Kaysey Price / Winonan
Greek life comes with its stereotypes: the partying…and mostly just the partying.
Rush Week may seem like a week of sending out the Greek “bat signal” to all new students who fit the fraternity or sorority “type.” However, most of the Greek organizations at Winona State University are working to attract a variety of students and combat the Greek stereotypes during Rush Week.
“We try and break the negative stereotypes of Greek life by planning our Rush Week events based around that goal,” Chris Wehr, president of Sigma Tau Gamma (STG), said.
This extends to their selection of new members.
“Our group of guys…[are] very diverse in majors, age and interests, so we don’t look for just one type of guy,” Wehr said.
The sororities on campus also try to remain unbiased while recruiting new members.
“We don’t really try to go for a certain group of people,” Andrea Holland, treasurer and ASO representative of Phi Theta Chi (PTC), said.
President of PTC Joleen Donovan agreed with Holland.
“It’s more of just welcoming anyone and everyone who wants to join,” Donovan said. “If they give us a chance, we give them a chance.”
The Greek organizations on campus plan a week of activities for Rush Week aimed at attracting different types of students.
This spring, Tau Kappa Epsilon (TKE) had a free dinner at the Tavern on Jan. 19, poker and cigars at the TKE house on Jan. 20, and a party bus on Jan. 21.
PTC held a pajama party on Jan. 19, a game night on Jan. 20 and made tie blankets as a charity event on Jan. 22.
During a game night on Jan. 20, everyone circled up for an informal introduction. Attendees went around and announced their names, majors and least favorite food. Answers ranged from green olives to cat food – the latter being an inside-joke pertaining to a Greek event where someone had to eat the feline fare last semester.
The sisters also made grilled cheese for the event. Making and eating the sandwich is a Rush Week tradition for PTC.
With such wide-ranging events and foods, the fraternities and sororities are trying to cast a wide net when it comes to welcoming new members.
Not every sorority and fraternity has a cap on their new member bids, so some are free to give bids to everyone who rushes. PTC and TKE are two such organizations.
Erik Nelson, President of TKE insisted they offer bids to “anyone that shows interest.”
However, there are a few things the fraternity watches out for when handing out bids to new members. One of these things, for example, is if rushers are simply at the events for free food.
“You can kind of tell some people just come [for free food], but if you can tell they aren’t going to contribute to TKE then we wouldn’t extend them a bid,” Nelson said.
Holland also commented on watching out for non-serious new members.
“We have a set of rules in our constitution and obviously if they break a lot of our rules, that’s something [that] may cause us to have to ask them to leave,” Holland said.
STG and other organizations are more strict when it comes to new members, organizing a recruitment committee to weed out any members who do not meet the group’s standards.
“Our new members are selected by our ‘recruitment committee’ through a majority vote,” Wehr said. “The committee’s job is to seek out outstanding individuals who will truly benefit from our organization and who will continue to be a driving factor to keep our organization going. They look for guys who are dedicated to being a gentlemen, a good brother and who are dedicated to their studies.”
Despite the stereotypes that accompany Greek life, the fraternities and sororities on campus work towards welcoming new members during Rush Week that will improve their organizations.
