FRIDAYFOCUS The Michigan Daily - Friday, February 9, 1996- 3 0IIN 4 4Y_ k ' . , ,,, ., "v SC. i . r' ., s , . yF ..ti ..- a' ' ; "} r - ,.. + .... r'" /,: ::;: ....r m . .... ..:: . --;. , . :. ;:.;:<.. ti . ,... ~ ,, :r . . ,. ,;. . ..;jury' G:?;? ;s f r y,. h r7; ' .vt rv ..:...-.: i .n S.^.'.vf .v'. .v.. ::.. rye V+ . . SI s \ .. : @" ONE .1 Minority fraternities, sororities foster unity among members The unofficial house of the Lambda Phi Epsilon fraternity. : : BY KATIE WANG DAILY STAFF REPORTER * t's nine o'clock on a Saturday morning and Engineering senior Shawn Ward has just arrived at Scarlett Middle School in Ann Arbor. While the majority of the University student body spends Saturday mornings sleeping in, Ward and the brothers of his fraternity, Omega Psi Phi, spend their Sat- urday mornings tutoring students ages 12 to 16. Serving as a role model to the young- sters, Ward patiently helps a young girl with mathematical word problems. Meanwhile, Kia Berry and the women of her sorority, Delta Sigma Theta, arrive in an Ann Arbor suburb and apply a fresh coat of paintto a house they helped build. Berry and her sorority sisters have also decided to dedicate some of inority Greek their Saturday mornings to Members work on a construction project with Habitat for Hu- %ationwide: manity. Bill Cosby Ward, Berry and about Michael Jordan 150 students are all mem- Shaquille O'Neal bersoftheGreek system- Douglas Wilder but it is not the Greek sys- Martin Luther King Jr. tern most students are fa- Thurgood Marshall miliar with. Instead it is a Dennis Archer system of fraternities and Jesse Owens sororities whose member- W;E.B. DuBois ship is composed mostly of Lena Horne African Americans and Barbara Jordan whose main focus isoncom- #Winnie Mandela munity service. It is a sys- Mary McLeod Bethune tem that is quickly making Camile Cosby its presence felt throughout Wilma Rudolph the campus and community. Ruby Dee History Qaisy Bates In 1906 at Cornell Uni- versity, seven African American male students decided to join to- gether to form a fraternity for black men, who, because of the color of their skin, were denied membership to the all-white fraterni- ties on campus. They named their fraternity Alpha Phi Alpha. and three years later a chapter opened at Michigan. Twenty-three years later, Alpha Phi Al-V pha was joined on campus by its sister soror- ity, Alpha Kappa Alpha. Like its brother fraternity, Alpha Kappa Alpha was also founded at Cornell University because of the discriminatory practices of white sororities. The fraternities and sororities have ex- panded nationally and internationally since the early half of the century. On campus BLACK GREEK ASSOCIATION: KAT - KAPPA ALPHA PSI A4A - ALPHA PHI ALPHA 4 AKA - ALPHA KAPPA ALPHA 01 OY( - OMEGA PSI PHI IF AI0 - DELTA SIGMA THETA AT there are nine predominantly African American Greek organizations in addi- tion to groups that serve the Latino/a and Asian American communities. A number of the black sororities, such as Sigma Gamma Rho, have hundreds of chapters throughout the nation, Europe, the Carribbean and in Africa. "It's like having a whole bunch of sis- ters," said Patrice Petway, vice president of Sigma Gamma Rho. "Anywhere I go I know there is someone who I have a special bond with." The growing number of these organiza- tions reflects the increasing number of mi- norities who are not interested in joining the "mainstream" Greek system, but instead are turning to another facet of Greek life. Why People Join During her first year, LSA senior Jen Chua participated in the Panhellenic Association rush activities. After two weeks, she stopped because she said she felt none of the sororities suited her. Last fall, Chua and 12 other women formed the campus chapterofAlpha Kappa Delta Phi - the first in the Midwest. "We want to provide a stronger voice for Asian American women because we are considered a double minority," Chua said. Isaias Nono Cantu Jr., president of the Latino fraternity Sigma Lambda Beta, said his fraternity helps him "keep (me) where (my) roots are." Many of the members of the minority Greek system echoed Cantu's sentiments and said a stronger bond is formed be- tween people of the same race because of their similar backgrounds. "I never considered joining a white soror- ity because that's not who I am," said Jenna Buan, a member of Tau Kappa Omicron. "I want a group that will fit me. I don't want a group that I have to fit in." Tau Kappa Omicron Sisterhood is the first multicultural sorority in the country. Richard Rountree, a Business senior, said he doesn't think he closed his eyes to a white fraternity, but instead said he could identify with the black Greek system. "I wanted to join a fraternity that repre- sented my struggle at the University and in NOPPORN KICHANANTHA/Darly Terrence Washington, an ISA junior and