Sigma Pi and the State of Fraternity Culture
Written by: Jared Wright - 5/29/21
Fraternity life, for me, was one of the most important foundational experiences of my young adult life. Through my brothers, I learned comradery. Through sororities, I learned how to socialize and understand the viewpoints of women. Through the executive council, I learned about duty and responsibility. These skills are essential to the proper development of men. Without them, men become less than what is required to raise children, to meaningfully contribute to society, to manage their finances, and to be trustworthy.
The first time I stepped on to a university campus as a college student, I didn’t know what Greek Life was. In the past, I’d heard about fraternities and sororities, but beyond the foretelling of television shows and movies, I did not know what fraternities were actually like at real universities. Soon enough, at a university-organized lawn party on campus, I met many young men, just like me, sitting behind a table, taking down names and phone numbers on a clipboard. Interested in making friends, I penned my name and number on each clipboard that every group had laid out. The next day my phone buzzed with a text message. One of the group members of Sigma Pi asked if I’d like to attend a fire at their house later that night. I replied, “Yes, I’ll be there.”
That night changed my life forever. At that small backyard fire, I met strangers that I would eventually call brothers. Over the next 7 years at UW-Oshkosh and later UW-Platteville, I would meet a few hundred men and women, whom I would have not encountered if I had not decided to go to that backyard fire. Consequently, Greek Life exposed me to ideas, experiences, people and socials. College is usually the time when young men and women begin to individualize their identities, and separate from the influences of their parents. The culture of inclusion, support and friendship by each fraternity provided the foundation upon which I, and my new fraternity brothers, could mature into emotionally healthy, intelligent, responsible and socially productive adults.
Of course, not everyone’s coming of age was involved with fraternity life. Even some that were involved with Greek life accuse the fraternal culture of recklessness. All too often, the news broadcasts stories of pledges being hazed or pressured to drink alcohol until they’re unconscious. Some pledges die from the initiation practices. But the allure of an active and rambunctious social life continues to fill pledge classes each semester. However, joining a fraternity is a once in a lifetime chance – and, many fraternities use the pledging period to instill a code of ethics and honor into the novice fraternity man. For that first semester, the pledges earn their spot among the social ranks of their own university house by interacting with older members in social settings - garnering memories along the way, forming lifelong friendships, developing their social skills and teaching the history of the group they are attempting to join.
Popular media outlets describe fraternity life as a haven for negative terms like “toxic masculinity.” Critics of fraternities state they produce environments of intergroup competition for social status and young women instead of places where the students can go to express themselves openly. Among the hundreds of Greek organizations at universities across the United States, this is surely anecdotally true. The aim of this article is to remind the reader of the purpose of fraternities and what they symbolize - the guidance of young men, and the establishment of lifelong friendships.
A culture is a shared set of values or beliefs. The lifestyles that college aged men live are for the most part temporary. For young men in fraternities, that will be the only time they can call themselves active; a word that means they have accepted the burden of responsibility in seeing to the proper function and harmony of the fraternity. This is typically the first time in their adult lives that they’re tasked with caring for something bigger than them. This is also the time for mistakes and poor decisions. We all remember the weekend social gatherings, and fun activities just as much if not more than the classes we enrolled in as well as the hours each day spent over a textbook or completing assignments. But, being an active member requires duties and responsibilities.
The transition from adolescence to adulthood means overcoming childish behaviors, thoughts, and values. Most young men find this stage of their lives to be difficult. We are all “young and dumb” at some point in our early lives; we unintentionally say embarrassing things, or act in regrettable ways. We learn to live with ourselves and our imperfections. Greek life across the United States, however, has suffered terrible tragedies due to foolish irresponsibility. Since the year 2000, more than 50 fraternity members have needlessly lost their lives. From alcohol poisoning, to asphyxia, to drowning or head injury - these situations were all avoidable and solely caused by stupidity. Given the number of Greek institutions across the United States, the unreported number of pledges or brothers that have been hospitalized or seriously injured likely greatly exceeds the number of deaths. How can we teach young men the mature foresight to understand consequences before making decisions?
One attempt by The Grand Chapter of Sigma Pi has been to ban alcoholic beverages above 15%. This came after the death of the Ohio University freshman Collin Wiant in November of 2018. Even after such a tragedy, it would be naive to believe all Sigma Pi actives, or even all Greek organizations that have instituted similar bylaws nationwide, have permanently discontinued their consumption of hard alcohol and vowed to refrain from dangerous activities. Then, if declaring universally steadfast laws doesn’t change the behavior of young men and women, then what will? It’s simple. The problem is ultimately cultural. Real social change, no matter in what area of society, starts with our values. It starts with what we consider important, and why.
This isn’t to say that there are no aspects of fraternity life that do not reinforce socially healthy values. Every year, universities across the United States organize events like Relay for Life, a charity to remember our loved ones who have survived or perished from cancer. Usually, fraternity members walk alongside strangers and friends to support them, whether they’ve lost someone to cancer or not. Most fraternities employ a philanthropy chairman to plan, design, and gather fraternity brothers towards a cause for justice, equality, or peace, in some way. Sigma Pi Delta-Iota Chapter mandates a minimum of 10 community service hours each semester.. To organize these events, one must learn how to be a leader, and develop problem solving skills in the face of unpredictable obstacles. These skills are needed in many prominent positions; such as CEOs, politics, the sciences and engineering, and entrepreneurs. Additionally, roughly 85% of CEOs in the United States pledged a fraternity or sorority in college, and 70% of Greek Life undergraduates finish their degrees, as opposed to 50% of non-Greek undergraduates. Beyond that, Greek Life presents the opportunity to network, meet people, and build social skills. Pledges may not realize at first that joining a fraternity or sorority is a lifelong decision to be better, and to overcome the barriers of our insecurities.
Movies and T.V. shows present fraternities as places that involve men in excessively consuming alcohol, developing apathy towards their education, and experimenting with various types of drugs. In reality, fraternity men typically advertise themselves and their chapters as people and a place for young men to receive emotional support at an age when they are impressionable and vulnerable. Fraternity houses should be bastions of kindness, respect, and inclusion. Sigma Pi is certainly an organization that I am proud to be a part of solely because of the friendship and brotherhood I was shown as a meek and disconnected college freshman, as well as the memories, laughs, and improvements in my character. To improve ourselves, we must be able to identify our flaws, understand the reasoning for their fruition, and then replace them with more adaptive qualities. The many opportunities for fraternity men to learn compassion, responsibility, empathy, and kindness in college, such as Relay for Life, community service, philanthropic causes, and supporting their brothers through the days of their lives, exemplify the need for Greek life and its continuity.