APA fraternities and sororities are leading the way for a positive Greek image
By John Scott Lewinski
Special to AsianWeek
It seems the days of Animal House are long since past. The images of fraternity and sorority houses, stuffed to the rafters with wild beer parties and bizarre or violent “rush week” rituals, are fading away in the wake of deaths, lawsuits and damaged reputations left behind by extreme behaviors such as binge drinking and hazing. Instead, these are being replaced by more constructive, officially sanctioned activities watched closely by university officials.
The same scrutiny applies to Asian Pacific American organizations, even though APA-based fraternities and sororities exist on a smaller number of campuses than their Greek counterparts do.
At Ohio State University, the Asian frats and sororities participate in the school’s Asian Heritage Month, sponsoring the Asian Games competition and other cultural events. Asian students at the University of Maryland, DePaul University in Chicago and the University of Arizona all sponsor and conduct similar events — changing the function and image of Asian “Greeks.”
Regardless of a frat or sorority’s cultural, economic or racial makeup, all such groups are absorbed under the umbrella of “Greek Life” on college campuses. The most prominent and proliferate of these groups has existed in the U.S. for more than a century, with the prestigious Phi Beta Kappa tracing its origins all the way back to 1776.
For most of the Greek scene’s history, these organizations served primarily white Americans, as they made up the majority of the population for the country’s colleges and universities. However, over the past 30 years, since the success of the Civil Rights Movement, colleges across the country have seen a significant increase in the numbers of multicultural fraternities and sororities (termed “Diverse Greeks” to distinguish them from their more established brother and sister groups).
African American frats and sororities were the first major players in the Diverse Greek world. As African American students found increased educational opportunities in the 1960s and 1970s — since desegregation meant they could attend other schools outside traditional “black college” circles — those men and women began forming their own Greeks, including Lota Phi Theta.
Those groups paved the way for the APA fraternities and sororities now developing throughout the United States. From UCLA to the University of Florida, Indiana University to the University of Texas, APA organizations offer Asian students a multicultural voice in the traditional Greek environment. These groups include fraternities such as Lambda Phi Epsilon and Beta Chi Theta, and sororities such as Sigma Psi Zeta.
Positive Communities
But rather than just offering APA students a roof over their heads and a place to party, these groups take steps to involve themselves positively in their campus and community affairs.
According to April Oh, a graduate of the University of Michigan and a candidate in the school’s master’s degree program in public health, research indicates that APA fraternities hold a more positive view on such issues as sexual assault, harassment and community involvement than their traditionally white counterparts do.
“There is an interesting niche in current research of violence against women, which evaluates the attitudes held by males who are fraternity members,” she said. “While literature does establish that males who participate in fraternities or sports teams are more likely to be supportive of rape myths, there are indications that these views improve on average within such ethnic fraternities, such as Asian American organizations.”
Oh added that research continues to recognize the influence of Asian culture in developing such views and educational prevention programs.
Perhaps the most intriguing of supportive APA frat and sorority environments is the campus of the University of California, Davis. Located in the north central region of the Golden State, UC Davis has 50 frats/sororities, and 25 of those are Diverse Greeks.
Margaret Ortega, director of Student Programs and Activities at UC Davis, explained that UC Davis includes all manners of multicultural frats/sororities, including lesbian, gay and bisexual groups. She added that the 10 APA groups on campus (five frats and five sororities) play a very similar role to many of the other Greek organizations.
“The Asian American Diverse Greeks differ from the more established, longer-standing fraternities and sororities because they are newer and often lack the national infrastructure of those groups that stood for a hundred years or more,” she said. “The local Greeks are colonized to a specific region without national governing bodies.”
According to Ortega, many of the APA Greeks are regional or local organizations that are less than 10 years old, meaning they don’t yet have a mature alumni support system. In return for the university’s support and assistance, the APA Greeks must adhere to a code of conduct that supports university policies. They stipulate to regular reviews and orientations in return for official university recognition. To ensure the school’s financial and administrative support, the groups also abide by university policies against underage drinking, hazing, hate-speak, sexual assault and harassment.
“The Greeks are very sensitive about being stereotyped as the troublemakers and partiers,” Ortega added. “That’s emphasized in many of the reports you see, unfortunately.
“But there are significant efforts by the Greeks and Diverse Greeks to devote themselves to academics and community service. Those efforts aren’t recognized, as they should [be]. I work with students that put in countless hours of on-campus interaction, outreach and community service.”
Risk of Separation
Ortega acknowledged that one risk of such a diverse Greek environment was potential separatism or unhealthy competition between white, APA, black and other frats/sororities. UC Davis experienced a difficult period of racial tension between white students and its growing APA population a year ago and remains sensitive to the potential for repeat troubles.
“We are concerned how the Greeks see themselves,” Ortega said. “We want to make sure they don’t see themselves as a divided community. We’re endeavoring to address that issue currently, trying to bring the various Greek organizations together in a sense of involvement and cooperation. What we have experienced is a dramatic increase in the diverse Greek involvement and participation. They are now requesting university support and recognition.”
As a result, for the first time in UC Davis history, Diverse Greeks are offering brochures to incoming freshmen, inviting them to learn more and join the group of their choice.
Outlawed
On some campuses (primarily private colleges and universities), both APA groups and traditional Greek frats are forbidden. For example, at the University of Notre Dame — the nation’s preeminent Catholic institution of higher learning — officials do not allow any fraternities or sororities, making certain the only on-campus housing and organizations are university-sanctioned.
According to the university’s own published policies, the policy stands not for any religious reasons, but to encourage a greater sense of overall campus unity — without frats or other groups to create separatism or competition.
Beth Lu, a senior at Notre Dame, explained that the lack of such groups does not create a void on campus: “If anything, it brings students together more in other ways. Instead of students becoming hostile toward each other, there’s more of a sense of us all being members of the Notre Dame family, regardless of race.”
Lu added that the dorms take the place of frat or sorority houses on campus, with many students remaining in the same multicultural on-campus housing throughout their four years of college.
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A New Greek Tradition
