The Cord Weekly , Wilfrid Laurier's Student Newspaper - Sep 19, 2007

Looking deeper into the lives of sororities and frats

By Dave Shore

Cord Features talks to the presidents of the five long-standing Greek organizations at Laurier to determine whether or not Greek Life is as deplorable as pop culture would have you assume

Fraternities and sororities are unmistakably a large aspect of the university environment. They walk around wearing strange letters, they throw parties and they are always exceedingly polite while trying to convince you to join their clubs.

Some students see them as a great way to network around campus. Some see them only as people that need to pay money to make friends.
What is certain, though, is that Greek Life is a very emotionally and politically charged concept. Whether you love it or hate it, very few people are without opinions on the Greek Letter System.

Most of these opinions and preconceptions come from movies and television, or from stories we’ve heard from other people. Most people seem content to pass judgment on their existence without any real knowledge of their activities.

But what really goes on in a frat house' Is the accusation that they only just party every day a fair one' Does the existence of fraternities and sororities harm Laurier, or do we benefit from it' These are precisely the questions The Cord sought to answer.

The Facts

Laurier is very unique in that it is the only university in Ontario to recognize its Greek system within its faculty. Greek Life is currently under control of the Dean of Student’s office, ultimately the responsibility of Dean of Students, David McMurray.

Currently, the university recognizes six Greek organizations on campus: three sororities and three fraternities. The most recent of these organizations, the Phi Delta Theta fraternity, came into existence in 2005.

There is also one other organization, a Jewish fraternity of Laurier that is not recognized by the university.

The current Greek system at Laurier is relatively new, having only started in 1986. In only 21 years, it has already seen rapid expansion in the number of existing organizations.

All of the recognized Greek organizations at Laurier are affiliated under the Greek Life Council. The president of Greek Life at Laurier is Dan Hocking, two-time former member of WLUSU’s management committee, and a Sigma Chi.

The other members of Greek Life Council include the six presidents of the fraternities and sororities on campus, as well as one other delegate from each organization.

Laurier also has had a Dean of Greek Life in the past, but after the most recent dean, Barry Gough, retired in 2005, the position has yet to be filled.

The Philanthropy

Philanthropy work is one of the ideals Greek Life was founded on, and today it remains one of the most significant aspects of every fraternity and sorority.

Fraternities and sororities spend a lot of time giving back to the community, despite how strained the relationship between the two can sometimes become.

“50 percent of our time is devoted to charity work, the other half is devoted to weekly meetings and social events,” says Jacqueline Calverly, the President of the Alpha Omega sorority.

Calverly, as well as the other members of Greek Life Council, believes that the charity work Greek organizations do is one of the main selling points to potential members.

“A lot of the guys that join, they want to join to do charity work. Especially in the last two years, I think 50 percent of the guys that came in said they wanted to help the community more,” says Mike Perulli, Pi Kappa Alpha’s President.

“You do your community service in high school, and then it’s over, and many girls come to me saying they want to give back,” says Megan Amodeo, President of Alpha Phi.

Every fraternity and sorority on campus has one main charity that they donate to. These range from the Children’s Miracle Network (Sigma Chi) to the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (Delta Gamma) to local women’s shelters (Alpha Omega).

Generally, each organization runs one major charity event each semester to raise money for their cause. For example, Pi Kappa Alpha, more commonly known as the Pikes, pull a fire truck from the University of Waterloo to University Stadium to raise money for the Big Brothers of Waterloo. In addition, some of the money raised from their parties is often donated to charity.

The Parties

While not everybody knows exactly how much effort goes into their philanthropy, everyone is aware that the fraternities like to party.
In fact, a common preconception is that parties are the sole focus of fraternity life.

“I think it’s … because in movies and television shows, good television and good entertainment comes from one segment of it, which is parties. And all of a sudden everybody gets the idea that that’s what you are,” believes Matt Park, President of Sigma Chi fraternity.

Though Park insists that there are many other focuses of Greek Life, such as education, leadership and philanthropy, he does not deny that the fraternities do throw parties. But he also notes that fraternity members are not the only students who throw keggers.

“The difference between our parties and a regular keg party is that ours are organized much better. By that I mean security, IDs are checked at the door … brothers don’t drink during the parties,” explains Perulli. “It’s a lot more controlled than a regular party, only because we are liable for what happens. If [something goes wrong], we could lose our charter.”

This is something the Pikes are all too familiar with, having only regained recognition by the university this past year. They lost their charter a few years ago after an out-of-control Pikecoming event.

This meant that the Pikes could not advertise on campus, hold meetings on campus, or rush on university grounds. Losing university support means losing a great deal of ability to attract new members as well as the ability to operate smoothly. Evidently, a slip-up for one of these groups can be very costly.

“We’re all under Greek Council. If one person makes a bad image for whatever organization, it’s going to look bad on all of us,” says Perulli.
“When there’s so many of us, drama is bound to happen every now and then,” says Calverly.

