The Greek life: USU sororities and fraternities
Utah State University has been home to sororities and fraternities for 120 years and currently hosts three sororities — Alpha Chi Omega, Kappa Delta and Theta Nu Xi, Inc. — and five fraternities — Delta Sigma Phi, Phi Gamma Delta, Sigma Phi Epsilon, Psi Sigma Phi and Alpha Sigma Phi.
However, some members of the sororities and fraternities say Greek life isn’t big in Utah compared to other states and the number of members in each sorority and fraternity can vary anywhere from two to 200 people.
The former president of Alpha Sigma Chi, Chase Harward, said although others may not notice it on the outside based on having a full house, recruitment for Greek life can be hard in this state.
“You go to other schools and it’s almost like a given that they’re going to get people to join every semester and have huge recruitment classes of like 30, 40 people,” Harward said. “Some semesters we’re happy to get four.”
And after attending a conference with presidents of chapters across the country, he said it was eye opening to see the differences.
“I wouldn’t even say that it’s because we have a lot of LDS people here,” Harward said. “We had to learn how to prove our value to people.”
However, Becca Lau, the president of Alpha Chi Omega — which has 95 active members — said this isn’t always a bad thing.
“It’s also kind of fun,” she said. “You have a really tight-knit community. It’s one of those things where everyone knows everyone.”
But regardless of state, there are stereotypes that come with both sororities and fraternities.
“A lot of misconceptions in Greek life is it tends to be more abusive and there’s a lot of sexual assaults,” Alpha Sigma Chi member Tanner Casper said. “But that’s something we haven’t seen here, especially in our organization.”
Other stereotypes can include lots of partying, hazing and drinking.
“I think the stereotypes can be accurate for other places,” Casper said. “But with the culture of Utah, it’s a lot more chill. So, I don’t think the stereotypes are accurate.”
Such movies as “Legally Blonde,” show that even years after college, once a sister you’re always a sister; “Neighbors,” which portrays fraternity boys as loud, drunk partiers; and “Pitch Perfect,” where a group of diverse singers find commonality and chaos within the house.
Lau said what people see on the big screen is different from reality, though.
“I think there is a lack of recognition on how much good we can do for our community,” she said. “There’s so much more to it. It really is like an experience that can last and you make friendships that can last throughout your whole life.”
But there are some real-world examples of these stereotypes coming to life.
In February, KSL reported the University of Utah suspended all Greek life activities after multiple reports of sexual assault at the fraternity houses.
And for some students, these stereotypes are all they know related to fraternity or sorority life. But Lau hopes that people will start to recognize all the good that comes from FSL.
She said her sorority focuses on philanthropy and working with CAPSA and the Sexual Assault and Violence Information Office, or SAAVI.
“The encompassing goal of all three organizations is domestic violence awareness and we work during Domestic Violence Awareness Month,” Lau said.
But aside from volunteer and service work, Harward said he found his own sense of belonging in Greek life.
Harward said growing up, all of his friends were members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — although he is not. He said it was hard coming to USU and seeing another huge majority of members because he didn’t feel like he had a community to relate to.
“When I came to college I was like, ‘Man, I want to meet some more people who just at least understand what my life experience has been in Utah,” Harvard said. “When I joined Alpha Sig, it was crazy because we have a great mix of people. Finding my own little community with Alpha Sig has really helped me to become more tolerant and accepting of other views.”
And although Alpha Sigma Phi is one of the newer fraternities at USU, Greek life itself has been around for a long time.
According to Greek Reporter, it all began with Phi Beta Kappa in 1775 after students at the College of William and Mary decided to form a club to distinguish themselves from everyone else.
The group settled on using the Greek alphabet because it would associate them with Greece’s intellect and cultural history. The article also says the students used it as a way of secrecy and encryption.
“The founding members surmised that the Greek name would only be decipherable to students in the know who had the intellectual savvy to recognize the language,” the article reads.
And even though sororities and fraternities don’t retain as much exclusivity as they once did, they still have their secrets.
“A lot of traditions are related to the ritual, which is something that only members know about,” Lau said.
Each fraternity and sorority have their own ritual exclusive to their members. Lau explained it’s something that sets each house apart from each other and maintains exclusivity to some degree.
Other public traditions include recruitment week, bid day and pledging. However, traditions can also vary from sorority to fraternity.
Lau explained the other traditions mainly involve a fundraiser event for whatever foundation the group is paired up with.
Some examples are Alpha Chi Omega’s Pancake Saturdays to raise money for SAAVI, their annual Mr. Alpha Chi competition or Alpha Sigma Chi’s weekly game nights.
But according to Harward, the focus isn’t just about putting on events for members or students.
“It’s kind of 1,000 different clubs in one,” he said. “We can do leadership development, we can find you career services to get job networking opportunities, we do service, we raise money for different charities and we get to know other people on campus.”
To learn more about Greek life at USU, go to usu.edu/involvement/fsl. Recruitment for fraternities and sororities for the fall will begin in September.
-Jacee.Caldwell@usu.edu
Featured photo by: Katera Barlow