MOND
AY.DEC.10,2001
FROM THE COVER
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 5A
Pledge: Economics, tradition hinder recruitment
CONTINUE ED FROM PAGE 1A
Pe said he considered joining a Blackaternity but the lack of focus on acadeics caused him to look elsewhere.
Co being from McPherson, a predominant White town, he was comfortable being he only minority other than one Asian n his pledge class.
B Miguel Ramirez, Santo Domingo,
Dorn rican Republic, junior, didn't click
so w ll with his fraternity brothers. He
said he quit his chapter because he was
unc mfortable being its only minority
me ber. He pledged Sigma Alpha
Eps on in 1999 as a freshman and lived
in th house until he left in January 2000.
Wen she was rushing, Hernandez said. "I loo ked at a house I clicked with, it just happ need to have other Hispanic girls."
" always stuck out." Ramirez
rece lied. "I never felt part of the group. It
was the feeling when you know every-
one looking at you weird."
B cause Ramirez has a dark complexion he said some members thought he was Black, even though he is Latino.
Sara Hernandez is one of the few Latin students in greek chapters, which consist mostly of White students. Hernandez2, Tomenka junior, said she decided to join a traditional sorority because she wanted the experience of living in a chapter house.
always came up that I was the only
Bla k," he said. "I'm not, I am Hispanic.
Eve yone expected me to be Black. They
wo ln'tsay bad things, but it was always
an sue because I was the only colored
pe on there. It got on my nerves."
amirez, who speaks Spanish and likes to ten to Latin music, said he couldn't be hiir self living in the chapter house.
felt isolated," he said. "People weren't receptive to me playing (Latin) music." He other members overcompensated and he him feel like he really stuck out.
efforts
o address the lack of diversity in the gr ek system, IFC/Panhellenic and N tional Pan-Hellenic Council repre se tatives say they are starting to work to ether on more events and trying to le rn more about each other. But G AED, or Greeks Raising Awareness o f Ethnic Diversity, is the only program in place that addresses ethnic, religious a d cultural awareness.
Amanda Hubbard, Parkville, Mo.
tor, and former Panhellenic vice presi
nt for education, said the program
s in its first year and had only six members so far. Hubbard, Sigma Delta Tau member, said GRAED helped sponsor Hate Out Week in November, which put on events to promote tolerance. She said members planned to sponsor a dinner next spring with KU Hillie Foundation, the organization for Jewish students.
the organization. National Pan-Hellenic members in October presented information about their chapters, such as their history, pictures and events, at a Panhellenic meeting. Members of both organizations also participated in a dance-a-thon earlier this month.
But despite the progress, obstacles remain. Jennifer Bacani, a member of Alpha Delta Pi, a traditional sorority with 140 members, including 15 minorities. She is a member of the Multicultural Resource Center's Diversity Peer Education Team, a group of students who teach others about diversity. Bacani she sent a letter to some of the traditional chapters offering to give a presentation on diversity, but only Pi Beta Phi sorority expressed interest.
Even with the struggles, Angie Carr said she was pleased by the efforts at improving understanding.
"In the past, the three councils haven't done a lot together." Curr said. She said that each council now had a liaison, a member who attended the meetings of the other councils, and that another diversity program wasn't needed now that GRAED was in place.
"Putting another program in the mix for diversity might be overprogramming." Carr said. "The bottom line is to learn to appreciate and value the differences each council has and also to enjoy the similarities."
Hitting brick walls
Andy Knopp. Manhattan sophomore and IFC president, could not explain why more minorities didn't join traditional Greek units. He said he was open to ideas to recruit minorities.
He said minorities needed to know that they could join traditional KU fraternities and sororites and succeed.
"Part of it is recruitment and education," said Knopp, a Theta Chi member. "It has to be something where we have to seek them out. We really need to take the first step. It can be difficult to do and tough for a group to recruit them."
"Minorities in them already can be our strongest recruiters because they can relate to people." Knopp said.
Danny Vallejos, Prairie Village senior and Latino member of Sigma Chi, said his house had five minorities out of 85 members.
"We get names through networking," he said. "But by networking, we keep
JOHN NOWAK/KANSAN
ddie Penn is only one of two non-White members of his Beta Theta Pi pledge class. Penn said he joined the fraternity instead of a historically Black one because of the chapter's emphasis on academics and its prestigious reputation.
getting White people. The pool we grab people out of isn't diverse."
people out that he was a priority. He said in his fraternity it wasn't a priority to bring in ethnic members but that it had been discussed.
Bacani said the high cost to join a traditional fraternity or sorority might be one reason why few minorities pledged or rushed.
