University of Nebraska Omaha - Tomahawk / Gateway Yearbook (Omaha, NE)

Page 18 text:

know, unless you wore your pin or they found out by talking to you. I've never encountered it. Davis: No, I've found that teachers will cut down Greeks in passing remarks, b ut I've never had any trouble because I'm a Greek. There's been none so far as I know in our sorority; there may be in some of the others. Ganem: On UNO's campus, no. But some girls from other places, like Boston, said it was really a problem there. Tomahawk: It has often been noted that the Gateway is anti-Greek. Do you feel there is unfair coverage of Greek activities in the Gateway? Rowe: I used to, but I think it's getting better. The current editor claims that if the Greeks do something worth- while it'll be in there. Gould: It's up to each group to get newsworthy items to the Gateway, but after that it's out of our hands. It's up to the staff. If we do anything newsworthy, they'll probably cover it. Christensen: Yes, I do. I don't know why, but it seems the Greeks do a lot; maybe they don't want the recognition. I think the Greeks could be covered more to give the campus a view of what they do. Davis: I do, too. When I was a fresh- man there was a little column about the Greeks. It was just a list of activities, but now it takes a lot to get anything printed. I know Student Senate and some other organizations have had trouble getting things in. I think coverage is inadequate. Sports gets a lot, and that's good; I don't know where their big coverage is now. Possibly more space could be devoted to newsy things of interest to the whole student body. Ganem: Not this year. The editor has been pretty fair. He's put things in about Panhellenic, the candy sales and some of the other things we've had. Tomahawk: What does the sorority do with the dues it collects since there is no Sorority girls race toward a stack of watermelons during the on-campus Watermelon Bust contest. worry about the upkeep of a house? Gould: We save a lot of money hoping for a house some day, and quite a bit goes to pay for bills — paper, stationery, refreshments, phone bills. The doughnuts and cider we provided at Homecoming cost quite a bit, and then a part goes for ourselves for our get-togethers and parties. A percentage will go to the national organization, and there are pledge and initiation fees. Davis: A lot goes to the national chapter. We have a budget which shows how much we can spend on social func- tions. We also put $3 a month into a housing fund in case we ever do get a house. But a real house for actual resi- dence wouldn't come until dorms were built on campus and more out-of-town students were here to use a house. We could use a lodge or combined house — a place to hold meetings that all the soror- ities could use. Ganem: Some goes to a building fund in case we ever do get a house, and, of course, a part goes to the national offices. We have an endowment fund which goes to the American Farm School program and a part goes for the maintenance of the seacoast mission. We have our own money for bills, pledge manuals, flowers and things like that. We have given some money to schools for the mentally re- tarded and to the Indian reservation. Tomahawk: How many pledges do you have this year and how does this compare with previous years? Rowe: We've pledged 24 girls this year; there were 37 or 38 last year. When I started in 1968 we had 40. I think it's because fewer girls are going through rush, and I think it's good. It allows for more individualized attention. Gould: We have 18 pledges now. There were 25 when I pledged. The next year there were 28, and we had 24 last year. Christensen: We have eight pledges this year. We just started last year and now have 24 members. Davis: We have 22 pledges this year, 32 last year, and 37 the year before. We usually pick up more in open rush, too. Ganem: We have 17 this year, 20 last year, and 25 the year before. There were a lot fewer going through rush. Maybe that means something, 1 don't know. Tomahawk: Do you think sororities are on the way out? Rowe: They could easily. It depends on what kind of leadership they get in the next few years. I feel there will be something about a sorority that will always attract girls. It's something to get you active rather than just coming to school and going home. I'm really opti- mistic, but it depends on proper leader- ship. Gould: I don't think so. Rush figures and pledges have gone up. People are looking for a group of people caring about each other. Christensen: I think maybe on the coasts, but it hasn't hit the Midwest yet. At the national conference they talked about it, and the trend was that sororities may have to get more liberal on the coast. Davis: No. But I think values change and what people want change. On a big campus they aren't emphasized as much. Different things have sort of taken their place. Ganem: They're not declining. In fact, we have more belonging, and new chap- ters have been started. ■ 16

