Excepted The Jerusalem Post

Israel’s first college fraternity opens

The Hebrew state is in for something new on Tuesday: Alpha Epsilon Pi, an international Jewish fraternity, is opening a branch at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya.

It will be the first college fraternity in the State of Israel.

Although a group of young men attending IDC have been participating in fraternity events throughout the year, their official initiation – making them full members of the international organization – will only take place on Tuesday.

They are going to become Brothers of Alpha Epsilon Pi in a ceremony at the Sheraton Jerusalem Plaza Hotel. AEPi undergraduates, alumni and international board members will attend the ceremony.

The Alpha Epsilon Pi (AEPi) fraternity has been operating since 1913 and is “one of the oldest Jewish organizations in the world,” Steven Kaplan, director of expansion for Alpha Epsilon Pi, said on Monday.

According to its mission statement, the fraternity began as a “brotherhood of young men who came from similar religious backgrounds” and had experienced prejudices against their religious beliefs.”

It has grown to encompass more than 83,000 young men. Only recently has it set its sight on expanding to the Middle East.

Steven Kaplan traveled to Israel a few months ago to search out students interested in becoming part of a new fraternity in Israel. He found a group interested in joining, and they became the fraternity’s “Aleph Colony.”

Kaplan said the students were fantastic members, and that they “have gone above and beyond the standards that we set for them.”

He was met with “much hesitation and uncertainty” during his efforts to bring the American fraternity tradition to Israel.

Part of that hesitation stems from the images of fraternities and sororities in the media – drinking, sex and more drinking.

Many fraternities and sororities in the United States are trying to change their party-hard image.

Intercollegiate Knights, for example, is a fraternity founded for community service. Last April, the Alpha Psi Lambda sorority at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign participated in a march to “support all-important research offering preventions and solutions for babies born too soon or with birth defects.”

Alpha Epsilon Pi raised $135,000 for the United States Memorial Holocaust Museum in Washington and $100,000 for Magen David Adom. At IDC, the members of the AEPi fraternity have participated in social, philanthropic and athletic events.

David Cohen, a former member of the Zeta Phi fraternity at New York University, considers fraternities to be a way to create a community within a college. “It was a good way to absorb into school,” he said. “It provides a mini community for you.”

Community service is a significant part of Greek life in the United States, but Cohen said fraternities were “mostly social organizations.”

Members go to bars, throw parties and raise money for the fraternity, he said.

James Gardner, a student at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, said fraternities were a “double-sided sword.” They allow for “wide social connections,” but at the same time “limit the number of people one can associate with because of rivalries and cliques,” he said.

As for the party life illustrated in films, Gardner said “there is some truth to the movies, though I think they are exaggerated a bit.”

Israeli universities tend to have much less campus life than their American equivalents. Students are older and more independent here. Most of them have served in the army and they often have fulltime jobs. They place more emphasis on their studies, and less on extracurricular activities.

The introduction of fraternities and sororities to these universities might change this, increasing the social aspect of study and providing a sort of home away from home. On the other end of the spectrum, they might just be an excuse for students to neglect their studies.

Full story at KVAL

EUGENE, Ore – University of Oregon students took some time away from class to serve those in need. The co-ed fraternity Alpha Phi Omega kicked off their 6th annual Potluck in the Park event to feed low income and homeless people in the community.

The event at Alton Baker Park brought out lines of people. Many of which had been the recipient of the donations in previous years.

“It’s really good to have an annual big event that we do here. And we fell that it really makes a difference,” said Ben Weiner.

Weiner is the event co-chair and said they expect to feed nearly 300 people. The fraternity received donations from Sundance Natural Foods, Fred Meyer, Safeway, Track Town Pizza and the University of Oregon to help them dish out the meals.

“We are not just doing an event to feed the homeless and low income but actually interacting with them,” said Weiner.

To add to their good deed, the students gave away clothing that was donated by local schools and sororities.

People who study urban myths say that this is one of the most persistent, and they’ve identified at least 100 campuses where it is fully accepted as the truth.