The average cost to join, which includes one-time fees and an initiation pin, is $360 for a fraternity and $1,481 for a sorority. For those who live in a house, the average yearly cost for room and board is $4,550 for fraternities and $4,503 for sororities. By comparison, it costs $4,348 a year to live in the residence halls. Fraternity members who live outside their houses spend an average of $700 a year to stay in their chapels, while sorority members spend an average of $1,136. Those costs may include a live-out fee to cover maintenance, social dues and occasional meals.
Bob McKenney, Clinton, Mo., senior, and former president of Alpha Tau Omega, said his fraternity recruited members from a list of potential members IFC compiled of high school seniors interested in joining a KU fraternity. He said fraternity members would eat dinner with recruits and take them bowling or to KU football games.
"It we think they fit in well, then we stay in contact," McKenney said.
McKenney said a five-member recruitment committee in his fraternity decided by majority vote who could be potential members.
"We look for guys who are strong in grades and know how to balance their time and studies," he said.
His fraternity, which has one Vietnamese and one Hispanic out of 40 members, does not discriminate when choosing members, but does not specifically recruit minorities either he said.
"We don't know their ethnicity until we meet them. There are advantages to it," he said about recruiting minorities. "When
"My chapter does not look at a name and say they are a minority and won't recruit them," he said. "It's up to them if they show interest. And it is up to us to open our arms to different cultures in the greek community." A person below.
you bring in people with a different culture they bring in things you may not see
David Ambler, vice chancellor for student affairs, said all student groups should think about diversifying themselves, including fraternities and sororites.
A personal choice
"It's an enriching factor to any group." Amber said, refusing to single out fraternities and sororites for their lack of diversity.
He said many such groups now wanted to integrate, but hadn't succeeded.
to integrate.
"I think the unique thing today is that groups who at one time wanted to maintain a single racial membership now are open to trying to diversify." Ambler said. Minorities "are really not interested in joining because their own groups are interested in maintaining themselves. There's not a lot of encouragement, for example, for African Americans to join groups that are primarily Caucasian."
Robert Page, director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs, said the traditional fraternities and sororites were trying to reach out more to get students of color to join, but social class and status were factors that worked against them.
them.
"They also need to be more sensitive," he said. "If you talk to a student from a predominantly Black area, they may not be interested. It depends on what the values and norms are. And there's small pickings for people to choose from." he said about KU's small Black population.
*Making a difference*
Kenya Proctor, the only Black member of Theta Chi, said he persuaded his fraternity brothers to learn more about African Americans during Black History Month last February.
"My fraternity did nothing with Black History Month until I got involved," said Proctor, a Jackson, Miss., senior.
He said at every chapter meeting, members learned about Black leaders and a history-related event for that month, but he said he got subtle signals from some members that they weren't really interested.
"It was a real sensitive subject," he said. "Most people didn't like it but because they didn't want to be racial, they put up with it."
He said that, when he was assistant recruitment chair last year, he had a list of minorities he tried to recruit, but none chose to pledge the fraternity.
“it's kind of discouraging.” Proctor said. “I would love to see more minorities in my fraternity. It's hard to recruit if I am the only one.”
He said when he was first recruited, he felt like he was a quota of one to make the house diverse.
Proctor said his presence has helped break down stereotypes. He said one friend was upfront with stereotypes about Blacks driving garish Cadillacs and playing loud music with deep bass.
and playing with the TV. "What they see on TV is not necessarily true," Proctor said he explained to his friend.
Eddie Penn said attitudes had definitely changed toward allowing minorities to join. He recalls how one alumnus from his fraternity told him that some Beta Theta Pi members wanted then KU basketball star Wilt Chamberlain to join. The proposal died when other members objected to inviting a Black to pledge.
"It shows things have changed a lot," said Penn, who would love to see other Black faces join his fraternity's photo gallery of members.
—Edited by Cynthia Malakasis
■ Contact Mendoza at 864-4810
Off-Campus Recycling Guide
Newspaper Drop-off Locations
Hobby Lobby *1801 w. 23rd St.
Hillcrest Shopping Center * 9th & Iowa
Checkers Food Store * 2300 Louisiana
Hy-Vee * Both Locations
Lonnie's Recycling * 501 Maple
Westlake's Hardware * 6th & Kasold
Wal-Mart Community Recycling Center 3300 Iowa * 841-9558
Aluminum, Steel Cans, Cardboard Newspaper, Office Paper, Magazines Plastic Bags, Glass, Plastic #1 (PET) and #2 (HDPE)
Kansas Computer Recycling * (785) 234-467
The Surplus Exchange * (816) 472-0444
The Computer Learning Center * 841-0333
Kansas Surplus Exchange * (785) 235-8640
IBM Recycling Program * (888) 746-7462
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