Thursday, October 22, 1992
By Danettc Parrelt
The Collegian
With the past week’s activities,
dizzy bat races, Greek sing,
tricycle races, and many other fun
and unusual activities, Greek life
on Behrend’s campus came into
the spotlight. Along with this
publicity, a lot of questions are
being asked from those students
who are not involved in Greek
life.
What are Greek organizations
all about? Who are the people in
these organizations and what do
they represent? How do I get
involved?
By talking to various
representatives from the social
Greek organizations on campus,
students can learn all they need to
know.
To begin with, how does one
get involved?
For sororities, at the beginning
of the year there is a formal rush.
During this formal rush,
interested women sign up for the
rush and are invited to three
invitation based parties. The
parties are followed by a
preference party that each
individual sorority holds. After
these parties, the sororities
determine together how many
prospective members they can
have, and which ones they will
send bids to.
After the bids are sent out, each
sorority has a initiation party for
their prospective members during
which the women receive their
pledge pin.
Once the women have received
their pledge pin, their pledge
period begins. For sororities the
pledge period usually last 5-9
weeks.
After the pledge period is over,
the pledges are inducted and
become sisters.
At Penn State-Behrend there are
three sororities. Alpha Sigma
Alpha(AZA), Alpha Sigma
Tau(AZT), and Delta Phi
Epsilon(Ad>E).
A2A consists of 23 members.
They are active in the community
by doing several fundraisers such
as a Greek T-shirt sale, and a
Bowl-a-Thon. The proceeds from
these fundraisers benefit the
Special Olympics and the S. June
Smith Center. AZA also holds
the Mr. Penn State-Behrend
pageant.
AZT has 37 members. They
participate in Adopt-a-Highway.
They also clean the park,
volunteer their time to help the
Shriners, and have future plans to
help at a soup kitchen. They
have fundraisers that help the
Pine Mountain School in the
Appalachian Mountains. They
were also this year’s Greek Week
champs.
A<t>E has 17 sisters. They are
Greek life at Behrend
"It's a great thing to be a part of. "
currently co-sponsoring the blood
drive. They have an annual
clothes drive. They have
fundraisers that benefit the fight
against cystic fibrosis and the
Kineman Animal Shelter.
Janie Monaco of AZT feels,
“The friendships that you make
that’s what most important to
___
me.
In general, the members of
these sororities find friendship a
big part of their sisterhood.
“No matter where I turn, there’s
always someone there you
know.” Susan Kass, a member of
AZA, says, “In the sorority, 1
met people I might not have had
an opportunity to meet other
wise.”
Carrie Schultz, a member of
AZT, echoes the same theme,
“You’ll meet people. You’ll
make the friends you will have
the rest of your life.”
The women in these sororities
also feel you gain skills you’ll
need
Kass says, “I got my best
grades whenever I pledged because
I learned time management.”
“We have a lot of work. It
gives you a sense of
responsibility and leadership.”
says Monaco.
Equally important is the sense
of family that the sisters receive.
Rachel Eng, vice-president of
Ad>E, feels that “Greek life gives
you a family away from home- a
sense of belonging when you
really need one.”
Her fellow sister of AOE,
Chris Higley, adds, “If you ever
need someone, you always know
F eatures
that there is someone there for
you.”
Kass feels that anyone that is
interested in joining a sorority
should take time to see what they
represent.
“Sororities are very different;
but they are alike in the same
way. You realize that it is a lot
more than parties. It’s not all fun
and games.”
Behrend also has nine
fraternities: Delta Chi (AX),
Kappa Delta Rho (KAP), Sigma
Kappa Nu (ZKN), Sigma Tau
Gamma (ZTT), Tau Kappa
Epsilon (TKE), and Zeta Beta
Tau (ZBT).
Fraternities differ from
sororities in their rush process.
Instead of having a formal rush,
where all prospective members
seek information about all
groups, they have a Greek
information night. During this
night, prospective members can
sign up for the fraternities they
are interested in. The potential
rushees are interviewed by the
brothers. After these interviews,
the brothers vote on those who
are rushing and the bids are sent
out. Then, they enter their
pledge period.
AX has 34 members. They
have an annual Bowl-a-Thon that
benefits the Harvest Food Bank.
They also care for a local
cemetery in Wesleyville.
KAP has 22 brothers. KAP is
presently involved with the
Health and Wellness coordinator
in co-sponsoring Alcohol
Awareness Week. The past 7
years they have put on the Miss
Penn State-Behrend Pageant.
This year they are also proud that
they have the largest pledge class
(19). Out of the fraternities, they
had the largest GPA
improvement last year.
ZKN has 43 members. They
help North East with their
Winefest. Several of the brothers
help Tom Ridge with his
campaign. They also raise
money for the North East
Chamber of Commerce with
Cow Pie Bingo.
A unique quality about ZKN is
that they are a local fraternity.
They do have a Beta chapter at
State College, but they are not
national. This means that the
dues the brothers pay are spent
solely on the corporation they
run.
ZTT has 52 members. They
participate in Adopt-a-Highway.
They also have an Easter candy
sale and carwashes for fundraisers.
TKE has 24 members. They
co-sponsor the blood drive with
Ad>E. They also have a 100-
mile barrel roll to benefit the Erie
Food Bank. They were the
intramural point champs last year
and also were this year’s Greek
Week champs.
ZBT has 32 brothers. Last
year they raised over $lOOO
during the walk to Pittsburgh to
benefit the American Cancer
Society. They also delivered over
3000 Phonebooks.
The fraternities seem to echo
the call that their brotherhoods
give the members a sense of
belonging and friendship.
Micheal Ginsburg, president of
Page 5
KAP, feels that “being able to
feel a part of a brotherhood or
sisterhood is like having a family
away from home.”
Ginsburg also stresses the
importance of the Greek system
as a whole, not the individual
elements.
“Our brotherhood focuses on
the entire Greek system. We
address all prospective members
to rush all fraternities and choose
the one thev are comfortable
with.”
Stan Urban, a member ZTr,
feels that his fraternity has given
him a lot of useful
characteristics.
“It has taught me leadership,
responsibility, and
communication skills.”
Because Urban lives out of the
United States he feels that his
brothers show him a lot of
guidance.
“I live in Saudi Arabia, so my
brothers take care of me.
They’ve done a lot for me. I
know I always have a place to
go, no matter how long.”
Don Alpem, president of AX,
feels that the responsibility that
one gains is obvious.
“Greeks have a higher
percentage of graduates. A lot of
influential people are members of
fraternities or sororities. You
have a bond with all the
Greeks on campus, in addition to
your own special group.”
Urban feels that “Greek life has
one thing in common- -bringing
people together.”
The fraternities and sororities
would like to shatter the myth
that Greeks just party.
Andrew Tisch from ZKN
stressed that “there is a lot more
to Greek life than just parties. It
gives me friendship- but more- it
goes past friendship. It’s
someone I can rely on. Someone
who’s always there for me.”
Schultz of AZT feels that “ It
gives you more of a sense of
identity. People respect you.”
For those who are interested in
rushing a fraternity or sorority,
Tisch recommends that you “talk
to the brothers and sisters of the
fraternities and sororities and ask
what they are all about.”
Jim Conlin, a member of ZBT
believes that “Greek info night
dispels a lot of the myths. You
have to understand what’s going
_ 9t
on.
Dan Phillips, a brother of
TKE, feels that those who are
curious about Greek life should
“check into all of them and see
which one is best for them.”
To sum his view of Greek life
Phillips said, “I figured it was
just parties when I came to
college. I found out it is so
much more than that. I had to
find out what actually goes on.
It’s a great thing to be a part of.”