Page 17 text:

this year. We took some orphaned child- ren to Band Day and sold candy for the kidney foundation. About 15-20 people work on these things at a time. Ganem: Every single person is involved in our activities. We each have a Grand- ma and Grampa at the Douglas County Hospital. We visit with them, send them letters through our mailbox and deliver them about twice a week. Several of our girls are involved with Manpower. Tomahawk: How far does the sorority insist on individual comformity? Rowe: As long as she comes to the sorority functions and is a good sister — joins in the activities and works for the sorority — we don't say a thing about conformity. Gould: We do nothing at all about conformity. In fact we like to stress the idea of not being alike. I think con- Sigma Kappas sitting at their table in the Ouampi formity's more prevalent with the guys. You can tell what fraternity a guy is in by the way he dresses. A girl doesn't like to be labeled. Tomahawk: Can sorority members ever be expelled? Rowe: Once a girl has gone active she's always in. The only time a girl would be expelled is for very serious reasons. If she didn't come to meetings, rush or other activities over a long period of time and said she didn't want to be in the sorority, we might expel her. Gould: No, not really. If a girl hasn't paid any dues or gone to any meetings, we'd ask if she didn't want to belong. You can quit anytime, but no incident has arisen where we'd have to expel anyone. Christensen: No. Davis: No, they would be de-activated, in my knowledge, there is no one that Room use a mailbox for sorority correspondence. this has happened to. Drop-outs or those that don't graduate are alum members. An extreme case would have to be approved by our national office, of course. You can always turn in your pin if you find you don't want to belong. Ganem: Nothing like that has ever come up, so I really couldn't say. Tomahawk: Since the Greeks are one of the most well-organized groups on campus, do you feel that perhaps they have too much power? Rowe: I don't really think so. The Greeks are organized but as far as power, like in Student Senate, people run be- cause they want to serve. Gould: I don't think they have too much power. It's just that Greeks tend to belong to more organizations. Greeks really encourage joining and involvement so the larger percentage is the only factor. Christensen: I don't think it's because you're a Greek. Usually Greeks are more interested in organizations or they wouldn't have joined the sorority or fraternity in the first place. Usually the person is more organization-oriented so she joins more organizations. Davis: No, I'd like to see them organ- ize more things. The Greeks are respons- ible for a lot that happens on campus and there are always more things we can do. As far as power goes, we don't have all that much. Ganem: No, not really. Tomahawk: Do you find that teachers ever discriminate against you because you're a Greek? Rowe: Some do, some don't. Per- sonally, I've never had any problem but some of my friends say some teachers do discriminate and don't like you oecause you're a Greek. I don't think it's a major problem though. Gould: Most of them don't know I'm a Greek. But I've never encountered it and neither have many of the other girls. Most of the teachers are pretty fair. Christensen: I don't know how they'd 15

Page 19 text:

Incoming freshmen sign fraternity pledge preference cards to indicate the group of their choice. In an intra-mural exhibition football game, Alpha Epsilon Pi takes the Gateway into overtime. Fraternity members donate blood during a ROTC-sponsored blood drive held each semester at UNO. FRATERNITIES Interview by MIKE RISSIEN Tomahawk: What is your chapter doing to aid social reform on the UNO campus? This includes the topics of class boycotts and Vietnam issues, as well as racism and discrimination. Vail: Every chapter has guidelines, in our national there are blacks. 1 think this speaks well for our chapter locally, too. If you pledge a black and he can't make the pledge program after he is accepted, we are caught in the middle and lose both ways. In Lincoln there is a forced pledg- ing of minority groups, I can't see it here. Hawkinson: We are not interested in tokenism; we are not interested in pledg- ing someone along this line, just so we can say we have someone who is a member of a minority race. We are interested in the content of a person's character, not the color of his skin. Tomahawk: Do you have any blacks in your fraternity? Hawkinson: No, we don't. Tomahawk: Have any blacks come through rush? Hawkinson: Not for the last four years that 1 know of. Kniewel: The Vietnam issue is pri- marily an individual matter, the chapter doesn't have an official stand. We would be naive to think 60 guys are all going to feel the same. As far as the race issue or accepting blacks in our fraternity is con- cerned, our charter provides that any- body who would like to join and who is a male student over 16 years old may pledge. We have pledges who are Jewish and a Hawaiian boy, too. We don't discriminate against anybody. If they would like to join and think they can endure our training program to become a brother, that's up to them to decide. Eirenberg: We don't have any dis- crimination because you don't have to be Jewish to be in the fraternity. In fact it is possible for an Arab to join; there are a 17