It starts with a swing, and then it’s off.  The windows go out first, then the tires, and then it’s no longer recognizable.

Students gather at the Kappa Sigma fraternity house to participate in the “Car Bashing,” a fraternity rush event to recruit WKU students for Kappa Sigma.

“Kappa Sigma was originally founded in 1965 and returned in 2005,” President Robert Whittley said.

Kappa Sigma consists of 37 members.

This event was one of the many WKU rush events during the official Inter-Fraternity Council recruitment week. WKU has a total of 19 fraternities that students can rush. The fraternity and sorority community has been a part of the student experience at WKU for the past 45 years. And over 1,800 students join these groups in hopes of networking and learning better leadership skills.

“The Kappa Sigma event had about 15 potential members and they were all participating,” Whittley said.

Senior Kappa Sigma member Barrett Severance has participated in the car-bashing event for several years.

“It’s a sober event every guy is going to like,” Severance said.

The car was bought from a local junkyard with the effort to bring in more recruitment for Kappa Sigma.

The car was demolished after each new recruit as well as members got a swing at the car.

A sledgehammer was the instrument of choice for members to bash the car.

“It was a night of getting to know the Kappa Sigma brothers and bashing a car, “ Whittley said.