The freshmen perspective

It’s fall in Logan, Utah. The leaves are changing and the Utah State University campus is in a rush of freshmen anticipation.  With empty schedules, lanyards and school pride T-shirts, freshmen begin to take over campus and events.

After 3 weeks of classes, fraternity rush and sorority recruitment is in full swing, and soon some of these freshmen’s T-shirts and lanyards will change from Aggie Blue and Fighting White to Greek letters in fraternity and sorority colors. Their schedules will fill up with events to volunteer at rather than simply attending them.

A lot of college students have a negative perspective on Greek life, but a small percentage of freshmen decide that going Greek is a good choice for them.

“I went to recruitment and bid day was amazing. I got into Alpha Chi Omega and ever since then my college experience has been so much better,” said freshman Nikki Van Lith. 

However, not everyone agrees.  Scott Fox, USU sophomore, thinks fraternities are dumb and doesn’t understand the point behind them.

“Frat houses are nothing but a bunch of dirty obnoxious teenagers who like to drink a lot and act a fool. It’s a popularity contest on a larger scale,” Fox said. “Not to mention the drama between houses. It’s something I would never do. I like sororities though, unless they’re rude like in the movies.”

Victoria McMahon thinks it’s something she would never do. “I thought that the idea of fraternities was a good one but so corrupted by the media that the purpose and values of them were lost,” McMahon said. “Sure they were fun, but I think too many people together so often would just piss me off.”

Others hadn’t considered it, but had their opinion changed.

Charley Riddle, now a junior at USU, didn’t consider rushing until his sophomore year, despite the fact he was introduced to Greek life his first semester.

“When I came to college, I didn’t think I’d ever go Greek. But as I spent more time around it and gave it sincere though, I decided I really wanted to be Greek and then joined SigEp,” Riddle said. “I joined the spring of my sophomore year. I really wish I had joined earlier, but that’s a life lesson learned.”

Some freshmen go Greek because they want to be more involved on campus.

“When I first came to USU I had no friends and no idea how I was going to get connected to campus, but then DSP came along,” said Delta Sigma Phi member, Nate Trujillo. “I knew almost instantly that it was the right place to be.”


(d. quire)

11.25.11

Our dean put us on social probation, which means no mixers. We had a straight liquor party. TFM.

Parties.

Pledges taking up the whole sidewalk so a GDI is forced to walk on the grass. TFM.

Elitism.

Took the frathound hunting this weekend, so we tied a pledge to the front porch and made him bark at every GDI that walked by. TFM.

Hazing.

Total frat moves. According to TotalFratMove, these are the stereotypes of Greek student life.

These are the main reasons that universities shut down fraternity and sorority chapters and Greek communities as a whole. Several universities have even banned students from rushing their freshman year to try to cut out these things and encourage students to focus more on academics.

Princeton University implemented this, prohibiting freshman to affiliate with a Greek organization. The ban was the result of a recommendation by the Working Group on Campus Social and Residential Life.
The ban also “prohibits students in the other three classes from conducting or having responsibility on behalf of a Greek organization for any form of rush or solicitation in which freshmen are invited to participate,” said Princeton President Shirley Tilghman.

Colby College banned Greek life as a whole in 1984, saying it was “exclusionary by nature.”

Utah State University shut down two of its Greek organizations in 2008 due to a hazing incident. Sigma Nu Fraternity and Chi Omega Sorority are no longer part of the community at USU.

On Nov. 21, 2008 USU sophomore and Sigma Nu pledge Michael Starks died due to a hazing and alcohol related incident.  He was kidnapped by members of Sigma Nu and Chi Omega and was taken to a house off campus. While there, he was painted blue and forced to drink alcohol. He died shortly after of alcohol poisoning, police reports said.

Since then USU has developed a zero tolerance for hazing and alcohol policy violations.

Over USU’s homecoming weekend, a 17-year-old girl was taken to the hospital by Pi Kappa Alpha members after consuming enough alcohol to have a blood alcohol content of .340. Starks died at a blood alcohol content of .373.

Two weeks ago the Pike’s were placed on suspension and were disbanded from USU for alcohol policy violations.

Two members were arrested and charged with providing alcohol to a minor.

“There were a lot of incidents with Pike leading up to this,” USU Alcohol Specialist Ryan Barfuss said. “We had people get in trouble with housing who drank at Pike. That’s against their alcohol policy and Utah State’s.”

“I actually think that Pike was doing their best with the situation. It was a wrong place wrong time kind of thing,” sophomore Caitlyn Lewis said.

This is the first alcohol-related issue the USU Greek community has had in the three years since Starks’ death.

Non-Greeks are often derogatorily referred to as “god damn independents” or GDI’s by fraternity and sorority members. “Geed” is also commonly used, as a shorter, easier, pronunciation of GDI.

