Fraternities to re-open doors, remain strong

After the loss of four major campus fraternities from 1994-96, several chapters are making plans to re-open their doors at the University, and non-traditional brotherhood programs are attracting new members in record numbers.

"The old Greek stereotype is on the way out," said Erik Ranka, president of Pi Kappa Alpha. Ranka said his fraternity mostly attracts men who had never planned to join the Greek system, and "our numbers have always been on the increase," Ranka said.

"I think there's been a decline," said Kwame Fields, Polaris of Iota Phi Theta, referring to interest in and visibility of the Greek system. "I think part of it's the University climate ... on other campuses they're always out in the community."

Sorority rush numbers were down this year, but membership in fraternities is on the rise. The University's Interfraternity Council hit a record high last fall with an average new member class size of 17, said Mike Ingber, former IFC vice president f

DANA LINNANE/ Daily Beta Theta Pi fraternity members Jose Rodriquez, David Paton, and Jason Rocklen relax and enjoy the weather yesterday from their house balcony.

or recruitment. Those numbers are "truly phenomenal," Ingber said.

Although there has been a recent increase in the number of new fraternity chapters on campus, Ingber said there is still "room for expansion." He noted that there are a number of men who rush each term but decide, for various reasons, not to pledge. Also, each organization offers a unique experience, so "they don't necessarily compete with each other," Ingber said.

Membership in the Greek system rises and falls every few years, said John Mountz, an IFC fraternity adviser, and many campus chapters that closed in the early to mid-'90s are now returning to campus. Once an organization leaves campus, it can come back at any time.

Mountz would not disclose the names of the nearly 10 fraternities that are looking to start chapters on campus. Among the fraternities that have both left campus and returned in the past four years are Sigma Phi Epsilon and Lambda Chi Alpha.

Some of the returning fraternities closed because of risk-management violations such as severe injuries, while other houses simply could not survive financially when their memberships dropped.

IFC president Bradley Holcman said that at the beginning of the decade, Ann Arbor police officers began to crack down on fraternities. As a result, the self-governed Greek system began switching over to a BYOB policy - but the policy had a "lot of loopholes."

IFC adopted a no keg policy in an attempt to combat binge drinking.

Written rules, say many fraternity leaders, are limited in their ability to effect real change.

"They're strict, but it's hard to enforce them," Ranka said.

Holcman said IFC changed its alcohol policies only in part to lessen liability risks. The changes are indicative of a gradual shift away from the wild party atmosphere that has characterized fraternities for the past 30 years, he said.

"People don't want that anymore," Holcman said.

Irving Chase, National President of Zeta Beta Tau, which left campus in 1996 and currently is trying to return, said the Greek system needs to re-evaluate itself.

"Fraternities and sororities were established with high ideals," from which they have strayed, Chase said. "What we've turned into is drinking clubs ... we need to refocus back to grades, friendships and brotherhoods."

Ranka also said that fraternities are shifting their focus away from alcohol.

"I wouldn't say they're partying less. I think they're getting a lot smarter," Ranka said. It's all about striking the right balance."

Fields noted that within the Black Greek Association, parties have become less frequent. "In the BGA, we're focusing more on community service," Fields said.

The main frontier for change in fraternities is the recruitment and initiation process, which will create new fraternity pledge classes that focus on the values on which the fraternities were founded.

"That is what is changing the culture," Holcman said.

For example, when IFC abolished drinking during fraternity rush several years ago, many members opposed the measure because they said rush wouldn't be fun any more, Ingber said. Now, a dry rush has become an accepted fact, he said.

Fields said he has "tried to focus a little more on the freshman class," by initiating mentoring and touring programs to make his fraternity more visible.

"I think the trend is to do more what I like to call 'complete membership education,'" Mountz said, adding that such programs target development throughout a brother's four years in the fraternity.

ZBT went one step further when it outlawed pledging in 1989 - part of a severe risk-management policy to target and discourage hazing. Pledging was seen as the "window for hazing," Chase said.

Under ZBT's new Brotherhood Program, new members are initiated within 72 hours of being given a bid. As full members, they can take part in the necessary educational programs without the "constant threat of being thrown out," which often engenders hazing, Chase said.

In the places where this program has been successfully implemented, "we had more numbers joining and our retention was better," Chase said.

But to many fraternities, getting rid of pledging is going one step too far. "I think it's an integral part," said Fields, adding that it gives new members a "feeling of ownership" toward the organization.

Ranka explained that the pledging process is necessary because there is so much to learn about a fraternity - history, traditions, etc. - and pledging also involves "pride building."

04-02-98