University’s Greek life onn steady decline
Enrollment is down at Utah State University and the Greek community is feeling the bite.
In 1995, there were 399 members of Greek organizations at USU. Five years later, there were 310. This year, the number is down to 237.
Sororities have suffered more than fraternities at USU, falling from 182 members in fall 1995 to 112 last fall semester. Fraternity membership was 217 in fall 1995 and stood at 125 last fall.
Keri Mecham, associate director of Student Involvement and adviser to the Greek houses on campus, said the decreased enrollment in the fraternities and sororities has not exactly mirrored the decline in enrollment because those who make up the Greek membership are not a perfect cross-section of campus. A large percentage of Greeks are out-of-state students.
Lowered enrollment means higher tuition. Those who are hit most by an increase in cost are those from out of state.
“Substantially something that did lower enrollment was fewer out-of-state students,” Mecham said. “That’s where they find their niche. As tuition goes up, out-of-state students go down.”
About 2 percent of USU students are members of a Greek house, said Paul Creech, president of Sigma Chi. At other universities nation-wide, that number can be 30-60 percent, he said.
The difference in involvement can be attributed to different cultures, Mecham said. Different regions of the country have different ideas about Greek membership. For example, in the South, “you’re Greek or you’re not involved on campus,” Mecham said. She said legacies can develop within sororities in the South, with mothers, daughters, grandmothers and aunts all participating in the same chapter at the same institution.
“On the East coast and in the Midwest, if you’re not a member of a Greek organization, you have no social life, you’re bored, you’re not productive,” said Steve Morrill, president of Sigma Nu.
One of the biggest challenges to Greek recruitment efforts in Utah is overcoming stereotypes of fraternity and sorority life.
“The dominant culture being what it is, sororities and fraternities are inclusive of that,” Mecham said. “You’re not going to see that type of behavior, especially at USU.”
The negative image of Greek houses is what led Sigma Phi Epsilon, a fraternity that began recruiting members at USU in 2003, to disassociate from the Inter-Fraternity Council at USU in an attempt to escape the stereotype.
Other houses put their efforts into getting their names out in connection with charities and activities to change the image they have.
Fraternities and sororities are chapters of national organizations. These organizations require their members to do community service, support a charity, be involved on campus and maintain their grades. Morrill said the good done by these chapters is often overlooked and overshadowed by stories about wild parties and hazing incidents.
“Everyone thinks we’re just hanging out,” he said. “The Greeks as a whole probably honestly do more than people realize.”
“There are people who drink and who smoke, but that’s not what the organization is about. That’s a personal choice,” Creech said. “People are not going to go through initiation just to go to a party.”
Morrill said Greeks at USU raise money for and give support to charitable organizations such as the Huntsman Cacner Institute, Best Buddies, Sub for Santa, domestic violence awareness and the Children’s Miracle Network.
Greeks also help with campus activities such as Homecoming. Morrill said his chapter alone has 18 active members and did 500 hours of service last semester.
Creech said being in a fraternity in Utah can be hard, and they are careful during rush, or recruiting, to not offend people.
“We are a little more sensitive to those stereotypes at USU,” he said.
Creech said members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are often hesitant to consider joining a fraternity because they don’t want to be involved in what is considered typical frat-boy activities. However, he said once they have seen what Greek life really has to offer, they often stay.
Morrill said the beginning of a new fraternity chapter, Pi Kappa Phi, has helped the recruitment efforts of the entire Greek community this year.
“It helped us out because, in Utah, people usually don’t want to come see, but with a new frat, they think they can come start it up,” he said. Once they have seen what it’s all about, he said even the ones who don’t make it into Pi Kappa Phi want to try to join other fraternities.
“The best way to break down that stereotype, having so many LDS students on campus, is to do things with LDSSA (Latter-day Saint Student Association),” Morrill said. He said when either the school or LDSSA has an activity or service project they need help with, they call the Greeks.
Both Creech and Morrill said they have several members of the LDS Church in their fraternities.
“We have a good relationship with our bishop,” Creech said. “We have him over quite a bit and even hold ward functions here at the house.”
Creech said he enjoys being in his fraternity because of the friendships he’s made and the opportunity to be involved on campus.
Cena Pope, president of the PanHellenic Council, the organization that is over all the sororities at a school, said that although enrollment has gone down, the quality of the Greek community hasn’t suffered.
“When it comes to the integrity of an organization, it comes to not the number of members, but the quality of members,” she said.
-ella@cc.usu.edu