Greek system seeks members

FRATERNITIES: Houses to discard notoriety, get more students involved

Daily Bruin
Monday, October 5, 1998
By Andy Shah

Compared to the 1980s, there are fewer people joining fraternities and sororities now.

The Greek system's numbers have dwindled down to under 2,000 members, according to the Greek Weekly, a fraternity and sorority newspaper independent of the Interfraternity Council (IFC) and the Panhellenic Council.

"Ten years ago, there were more fraternities on campus and undoubtedly more men participating in rush," said Peter Vasquez, director of membership for IFC.

In the 1987-1988 school year, there were 24 fraternities on campus averaging 73 members, according to the Greek Weekly.

In the last school year, there were 16 fraternities averaging 58 members.

The trend is the same for sororities.

From 10 years ago, the number of sororities has dropped from 16 to 10, and average membership has dropped from 130 to 90.

Carey Chesterton, rush chair for the Panhellenic Council, said the attitude of entering students has affected membership.

"People are more apathetic and less gung-ho about school in general," she said. "Also, people are discovering that there is a life outside of the Greek system."

But the numbers are on the upswing, said Vasquez.

"(The past two years) have showed an increase over previous years," he said.

Vasquez said that Greeks have made huge efforts in trying to dispel stereotypes about the Greek system, such as ones propagated by movies such as "Animal House."

"I think this is responsible for the increase in numbers recently," he said.

He estimates that there are about 400 men rushing this fall, which is an increase over previous years. But since registration is not mandatory, there are no exact numbers.

In addition, according to Greek Weekly, two fraternities are re-chartering this year - Sigma Alpha Epsilon, which went inactive in 1993, and Lambda Chi Alpha.

Chesterton said that there are "a lot more" women rushing this year - about 500, she said, which would be up from about 470 last year.

But despite this recent increase, the system has suffered a general decrease in membership from the 1980s.

Dan Romero, last year's editor in chief of the Greek Weekly, wrote an article titled "The Demise of the Greek System," where he gave his opinions on the decrease in Greek membership.

Some reasons he cited include the greater diversity of the campus, fewer Division-1 athletes joining, people looking to join only the "top" houses and houses being "ultra-selective" in admission.

In an interview, Romero said that he received mostly positive reactions to his article.

"Most people agreed that something had to be done," he said.

Romero said that UCLA's ethnic diversity has contributed to the decrease in membership.

"There are pockets of individuals who just don't come out to rush because they feel that they don't relate with the Greek system," he said. "The Greek system has historically been tagged as being white-based."

Romero said that from his experiences with his own fraternity, this notion is false.

"It's the character of the individual that counts, rather than skin color," he said.

Vasquez said that many entering students may be pegged on the negative stereotypes of fraternities.

"The traditional stereotype has been that fraternity life is not conducive to academic success," he said. "The fact that the all-fraternity average GPA is higher than the all-men's and all-campus GPAs disproves this."

Chesterton said that the Panhellenic Council has tried to emphasize that "social activities are not the main focus of sorority life."

"Sure, some members of sororities drink, but that's not the only thing we do. We encourage our girls to go out and succeed academically. And philanthropy is another main focus," she said.

Vasquez said he agrees.

"Many students are only aware of the social aspects of belonging to a fraternity," he said.

Some members of the general population turn to ethnic-specific fraternities or sororities, such as those in the Asian Greek Council.

According to one member, the number of people joining groups affiliated with the Asian Greek Council has naturally increased because of the increase in the number of Asian students at UCLA.

"There's been an increase from the '80s because there are a lot more Asian girls on campus," said Cathery Yeh, a member of the Chi Alpha Delta sorority, which was the first Asian sorority in the United States.

Yeh said that the two Asian sororities hold events on alternating nights so there isn't much competition for members. She said that the number of women rushing has remained consistent.

She estimates that about 50 to 60 women show up for each event.

"But we're still less known because the regular Greek system is more established," she said.

Naomi Takahashi, president of Chi Alpha Delta, said that her sorority sends out information packets to all entering Asian women.

"We send them personal letters, because we want to increase publicity," she said.

She said that she doesn't think the Asian Greek system has to compete with the regular sororities.

"We're really not affected by that," she said. "We have a totally different rushing schedule."PATIL ARMENIAN/Daily Bruin

Students at this Sig Epsilon rush enjoy refreshments and a chance to meet others. According to the Greek Weekly, membership in fraternities and sororities have declined since 10 years ago.

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