The Manitoban - University of Manitoba Student Newspaper - Oct 1, 2003
Secret Societies: What are they?
A look into the world of fraternities and sororities
By Stacey Abramson, Staff
You see togas. You see kegs of beer. You see the drunk party girls falling all over the big husky men who take them and do what they will ... right? The general impression of the secret societies of fraternities and sororities has been tossed around in popular culture since the days of Animal House and more recently, Old School. But the truth of the matter is, Canadian fraternities and sororities are quite structured, community aware, philanthropic (charitable) organizations that might have got a much worse rap here than they deserve.
Not very often do the sides of people involved in fraternities and sororities become vocalized in the media. The stories that are told of their activities are those of rapes, hazings and alcohol poisoning. That being said, keep in mind that the information on the fraternities and sororities in this article is on the Canadian chapter, specifically the Manitoba chapters of the groups, not the American which is where most of the horror stories originate. A few members from several fraternities and sororities in Winnipeg had a chance to sit down and talk about what they do, and the stereotypes that are projected on them.
Greek societies?
Let's start with the basics. Back in the early 19th century, secret organizations were formed all over North America that began to govern over the dealings at the universities without anyone's knowledge. They were formed as a reaction to fair and equal opportunities that were not happening on campuses around North America and some were formed as a reaction to these societies. Sororities were formed shortly after the fraternities, partially as a reaction to their denied admittance to the organizations that the men had formed. Over the years, the groups grew and branched off into various sub-groups, and the activities within the organizations changed to include volunteer work, networking skills, and a vast array of other activities.
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| The Coat of Arms of Delta Upsilon International Men's Fraternity. |
Now, over 170 years later, the fraternities and sororities have not only developed a strong list of members, but an even bigger sense of misconception about what they do.
"It just so happens that there's Greek letters attached, which is where the stigma comes in. And it just so happens that the Greek letters give us our history which I think what makes us a unique group," explains Alpha Delta Pi sorority member K. K.Pinkowski. "We have a strong history and that's something that we're proud of and it's too bad because that's why we get stereotyped."
The mental images that are conjured up when one sees the Greek letters is one that the fraternities and sororities feel needs to be addressed and explained. They feel that one shouldn't judge their organizations just by what you've heard and seen through the media there are many sides to every story.
The Frat house parties
It seems like everything that the average person knows, or thinks they know about fraternities and sororities is more or less a stereotype. The drunken toga party at the frat house is a good place to start. The vision of a frat house for most people is place where people were perpetually drunk and lurid sex was going on in every room. In reality, the inside of these houses have walls covered in Greek letters, couches all over the place, and many televisions just like a typical student dorm - well, minus the Greek letters.
"I think the media likes to see good kids do bad things. And we are an easy target imagine a bunch of kids living in a house ooh, bad things can happen!" says Pinkowski.
There are specific guidelines when dealing with parties and the substances that are consumed at the houses. Not only that, some, if not all of the sororities have a strict rule about girls in the frat houses if a party is going on, they have to be out of the house by a certain time and under no circumstances are they allowed to stay the night. This sort of rigidity amongst the sororities is something that Pinkowski thinks breaks the 'party girl' stereotype of the sorority sister.
"Girls can get a little crazy. But I think they're crazier out of the sororities than in the sororities," says Pinkowski.
"We actually get this training called Alcohol EDU, which trains every member of the chapter with the same type of training that a bartender would get. When people have had too much, or if they are sick, or having allergic reactions we know what to do," explains Jeff Pinchin, president of the Delta Upsilon fraternity here in Manitoba. "It's almost like a safer college experience because if you're just three buddies in a dorm, and one drinks too much, it's just three guys sitting around not knowing if he's about to die or if he is going to be okay."
"Why do I need to join? I don't need to pay for my friends that's a common thing people say,"grieves Pinkowski.
One main argument against the organizations is that they are just a way for new university students to make new friends by paying big bucks for them. There are costs involved with the organization, but it is something that the members have a strong standpoint on.
"As far as I'm concerned I didn't pay for my friends. I paid for the opportunity to win a huge scholarship, which I [won]. And I paid for the opportunity to meet these really classy women who taught me so much in the last four years," says Pinkowski. "We give to our community. And I managed to have such a stellar resumé because of all of the participation I've had. I paid for that experience; the friends, that came as an aside."
Some have criticized the organizations for being geared towards a few specific faculties, while excluding the others specifically management and law. This is something that they feel is yet another stereotype that is completely untrue.
"I don't think it's geared toward any one particular faculty. Through fraternities and sororities, you will find member who have been in any number of different courses and faculties," explains theatre and English student and Delta Upsilon member Gareth McVicar.
So what about being an elitist organization? As a student, costs are already high enough; never mind adding yet another bill to the pile. But what the fraternities and sororities stress is that yes, even though there is a cost, they will go out of their way to get anyone who is interested in the organizations involved.
"The fees are pretty low a couple hundred dollars per group per year. It's not like we're banking up money for gold plates or anything like that the fees are kept pretty low and they're kept for going to essential services," explains Pinchin.
"If you really want to be a member, we will find a way," adds Pinkowski.
Where is the money going then? Apparently, many different avenues housing up-keep, workshop fees, scholarships, personal insurance for every member, among various other things. They stress that it is not simply a matter of paying for friends.
"Every little bit of money you pay, goes towards something that we can see," says Pinkowski.