And though there are the inevitable events that cast Greek Life in a negative light, the fraternities and sororities strive to ensure that their parties are safe and controlled.

That’s why this year’s Pikecoming is being held at Bingeman’s, far from any other residents. Perulli hopes this move will help redeem the Pikes, and Greek Life in general, in the eyes of the community.

Brotherhood/Sisterhood

The words "brotherhood" and "sisterhood" are thrown around a lot surrounding the discussion of Greek Life.

Many people say that it was brotherhood or sisterhood that attracted them to fraternity or sorority life, and most enriched their university experience.
However, it is very difficult to capture what exactly makes the bonds created between “brothers” and “sisters” different from the bonds other students make in university.

Part of what makes this definition so hard is that the distinctions between one Greek group and another are small.

“People have this notion that the biggest difference between the Pikes and us is that they’re the party fraternity and we’re the leadership guys, and that’s not true at all. The leadership program at Pi Kappa Alpha is a great program as well,” says Park.

Park explains that Sigma Chi is looking for students with “different temperaments, talents and convictions.”

The Pikes, on the other hand, are looking for “scholars, leaders, athletes and gentlemen,” according to Perulli.

These vague descriptions hardly offer any real insight into what distinguishes a Pike from a Sigma Chi. In reality, all fraternities and sororities are simply looking for new members that will fit in with existing members, and will reflect positively on their organization.

“We’re not looking for the most guys, we’re looking for the ‘most best guys'," says Perulli, as if this is a common mantra for recruitment.
There is also some disagreement between Greek group members on what exactly brotherhood and sisterhood means.

“Sisterhood is ... ‘I would do anything for these girls. I would stand up for them whether I thought they were right or they were wrong,’” says Calverly.
Park, on the other hand, doesn’t believe this is the essence of brotherhood. “You support your brothers, you educate your brothers, but you don’t unquestioningly protect and defend your brothers when it’s not valid.”

Park explains that he would not have asked his brothers to vote for him unquestioningly last year when he ran (successfully) for Chair of the Board of Directors for WLUSU, and if he had, they would not have obliged.

In this sense, very little separates brotherhood or sisterhood from other strong friendships. Brothers and sisters are merely brought together by common interests, spend a lot of time together over their university careers, and develop close bonds.

There are two main things that distinguish brotherhood or sisterhood as unique. The first is that each member has knowledge of the secret rituals of their organization that are entirely unknown except for its members.

The Greek Life Council has a strict no-hazing policy that all organizations must adhere to. The rituals are simply something that bonds members together.

“You have to trust the girls … it’s just something special for that individual group,” says Meghan Thompson, President of Delta Gamma.
The other thing that makes brotherhood and sisterhood unique is that all international fraternities and sororities (every group at Laurier except for the Alpha Omegas, who remain a local chapter only) are linked with other chapters around the world. This means that members can go to other cities and still have the support of their organizations, even after they have graduated.

Rushing

Rush is the period of time in which students attempt to be recruited by a fraternity or sorority, and the frats and sororities in turn decide who they want in their group.

The rush period lasts roughly two weeks in the first month of every semester, and consists of many free events that are geared towards having potential members, or rushers, meet with existing brothers and sisters, and vice versa.

Every Greek organization agrees that the only real way to grasp what Greek Life is like is to attend rush events.
“That’s what rush is for. We have two weeks of free events that doesn’t cost anything to the people that attend, and that’s just to get a feel if its for you or not,” says Perulli.

“Even if you’re concerned you don’t have enough time, even if you’re concerned about finances, even if you’re concerned about it being a prep organization that’s all about networking … try to put all of that on hold for a bit and come see what it’s like. And if you get your belief confirmed, hopefully you’ve had a good two weeks,” urges Park.

While rushing will give you a feel of what Greek Life is like, what it won’t do is give you an understanding of how you are being evaluated or selected.
“We have a deliberation process. I can’t go into it very much because it’s a ritual,” explains Calverly. “They have to attend three to five events, and if they have, then they’re usually offered a bid.”

“Its called mutual choice. They choose us and we choose them,” says Thompson.

Though there may not be any way of knowing exactly what will get you a bid and what won’t, Park advises rushers just to be themselves.
“If you come in and admit yourself, faults and all, then this is going to be interesting. This is going to be somebody who is going to be committed to the process of understanding who they are,” Park feels.

Even though most people who go out and rush are offered a bid to join at least one organization, the fact that selection processes are entirely secretive can give the feeling that fraternities and sororities are too exclusive.

Still, there is very little that is strange about Greek Life. They are nothing more than student groups that throw parties, do charity work, and have created social ties in a different way than most.

The perceptions perpetuated by movies like Animal House and Old School are largely untrue. While Greek Life is not for everybody, it can certainly be a worthwhile venture for many students.