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Printer-Friendly ModeGreeks look to boost presence on campus
September 13, 2010 —
With Rush week fast approaching, sororities and fraternities are preparing to welcome and invite new potential members into their organizations. SVSU is home to seven fraternities and five sororities, as well as Greek councils to govern the three national fraternities and two national sororities.
Some of the organizations have already begun the pre-recruiting process, though the actual week of Rush is different according to individual Greek organizations.
For Alpha Phi Omega, a coed fraternity that focuses on community service, Rush begins Monday with an info night and a game of Mafia in Groening Commons at 10 p.m. The week will continue with a Buffalo Wild Wings night, and then a night devoted to making cards for a local nursing home and cookies for the sorority members and recruits. The week will finish off with sand volleyball and a group trip to the football game on Saturday. APO president and occupational therapy first year grad student Kate Davis emphasized the leadership opportunities for students within the organization, and secondary education third year Aimee Wilson said “It’s a great group for students interested in getting involved in serving the campus and the community outside of SVSU. Plus you meet a lot of fun people!”
Kappa Tau Epsilon (a local sorority)’s Rush week is Sept 20-25, though an information night will be held Sept 15. In the meantime it’s holding a pre- Rush tie-dye party Tuesday and are participating in “active, but laid-back recruiting” according to senior marketing senior Sara Marx. The actual week of Rush will include a Hawaiian night, a spa night with pampering by a Mary Kay representative, another info night, a bonfire, a barbeque with TKE as a sample mixer, and the final event is attending the SVSU-Northwood football game to bring the girls together in a show of school spirit. Marx encourages students to “go Greek” because it “opens a lot of doors and gets you really involved on campus. “Being Greek “introduces you to a lot of people outside of your degree program.”
National fraternity Sigma Pi will be offering a rush event never done before, according to criminal justice senior Jacob Premo: a wiffle ball game in the courtyard. Sigma Pi’s Rush week begins next week and will be regulated, as with the other national fraternities (Phi Kappa Tau and Tau Kappa Epsilon) by the Interfraternity Council (IFC). The men of Sigma Pi will be hosting a barbeque (generally as a mixer with a sorority), and a bowling night.
Premo explains that Sigma Pi is “different because we started Greek Life. We’ve been on campus since 1997 and the traditions have been upheld since the first initiate class.” Premo says the brothers “love to be together and around each other and through the pledge process you really feel like you’re part of a family. Once initiated, you’re no longer just around a bunch of guys, you’re with your best friends.”
Criminal justice and sociology senior Meghan Kerr is involved in both Alpha Sigma Alpha and Panhellenic, the representative group that governs the national sororities at SVSU: ASA and Phi Sigma Sigma. Kerr explained how the two sororities will hold Rush the week of the 20th through Panhellenic recruitment, as well as “a philanthropy night on the 22nd that will get interested girls better acquainted with national philanthropies such as the Special Olympics. There will be some girls looking for volunteer opportunities and ASA will provide that for them right away.” Kerr said that within ASA “the girls have a really close bond. All of them are passionate about the organization and volunteer work, as well as getting involved on campus. People who feel the same way should come out and meet the lovely ladies of ASA.”
One fraternity that wasted no time in showing themselves to the student body was Tau Kappa Epsilon. For the first week of school TKE had a wedge lounge filled with brothers and potential recruits. “One of the most appealing things about a fraternity is hanging out with brothers, but campus doesn’t get to see that because there is no Greek housing… so this year, TKE decided to bring the brotherhood to the campus” explained TKE President and communications senior Daniel Porta. TKE will be participating in the events that IFC allows the national fraternities on campus, but Porta believes that it’s the men themselves, not the event, that gets recruits. “I personally never saw myself in a frat while in high school, but when I met the guys in TKE it was like a family away from home. You have a support system through Greek life that wants to see you excel and will help you academically, socially, and emotionally.”
The next few weeks on campus will give students interested in rushing a good look at the fraternities and sororities behind the posters and letters spray-painted on the Spirit Rock. For more information on SVSU Greek Life, visit http://www. svsu.edu/studentlife/greek-life.html