SLU Fraternities Are Here To Stay: An Endless Cycle of Ups and Downs

As a student who has been on campus these last few years, I have seen how the administration deals and interacts with the various living communities. However, the most precarious relationship has to be between the administration and Greek life.

Ask any member of a St. Lawrence University Sorority or Fraternity how they feel about their standing on campus, and they will say its shaky at best. And that feeling is not entirely unwarranted.

Just last year, incidents around hazing had both sororities and fraternities on the administration’s bad side, and ever since, members feel like any minor incident could be the final nail in their Greek coffins.

And so, at this current moment, we are left wondering, what is the future of Greek life here at SLU? And specifically for this piece, the future of fraternities. And also, why should we care in the first place?

Well to start off, if you want to know the future, one must look to the past. And if one does look to the past as I did, you will find that the struggle between fraternities and campus is nothing new.

In 1879, when SLU was still a fledgling theology school, a recently formed fraternity decided to plant a chapter at this small school on The Hill. They were Beta Zeta, the St. Lawrence University chapter of Beta Theta Pi.

A few years later, in 1882, Beta is joined by a second fraternity willing to call this quaint village home. Alpha Omicron was established as the SLU chapter of Alpha Tau Omega. And in those early days, the frats enjoyed a respected reputation from the school.

In late November of 1919, ATO held their initiatory banquet for new members. Per The Hill News reporting, the banquet was attended by a large cohort of university professors and Alumni. Among those present to celebrate new members were Professor Preist ’07, Professor C. H. Gaines ’00, and alumni E. L. Hulett ’03.

However, in the early 2000s, things began to change. Fraternities, for a variety of reasons, had found themselves on the chopping block. In 2002, Sigma Pi was gone, and only two years later Phi Sigma Kappa would follow. But the first two frats remained unscathed, although not for long.

In 2005, a minor violation would end in a devastating blow to Greek life. On October 1st, Beta would be throwing its annual toga part at 25 college St., when someone in attendance pulled the fire alarm. The administration claimed what they witnessed upon arrival was the number of attendants exceeded the buildings occupancy limit.

“The administration and National Brotherhood saw the lack of common sense and risk management ability exhibited by the brothers in charge of the chapter as signs of irresponsibility worthy of disciplinary actions.” Marc Amigone, then Staff Writer, reported.

And, of course, it wasn’t even a member of Beta that pulled the fire alarm in the first place. Yet still, Dean of Student Life Margret Kent Bass suspended Beta’s charter, giving an all too familiar reasoning. “That doesn’t mean we don’t want people to have parties and have a good time, but to dispel this stereotypical notion, particularly with men, of what it means to be Greek we need to move in a different direction,” Bass said.

Students were left devastated and upset at the news, an opinion voiced by Jason Miner, a columnist. “Any doubt I had that the university is trying to systematically eliminate fraternities is long gone,” Miner wrote. “Most schools have to deal with real problems from their fraternities; here, St. Lawrence University deals with overcrowded parties- the horror.”

Now, ATO was all that was left, and the struggle to stay afloat was not easy. In February of 2009, they would lose their house, and a year later in March, they would be suspended. “I think it was more individual offenses than the collective membership,” said Associate Dean of Student Life Rance Davis.

And with that, it seemed to be the end of SLU fraternities, but alas, hope was not lost. Just the semester before ATO’s suspension, the Winston room played host to one of the most important events in SLU Greek life history, the official recolonization of SLU’s Beta Zeta chapter of Beta Theta Pi.

And a few years after Beta’s return, in 2011, the brothers were once again reunited. As Alpha Omicron would once again raise their flag over The Hill, and officially recolonize St. Lawrence University. “ATO’s relationship with Beta Theta Pi, another fraternity on campus, is devoid of hostility. Members of ATO planned to work with Beta to promote Greek life on campus,” said Jeff Chudzinski, then President of ATO.

Since then, our two longest serving fraternities have remained, carrying on the legacy of fraternal Greek life on campus. So, what’s the future of fraternities on campus? Well, if you look back, you see we have been dealing with these problems for a while now.

The idea that the administration is trying to get rid of Greek life is not a new sentiment, and the admin coming down hard on frats and sororities is not a new phenomenon. But, that doesn’t mean those who support the Greek system should relax entirely.

As we saw, SLU came wickedly close to having no fraternities at all, and once at that point, who’s to say they would have ever come back. So, the future of fraternities is in your hands. If you care, don’t stop fighting for Greek life. Always be pushing to keep our Greek houses right where they are and keep supporting a thriving and healthy Greek life culture.

But that leaves us with one last question, why should we care? We who don’t participate in Greek life, or live in one of the houses, or even like those types of people. Well, in the spirit of alumni weekend, I ask you to consider the value of these institutions when it comes to networking.

We often hear about the very formal means of connecting with alumni in the hopes of getting a job. We are constantly told to go to the Career Center or attend the right zoom meeting in order to meet alumni and get connected.

However, this leaves those options often oversaturated with students competing for attention from alumni who they have no connection with. On the other hand, institutions like Greek life can be extremely helpful tools to build connections for after college.

Personally, I am not even a member of a fraternity, but over the years I have made close connections with many fraternity members. It was because of these connections that I now have a dream job lined up right out of my senior year. And because of that, I want to preserve the Greek system for future generations. The alumni connection opportunities, along with numerous other benefits, are why I belief we all should support our Greek life.