No more ‘Animal House’: Sororities, fraternities have changed with the times

Jennifer Knight

Monday, Sept. 23, 2002 | 11:03 a.m.

It is Greek recruitment night at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and young women file into one of five glass-walled rooms to be greeted by sorority sisters clapping and singing sorority songs.

Ceremonies such as these, held throughout September, continue to mark the tradition of each sorority or fraternity at the university.

But make no mistake -- this is not your mother's sorority.

Hazing has been illegal since 1999. Pledges are not paddled, dressed in embarrassing outfits or sent on scavenger hunts for strange items nowadays. Even the terminology associated with the Greeks has changed, with politically correct language replacing outdated words and phrases.

And, making the clannish life of a Greek even more challenging to maintain, UNLV is made up of mostly commuter students -- which requires more frequent use of telephones and the Internet.

The most striking changes, however, have come in the images projected by modern Greek organizations.

"It is really cleaned up now," said Brandi Thomas, 20, a sorority sister who was not allowed to release the name of her sorority because of national member rules. "People get the image of 'Dazed and Confused' or 'Animal House.' That's not the way it is."

To encourage more students to join Greek organizations, the "no cruelty" rules are emphasized when indoctrinating new members.

"During recruitment night, we kind of like to retrain them from whatever their preconceptions of fraternity or sorority life might have been," said Sunny Martin, UNLV's administrative director of campus community development.

Greeks also adhere to a new vernacular. "Rush night" is now officially recruitment night. There are no "initiations." And would-be inductees are no longer referred to as "pledges," but simply as potential new members.

"It's not supposed to be a brutal, 'you're not good enough' or 'you're not pretty enough' kind of thing," Thomas said. "There's a place here for every student."

This year, feeding old perceptions of partying and catty behavior among sorority sisters is MTV's popular show "Sorority Life." The show follows the lives of six University of California, Davis students through the pledging process.

At times, young women on the show behave badly. For example, the first episode showed a sorority party at which the designated "sober sister" ditched one of her pledges to go and drink.

"I saw the first episode and it made me furious," said Renee Winner, a 20-year-old political science major at UNLV. "Girls in a real sorority just wouldn't act like that."

Some say the MTV show has turned a few girls off to sororities.

"A lot of girls are scared to join since the MTV show came on," said Flavia Batelli, 23, a sorority member.

Despite negative images, 190 girls signed up for sorority life this month at UNLV -- many of whom are considered non-traditional students.

Kerrie Calderon, 22, came because she said she wants to pursue a typical college experience -- even though she lives off campus and is married.

"I want to see if it's about partying because I wouldn't want to completely do that," Calderon said. "I am trying to get more of the college experience."

With 95 percent of UNLV's students living off campus, the big question is: How do Greeks bond?

The somewhat surprising answer: Through the Internet and phone trees, as well as special functions.

Of the 15 fraternities and five sororities on the UNLV campus, only two have houses. So the non-traditional Greek members must rely on the computer and the phone to organize get-togethers.

"My dad was in a fraternity in Boston," said Mike Ty, a computer science major who joined Sigma Alpha Epsilon three years ago. "He always tells me how he would be just sitting around doing nothing and he and 15 other guys could just decide at the last minute to go out and do something together. For us getting 15 guys together is a hard thing to coordinate."

And if the party involves alcohol, fraternities must take the lead in organizing it. Sororities with national memberships in the National Pan-Hellenic Council, Inc. are forbidden to do so.

"Since sororities are required to be dry, it's up to fraternities to organize a lot of the parties," Ty said.

Websites devoted to Greek life appear to reflect the difference between fraternities and sororities in the focus of their activities.

For example, UNLV sorority Alpha Xi Delta's website has pictures of the group's visit to a wax museum. Similarly, Alpha Delta Gamma posts pictures on its site of the young women's formal events.

But visit fraternity Pi Kappa Alpha's website, and you'll see a picture of a guy flanked by two girls splashed across the page. Beer is a theme in all of the pictures marked "parties."

Delta Sigma Phi-Epsilon Sigma Chapter, another fraternity, has a tailgate party, a beach party, a luau and a Greek bachelor auction planned.

Aside from having Internet sites, some organizations rely on phone trees -- a process in which one member is responsible for calling five others, and so on, until all members have been reached.

"It becomes a habit," Batelli said.

About 4 percent of the UNLV student population belongs to a sorority, and 7 percent to a fraternity.

Greek organizations are responsible for raising thousands of dollars each year for various causes.

"It's something that is totally drowned out by all the negative publicity," said Pete Glass, UNLV's coordinator of Greek life.

At least five sororities on campus have regular charities they donate to. Alpha Delta Pi works with the Ronald McDonald House; Alpha Gamma Delta works with juvenile diabetes. Others do work for the hearing impaired and children in need.

The biggest benefit to Greek life, most say, is that of lifelong friendships.

"After you join a sorority, you become part of a family," Batelli said. "There are people here that I will know for the rest of my life."