tent was arrange outdoors of the Sigma Chi home with a number of giant heaters to provide college students a possibility to maintain heat by means of the frigid climate.
Polar Bear started 25 years in the past within the early 2000s and started as a manner for Pinch Penny Pub, a former faculty bar that has since closed, to promote Corona beers within the winter time. It then branched out years later to incorporate a summer season counterpart, Solar Bear, that takes place within the fall semester and since then, each weekends have turn into a standing custom. The events now are hosted by SIU sororities and fraternities fairly than faculty bars.
This yr’s get together provided grilled meals, heaters and several other video games for college kids to maintain heat.
Senior editor Lylee Gibbs could be reached at [email protected] or on Instagram @lyleegibbsphoto