“I can see how it could be an elitist thing, but I’m good friends with a lot of the Greeks and it makes me feel welcome when they call me a geed. They call me Queen Geed, so it’s fine,” Tiffany Bushman, sophomore, said. “I feel like it’s a term out of love. If they called me a GDI, I would feel bad about it, and I would feel like they were looking down on me.”

“There definitely is a difference between calling someone a GDI and calling them a geed. A GDI is someone who openly bashes the Greek system, while a geed is just someone who isn’t Greek,” USU sophomore Kacie de Jong said.

The alcohol issues and the name calling that are apparent at USU’s campus don’t do anything to defy the negative stereotypes shown on TotalFratMove.

“As an Alpha Chi, I believe I believe that living our ritual will help us grow and become better leaders,” Lewis said. “That’s how we should be, even though TFM is harmless humor.”


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Spotlight on the Greek System

Joining a Greek organization can be one of the biggest choices of a college student’s life. Going Greek at Utah State University is something only 1.9% of campus population chooses to do, according Alanna Hill. Hill was a Sigma Kappa at Indiana State University. She is now the Fraternity and Sorority Advisor at USU.

Being Greek at USU is, in some ways, a lot different than being Greek at other schools. While most Greek communities are aiming for the same goals, there is something that sets USU’s Greeks apart.

“Utah has very few universities with Greek Life at their campus. Therefore less people understand the Greek System. With that being said, our organizations offer great leadership skills, academic opportunities and values congruency,” Hill said.

Value congruency happens when there is a match between member and organization value systems. This results in positive outcomes for the member and the organization as a whole.  “Most people don’t understand these values and fraternities and sororities are put in a very small stereotyped box,” Hill said.

“To me the best thing about being Greek is having a constant support system behind me. It has also gotten me to be a lot more involved on campus and given me amazing networking opportunities,” said Kappa Delta member, Brooke Lawely. “We have a lot of pride in our community and that shows to other people when we wear letters.”

USU’s Greeks wear pin attire, skirts and slacks, on Mondays, and their letters on Tuesdays. Greek communities across the United States have similar traditions.

“The awesome thing about the USU Greek community is how they try to live out their ritual. We have opportunities in which Greeks participate to get to understand what it means to be Greek as well as teach others. The community here also does not tolerate hazing and being purely social organizations.”

The Greek community at USU only has 7 organizations right now, but since the 1920’s there has been over 15. (c. Dean)

Events

Greek Week

Fall semester at Utah State University means a lot to the Greek community. It means rush week, philanthropy events, formals, and leadership retreats. One of the biggest fall events for the Greeks is Greek Week.

Held annually, this event’s purpose is to “let the USU community know who we are and why we’re here,” said Sigma Chi member Jake Giles. Greek Week also helps to uphold the 4 Pillars of Greek life. “Brotherhood and sisterhood, scholarship, leadership and service are the standards and expectations that USU Greeks must abide by,” said senior Amber Konakis, Alpha Chi Omega’s 4 Pillars Chair.

Justin Zizumbo, Greek Council’s Public Relations and Activities Chair, planned Greek Week this year. “We have a lot of fun events planned and we’re hoping to get a good turn out,” Zizumbo said.

Greek Week kicks off Monday Nov. 7 this year, with the first Stuff-A-Bus Blitz Night of the season. There are four Blitz Nights throughout November. Stuff-A-Bus is an event held every year at USU. Volunteers meet at the north end of Romney Stadium, then go to neighborhoods in Logan asking people to donate non-perishable canned food. The purpose is to fill a bus with the cans, then all the food goes to Cache Community Food Pantry.

Tuesday is Minute to Win It, a game based on the popular television show. Students can attend and compete in various challenged lasting one minute. Most challenges involve common household items such as dice, plates, and cookies. Minute to Win It will be held in the Taggart Student Center Ballroom from 9-10 p.m.

Wednesday is Greek Sing, also held in the TSC Ballroom. Greek houses were put into teams at the beginning of the week. The teams will compete with a lip sync and a parody of a popular song, usually specific to the USU Greek community. Anyone can attend this event, but only Greeks can participate.

There are two events on Thursday Nov. 10. From 11:45-12:15p.m., Greeks will be giving hugs on The Quad in honor of Free Hug Day. Free Hug Day was started as a social movement, with the theory that a hug can turn someone’s day around and start a chain reaction of random acts of kindness.

At 4pm U,      SU Student Involvement and Leadership is putting on a life-size Angry Birds obstacle course. Students can participate in the course while using water balloons and Angry Bird stuffed animals to knock down cardboard boxes.

To end the week, there is a progressive dinner down Greek row. Students start at the Kappa Delta and Alpha Chi Omega sorority houses for appetizers, then continue to Sigma Chi and Sigma Phi Epsilon for the main course, and end at Delta Sigma Phi for dessert.

“Greek Week really helps us to be better known on campus, and shows people part of what we do,” Giles said. Greek Week highlights the pride, traditions, and friendships that are prevalent in the Greek community.

(b. fonda)