It’s bullshit. I don’t care who told you, it’s not true. There is no such law in any municipality in the country. Read here if you don’t believe me.

Story from http://www.uwrfvoice.com/news/article/2338/

A legend circulating around UW-River Falls says that the sororities on campus are not allowed to have houses for their chapters due to a City of River Falls ordinance.

This, however, is a myth, according to the future River Falls City Administrator Scot E. Simpson. As the myth states, no more than eight women can live in a house at one time in the City of River Falls without it being considered a brothel.

The zoning section of the City ordinances of River Falls states that a fraternity or a sorority house means a building occupied by an organized group of 10 or more students where succession of membership and lodging are given to the houses occupants.

The City has no problem with both sororities and fraternities having houses within city limits, the myth was something that was started a long time ago and has been traveling through Greek chapters and campus every year, according to Simpson.

The only houses that are currently being used by campus Greek life are those that are occupied by the three fraternities: Alpha Gamma Rho, Theta Chi and Delta Theta Sigma. The five sororities on campus include Alpha Omicron Pi, Sigma Sigma Sigma, Alpha Sigma Alpha, Sigma Alpha and Phi Mu.

Although some members from each sorority may live together, they are not allowed to have a specific house designated for their sorority according to an agreement called the National Panhellenic Housing Agreement.

There are some sororities members that are aware of this agreement, but there are some, especially new members to the Greek community that have been given the myth as a reason as to why their chapter does not have a house.

This is something that is not required to be addressed among sororities on campus but can lead to confusion among the newer members. Ashley Clow, in her first year as a member of Sigma Sigma Sigma, found that when she asked her sisters why they did not have a chapter house she received a mixed response.

What Clow found was that the first response she was given was that due to a City ordinance concerning the amount of girls living in one house they were not allowed to own one for the chapter. The second response that she received from senior members of Sigma contained information about a national housing agreement that bound the sororities in deciding not to have houses for this campus. The National Panhellenic Housing Agreement was first drafted in 1989.

“The purpose of this agreement is to secure for all sororities an equitable housing plan through cooperation with each other and with their respective National Councils,” Sara Gliniany, UWRF’s Greek Coordinator, said.

The agreement was drafted because the National Council wanted to make sure that all of the sororities on campus could afford housing for their chapter. They decided that if one sorority could not afford to own a house than the other sororities should not have them as well out of respect. This was also intended to be used to cut the cost for students who wished to be a part of a sorority on campus, according to Gliniany.

When asked if they would like to see their sorority obtain a house within the next couple of years, the response from some members was mixed as to whether or not it would benefit or hinder their sisterhood.  There is a worry that while having a house may increase the number of potential new members for a sorority it would also bring with it more unwanted drama among sisters, Clow said.

“I think that it would be amazing if we could have houses because everyone would be centrally located so that we would not have to take up a room on campus just to have a meeting, this would allow all sisters in the sorority to have better communication as well,” Alexis D’Aquisto of the Phi Mu sorority said.

There are some members of sororities on campus who feel that the addition of a chapter home would be the best thing because it would separate sororities from feeling like a club on campus instead of a sisterhood.

“Right now the sororities on campus seem more like a club than a sisterhood because we are not allowed to have a house,” Katie Sheehan of the Alpha Omicron Pi sorority said. “I think that the sisterhood among us would become stronger and would also make Greek life more popular within the campus.”

From DRNonline.

HARRISONBURG – Alpha Phi Sorority of James Madison University donated $14,235 to the Rockingham Memorial Hospital Heart Check program.

The sorority raised the money during a week of events in February. Events included a 5K road race and Red Dress gala, part of the American Heart Association’s national campaign for women’s heart health awareness.

“With the outstanding support of the Alpha Phi Sorority of JMU,” Hostetter continued, “we will be able to provide, at no cost, heart health screenings in English and Spanish to women served by the free clinic and community health center.”

Through its annual fundraiser, Alpha Phi has raised nearly $30,000 for RMH Heart Check since 2006. The funds are put into the RMH Heart Fund, which is managed by the RMH Foundation.