"The skills and the opportunities that you're getting are worth way more than what you're paying. If you're to go into the real world after university, you couldn't even buy the skills that you would be getting let alone if you could [afford] the [large]amount you'd be paying," says Pinchin.
Discrimination
Yet another accusation cast upon the organizations is that of discrimination based upon sexual orientation. The constitution of most of the fraternities and sororities contains specific rules about discrimination.
"We just made changes [to the international chapter constitution] to make sure that there was no problems and no confusion about it. [We added] that we do not discriminate against any sexual orientation,"says Pinchin. "It's not like we 'check the box' we have nothing like that."
"We have a rule there are topics that we don't ask about. And that's one of them. It makes no difference," remarks Pinkowski.
What happens then, if a member decided to come out? Are they shunned for their sexual orientation? A resounding no comes from the mouths of the fraternities and sororities they claim that no one is judged by their sexual preferences.
"We're about who you are on merit, not as what you look like or what you do behind closed doors," explains Pinchin. "I would almost love that they would be able to come out and say something like that and feel free because it's kinda of like they're your brothers and sisters."
Hazing is a subject which can strike fear into most people when they are told of its horrors. Deaths from alcohol poisoning, dares and torture are just some of the ways that some fraternities and sororities have used to indoctrinate members into their organizations. It seems that the media has portrayed hazing and fraternities and sororities as going hand in hand. The history of how this horrifying tradition came into existence is something that Pinchin felt the need to explain.
"If you look at when hazing started, it was only about the mid-fifties, and it was from all the vets coming back from World War Two. That's how they went through boot camp and they felt that they were a big tight group together from all the hazing and all the humiliation," says Pinchin. "So when they all went to university, they decided that it was the same thing break them down and harass them and they'll be a tight group. We've been around for 120 years and hazing didn't even exist [at the beginning]."
It is a frightening fact that this does occur in some campuses around North America. But many fraternities and sororities have strict anti-hazing laws including those in Manitoba.
"We make all of our members, before they join, and every year after they've joined, sign an anti-hazing policy. We have a very similar policy on alcohol and a very similar policy on standards,"explains Pinchin. "Hazing is defined so broadly, that any word or action that by most people's standards wouldn't constitute hazing, is considered hazing."
The instances where the hazing occurs has given Greek organizations a bad name in Pinchin's opinion. The sickening stories of men and women being harassed to the point of total humiliation and sometimes death is something that the media has eaten up.
"All it takes is one campus in the States somewhere, where a group of guys are gonna be heroes and do that - and of course it makes all the student newspapers," gripes Pinchin. "What do you want to listen to - kids doing well or kids doing screwed up things?"
Benefits of joining
Now that some explaining has been done on the part of the fraternities and sororities, the reasons for joining can be revealed as well. Many students come to campus whether it be from Plum Coulee or Winnipeg not knowing a whole lot of people. They graduate high school to find that many of their friends head off into the workforce or out into the greater world to travel. This has left many students including Pinkowski and Pinchin shy and reserved at school, leaving not much chance to meet new people and do new things.
"I came to university and none of my girlfriends from high school went on to university they went and got jobs or travelled. So I went my whole first day without opening my mouth once, and a girl approached me and asked me if I was interested in joining and that's one of the reasons why I joined. I wanted to meet people," said Pinkowski.
"I would say that when I came to university, I was a bit of an introvert and I've done a total 180 in a rather short time," says Pinchin.
Other than meeting new people, the organization gives students the chance to do things that they might not have had the chance to do. The fraternities and sororities focus their time, energy and money into making better opportunities for students. Getting involved in philanthropy, cheque-book balancing workshops, general friendship and school spirit are just some of the benefits from being a sister or brother of a Greek society.
"For me, it's just an opportunity to do more with my education. I'll be graduating with a bachelor of commerce, [but] I can say that even before getting my degree, I've more or less been the manager of 35 individuals, with a $20,000 operating budget, $120,000 in assets and property, and a scheduled budget," says Pinchin, who is president of one of the local fraternity chapters. "So it's real world training wheels. So if I screw up here, it's among friends or what we call brothers so they can help you and fine-tune your skills where in the real world, if you screw up like that, you're fired."
"One of the big draws is that it gives you the chance to meet other like-minded women who want to do, you know, volunteer service and want to network in the community," says Pinkowski. "Now that I am a graduated member, I am having workshops for girls. I mean these are things that you can go and seek out on your own on campus there are resources available. But this is just a way for friends to get together and have people to get these things started."
Although fraternities and sororities have been on the campus for decades now, not many people know that Manitoba has any Greek societies. It seems as though 'frat life' is something that is seen as a US thing something that would occur in Michigan or Florida.
"Our goal for the end of this year is that there won't be one person on campus that won't know that we have fraternities and sororities in Canada," says McVicar.
It's tough for organizations like fraternities and sororities to get out of the negative pigeonhole that they have been shoved into. As a result, chapters all over are dropping like flies due to poor enrolment numbers. People such as Carol Shields, Alan Thicke (of Growing Pains fame), Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Gary Doer, Don Knotts and a host of others are (and were) all members of Greek societies. The many positive aspects of the societies are bogged down by the horrific tales of the negative ones.
"For the media that is there, I'm sure the things we might be doing would be too boring for them," laments Pinchin.
Perhaps some stereotypes have been broken now, and perhaps some have been re-affirmed in the minds of some. But what is important to see is that before you go and assume you know the whole story about what fraternities and sororities are and do, get more than one side of the story.