Week eight is Go Greek Week on campus and the Greek community is after new members.
According to Greek Life adviser Mike Stumpf, Go Greek Week is the precursor to fraternity and sorority recruitment, which begins in January. "It is a way for freshmen to start meeting all the fraternities and sororities, see inside the houses and get a better understanding of Greek Life here at Otterbein," Stumpf said.
Sixteen percent of students are currently involved in Greek life, according to Stumpf. After freshmen join, he estimates Otterbein will be 20-21 percent Greek.
"There's this stigma around [Greek Life]," Lauren Williams, senior theatre design and technology major and president of Tau Delta said. She sees Greek organizations as being very similar to other on-campus organizations because of all the different leadership positions and theme houses.
"We run meetings and organize programs and fundraisers both on and off campus. We also value grades and school very much, and emphasize the need for good grades to be involved," Mitchell Warmbein, sophomore biology and music major and chaplain of Lambda Gamma Epsilon (Kings Fraternity) said.
Senior English and psychology major Ashley Butler sees Greek organizations as being different from other groups because of their overwhelming presence on campus. The fraternities and sororities "can be very loud and visual," and have the tendency to be in-your-face at times, Butler said.
Williams stressed the importance of the relationships she has formed through her involvement in her sorority and their continuing impact on her life. "I was in three of my sisters' weddings," Williams said. "You do get a lot closer to people. There's a certain respect in these relationships, in the family bonds you create."
Sarah Tucker, sophomore sociology major, sees the merit of forming family relationships and the positive work fraternities and sororities do in service projects, but disagrees with the competition she feels Greek life promotes. "They go against each other," Tucker said. "It feels segregated."
"I have a lot of friends who are in sororities, and they are always busy," Paola Casale, sophomore broadcasting major, said.
According to Warmbein, being part of a Greek organization can involve more social interaction than just forming bonds with brothers and sisters. "I also have made a lot of great friends through people that associate with the fraternity that are not necessarily in it," Warmbein said.
Junior business administration major Byron Horton said he is not in a fraternity, but is friends with a lot of people who are.
Ashley Bruehl, sophomore international studies major and chaplain of Kappa Phi Omega, said that a big part of being in a sorority is how one interacts with those outside of the organization. She is proud to wear her letters, but also keeps in mind that wherever she goes and whatever she does, she is representing Kappa and her sisters.
Sign-ups for recruitment will continue for the rest of the quarter and pick up again after winter break. Recruitment officially begins Jan. 11. t&c;
