Greek system seeks members

Monday, October 5, 1998

Greek system seeks members

FRATERNITIES: Houses

to discard notoriety, get more students involved

By Andy Shah

Daily Bruin Contributor

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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© 1998 ASUCLA Communications Board