Greek houses begin membership search

Entering Cal State Long Beach as a new student can be a frightening experience for transfer students and freshmen alike.

Thousands of students rushing to their classes, long lines in the bookstore and the never-ending fight for a parking spot are just a few aspects of college life that can seem overwhelming at times.

Fraternities and sororities have historically provided a home away from home for young men and women who are looking for new friends and a good time, as well as scholastic success.

CSULB is home to 12 frate rnities, which include Sigma Pi, Delta Chi, Sigma Alpha Epsilon and Alpha Phi Epsilon. There are also eight sororities, which include Sigma Kappa, Alpha Phi and Delta Zeta.

African-American Greeks are represented by three fraternities: Kappa Alpha Psi, Alpha Phi Alpha, Phi Beta Sigma, and four sororities: Alpha Kappa Alpha, Delta Sigma Theta, Sigma Gamma Rho and Zeta Phi Beta.

In recent years, the Greek system has experienced dwindling numbers of pledges. This has lead to the demise of some fraternities at CSULB.

"I believe that the lack of interest in becoming involved with the Greek system has a lot to do with the bad press fraternities are getting," said Bill Thompson, president of Sigma Pi. "What rarely gets mentioned are all the good things that fraternities are involved in. Our house has helped with tutoring at an elementary school and never got any media attention for that, but if something bad happens at a fraternity party it gets immediate media attention."

Relations b etween fraternities have also changed over the years with Greeks realizing that working together instead of fighting each other improves the Greek system.

"Fraternities have to get their act together and work more as a unit when it comes to such th ings as rush," said Rich Stein, president of Sigma Alpha Epsilon. "I think that the Greek system at this campus is in a serious state where it could go either way, if things don't change it could mean that fraternities will begin to dissapear in a matte r of a few years." A more aggressive approach to rush is on the agenda for most fraternities and sororities. In past years, most houses set up information tables during rush and waited for prospective rushees to come to them. Nowadays, Greeks try to f ind the students that they believe would best fit their image by approaching them in the classroom.

"We are telling our members to look in their classrooms for people they like and invite them over to our fraternity house," Thompson said. "We are tr ying to show them the strong points of becoming a Greek, such as becoming involved with community service and spending time helping other people."

CSULB differs from many other universities in that it does not have a fraternity row, which means tha t the different houses in some cases are located miles away from the school.

Some fraternities have sold their houses or are in the process of doing so because surrounding neighborhoods have become crime infested.

"The idea of having a Greek row at CSULB is a very good one because it would enhance camaraderie among the fraternities," said Nap Harris, director of Student Life and Development.

Harris, who functions as a liaison between the university and the fraternities, also believes that a fraternity row would bond the Greeks closer to the school.

"If you have a row on campus, you have group of people readily available to help out whenever the school needs help for different projects," Harris said. "Fraternities also provide cheap housing for their members, which means a lot during times when the parents can't help out financially because of the present recession."

Sororities face many similar challenges and have also changed their approach in recruting new members. Be ing spoiled brats that only want to party is one of the most common misconceptions that sorority girls encounter.

Hosting Interfraternity Council athletic events that function as fundraisers for different charitable organizations are just a few of the things sororities do that benefit the community.

"It can be very hard to make friends when you are new at a school and becoming part of a sorority can change that," said Jasmine Genato, president of Sigma Kappa. "Sororities can teach a sense of responsibility and prepare one for the real world."

Fraternities and Sororities have realized that they have to work together to reach a common goal which is to rush more future members to ensure the survival of Greek life at CSULB.

Rich St ein recommends that interested students attend rush and check out as many houses as possible before making a choice.

"I tell people to rush because it is a good thing, it influenced my life positively," Stein said. "It doesn't matter if they rush m y house, just become involved with Greek life."

The same opinion is shared by Bill Thompson, who hopes that many students will attened rush and decide to go Greek. "Fraternity life is a lot of fun but there is so much more to it," Thompson said. "Y ou make connections that will help you when you enter the job market, the networking can help to get that desired position, but the most important thing for me are all the lifelong friendships that I have formed through Sigma Pi."

Students interest ed in rushing a fraternity should contact Nap Harris, 985- 8669.