member of Alpha Phi Alpha, volunteers at Scarlett School helping Orale Hood (left) in Spanish. life," Rountree said. Others, including Black Greek Association Presi- dent Petway, said they were drawn to the culturally based Greek system because of the vast amount of community service the organizations perform. "I decided to join because the focus is different," Petway said. "Most community services are based on uplifting the black community." Notion of Separatism Because the membership of the fraternities and sororites is composed mostly of students of color, many other students have the illusion that this Greek system is racially exclusive as well. All the fraternities and sororities interviewed by The Michigan Daily said this is false and member- ship is open to all races. Berry, who is president of Delta Sigma Theta, emphasized that although historically the sorority has been predominantly African American, "all races are welcome to join." Berry noted there are white members in other chapters. Darilis Garcia, president and co-founder of the Latina sorority Delta Tau Lambda, said Latino/a sororities and fraternities are necessary because they address specific needs of her group. "I'm not trying to separate myself," she said. "I'm trying to help my people. If I don't take care of mine, no one will." Community Service ASIAN AMERICAN HOUSES: KA4-- KAPPA DELTA PHI APE - LAMBDA PHI EPSILON By dedicating hours of community service and establishing scholarships for area high school stu- dents to attend college, all of the organizations have established themselves as friends of the community. The Alpha Gamma Psi Sorority Inc. set up the "Rites of Passage" program with schools in the Ann Arbor area. They visit the schools during lunch break to discuss issues like date rape. Alpha Kappa Alpha has scheduled a bucket drive this month for the Africare program - to help industrialize underdeveloped villages in Africa. "I don't think we're being separatist - we're uniting black people," said Ena Randolph, a mem- ber of Alpha Kappa Alpha. "This is an organiza- tion where you can have pride in your race." How to Join Unlike the organizations in Panhel and the Inter- fraternity Council, many of the other Greek orga- nizations do not conduct a formal rush. Instead, many hold informational meetings during the se- mester for those who are interested. In the fall, BGA, an umbrella organization for the nine predominantly black fraternities and so- rorities on campus, hosts an open house for every organization to speak about themselves. Almost all of the minority Greek organizations have less than 20 active members. "I like the fact we're not huge because it's a lot easier to get to know 20 people," said Jason Kang, president of Lambda Phi Epsilon. LATINO FRATERNITY: 1AB - SIGMA LAMBDA BETA FPATE RNITY'. FIRST HOUSE. This fall the letters Lambda Phi Epsilon will replace Pi Lambda Phi on the house at 820 Oxford St. The campus chapter of Lambda Phi Epsilon, a predominantly Asian Ameriean fraternity, is renting the house, making it the first ethnic-spe- cific fraternity or sorority to officially have a house. - "We're not just going to be a back- ground fraternity - we're going to have a more visible place on cam- pus," said LSA sophomore Dan Yu. "It's a really big step for us and for minority fraternities." The fraternity calls the house at 418 South Division St. their "unoffi- cial" house where seven of the 20 brothers reside. Many of the organizations said they considered getting a house, but due to small membership or lack of funds, they did not. Sean Franklin, president of Alpha Phi Alpha, said he would like to get a house, but strict Ann Arbor zoning laws may stand in the fraternity's way. Due to complaints from Ann Ar- : bor residents about loud behavior4 and parties, the city tightened re- strictions for Greek organizations to buy a house in the 1980s. y "Once alcohol moved out of the, donm, theonlvonnortunitiesto drink ' BI - PHI BETA SIGMA TB - THETA PSI BETA FP - SIGMA GAMMA RHO r - ALPHA GAMMA PSI MULTICULTURAL SORORITY: TKO - TAU KAPPA OMICRON LATINA SORORITY: ATA - DELTA TAU LAMBDA BEING A MINORITY IN THE MAINSTREAM GREEK SYSTEM 4 When LSA first-year student Annie Chen arrived on campus last fall, she participated in the Panhellenic Associa- tion rush activities. Chen, who pledged Alpha Chi Omega, said she never consid- ered joining the Asian American sorority the parties. "When we went to certain parties, people weren't looking at me as a poten- tial person to date," said Reed, who is half African American and half white. Sean de Four, an African American Other minority students said they dic not want to join a minority Greek organi zation because it "lacks diversity." "You have to take into consideratiop that they are just as un-diverse as we are," said Eileen Reynolds, a Hispania r, '' t t < '