This story was co-authored by Caitlyn Larsen and Kenlee East.
Weber State University Greek Life rallied all week getting ready for new Greek Life Members. Sept. 9 through Sept. 14, many organizations within Greek life hosted events advertising for their clubs.
Greek week began with the Greek crawl in the Union building Atrium and finished with Grillin’ with the Greeks at the University village. The events were structured to help students get to know the different sorority and fraternity groups on campus.
Members and aspiring members of the Greek campus life socialized at the Pizza and Pref Night event Friday night, as a part of Greek Rush week. This helped promote Greek life on WSU versus what is portrayed on television.
Colton Bell, a member of Psi Phi Psi, said that the sororities and fraternities are not like what you see in the movies. Much of WSU Greek life is philanthropy based with others that focus on the social aspects of building each other up.
Each club has their own event that they host each year. Tau Psi Beta hosts an event called “Betas Against Battery” which helps fundraise and raise awareness for sexual assault victims.
Some other examples of service activities done by these organizations are a Game-a-thons and Dance Marathons for donations to Primary Children’s Hospital, a Jingle Bell run with the Arthritis Foundation, Relay for Life, volunteering for animal shelters, the food pantry and Catholic Support Services, and making blankets for the homeless.
Joining any of the fraternities or sororities is based on an interview. During recruitment, students can meet with the different clubs to get information and see which is a good fit.
Tau Psi Beta member, Victoria Lambert said, “Whether you are male, female, or identify as other, their are organizations that include everyone. Tau Psi Beta is big supporters of LGBTQ+ community. We are all different people, we all do different activities together”.
There are four different sororities on Weber State’s campus, Delta Chi Nu, Tau Psi Beta, Kappa Omega Eta, and Pi Phi Alpha. The three fraternities are Pi Theta Xi, Pi Gamma Lambda, and Psi Phi Psi. Each group has their own goals, codes and rules.
“When I came to Weber I didn’t have a lot of friends, and with the sorority I made a lot of new connections. I bonded with everyone, and it’s like I have a big sister group. It’s like I have 30 new sisters,” said Ayanna Gindlesperger, Kappa Omega Eta. “I don’t have family here, so whenever I need something, or I’m in trouble, or I have some stress going on, I know I can count on my sisters to always be there.”
These Greek clubs are a source of support and friendship for many of their members.
“I consider us one of the most inclusive organizations on campus period.” Bell said, “Fraternities and sororities are very typically more restrictive. We accept any male identifying members. We love being inclusive and making sure people feel that way because we don’t want anyone to come to Weber State and not feel welcome.”
Bell shared that when he came back to Utah from Washington, he was not allowed to live with his parents again. When he faced his reality of being homeless it was one of his fraternity brothers, not knowing of his situation, that offered him a room in his home, free of charge.
“My fraternity brothers would literally lay their lives on the line for me in a heartbeat,” Bell said.
Many members feel that joining a fraternity or a sorority has been a great influence in their life, and they recommend it to others.
“Like a lot of students, when I first started at Weber I didn’t really know anybody, so I was that student that came to school, went to class, went to work, and went home. I did not do any extracurricular at all,” Greek Council President and Delta Chi Nu member, Jessica Cairo said. “I happened to walk in through the Union building in the middle of recruitment week and one of the girls came up to me and was like ‘Hey, you should come to all these free events! They’re all week long, come check it out!’ And I was like, ‘Why not?’ I wanted to get involved in something. I wanted to do something besides the norm – go to school, go to work, go to sleep – so I decided to pledge for a sorority, and it ended up being probably one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.”
