Hazing. Binge Drinking. Racism. Unhealthy body image standards.
These are the most common negative stigmas individuals associate with fraternities and sororities.
Pepperdine Greek leaders said they are implementing new rules to hold members accountable — leading by example and emphasizing philanthropies over parties to dissociate from these national stereotypes.
“Obviously fraternities have faced their fair share of controversies and the stigma,” said William McIlroy, Sigma Phi Epsilon‘s president. “We try our best to be upstanding members of the community that seeking self-improvement. It’s not about partying, but about being a better version of yourself and being a member of a community.”
Pepperdine Prohibits Hazing and Binge Drinking
Over the past 21 years, 100 people have died from hazing, according to CBS reporting. Seven of these deaths occurred in 2017, which was the deadliest year to join a fraternity.
Four out of five fraternity and sorority members are binge drinkers in the US compared to the two out of five for general college students in the US, according to a 1997 Harvard University study. Binge drinking can cause unintentional injuries and even result in violence or death.
Reasons for binge drinking can include group living, initiation rituals, hazing and self-esteem issues that turn into body issues, according to the Addiction Center.
However, Pepperdine holds its Greek chapters to a higher standard, said Doug Hurley, associate dean of Student Affairs.
“There are three main pillars that make us different,” Hurley said. “Our Christian identity, requirement of a dry process and lack of having houses.”
Hurley said past students said they appreciated not having Greek houses as they were forced to build community outside of their chapter. Members of Pepperdine’s Greek organizations also expressed gratitude for the dry-pledge process, as it helped them focus on life and academics first, without alcohol interfering.
“Our pledge process is much more about bonding,” Psi Upsilon‘s President Christof Schoeller said. “It’s not finishing a keg or whatever they do in big state schools.”
Schoeller said Psi U holds nine alcohol abuse workshops with speakers throughout the year.
“You would think that when going to join a fraternity there’s rumors about how they make you finish a 12 pack of beer in five minutes,” first-year Psi U William Yeo said. “But another thing I love about Psi Upsilon is that you basically sign up and build brotherhood and that bond.”
Another leading cause of binge drinking happens because “leaders of fraternities and sororities are upperclassmen who are still young people themselves,” implying the leaders let many incidents slide, reported the Addiction Center. However, Pepperdine’s Greek student leaders said accountability is a priority for them.
Pepperdine’s Greek Student Leaders Hold Members Accountable
Chapters like Psi U and Sig Ep strive to hold their chapters accountable through judicial boards, where they ensure members are living up to Pepperdine’s standards and addressing alcohol violations, sexual misconduct or other improper behaviors. Psi U initiated a feedback form that allows the public to submit comments about the chapter, whether they are positive or negative.
“With Yik Yak being so popular now and so prevalent, there can be false accusations,” Schoeller said. “There’s no real way for us as an organization to investigate these claims, but we’re very conscious and aware of problems in Greek life.”
Sig Ep instills the Balanced Man Program on the national and chapter level at Pepperdine. The Balanced Man Program helps members within the fraternity create a sound mind, body and spirit.
“I’ve personally been working toward and have had success in instilling a demerit system within our standards board,” McIlroy said. “So we have a more rigid and rigidly defined penal system in regard to Pepperdine and our community standards and by law.”
Pepperdine Greek Members Work to Undo Stigmas
Infographic by Mary Elisabeth
Greek Leaders Work Toward Diversity
In 2021, Alpha Phi at Ole Miss tweeted a photo of their diversity, equity and inclusion team that contained all white members, according to the Daily Mississippian.
Also in 2021, racist texts in a group message led to the termination of the president of Alpha Phi at University of Alabama, according to The Crimson White.
This sparked controversy and conversation on how sororities need to be more inclusive in their recruiting process nationwide.
“There is a discrepancy between minority groups,” Alpha Phi‘s President Taylor Cunningham said. “Alpha Phi truly has a place for everyone at Pepperdine, it has a place for every culture, ethnicity, and that’s something we look at highlighting more going forward in our chapters and recruitment.”
Cunningham, who is white, said she is privileged to work with members who are of African American descent.
Coming from the state of Georgia, Deslyn Williams, an active member of Alpha Phi and a sophomore, said she originally didn’t want to join a sorority, as she knew that Greek life in the south is very intense, where in some cases girls are dropped over race and having certain body types. Williams identifies as African American and is also a first generation American.
“I knew that if I ended up staying in Georgia for college, I was not going to join a sorority,” Williams said. “I think the biggest difference that I noticed with my experience is that the process reflected Pepperdine’s culture. It’s more of a community that supports one another rather than joining for the name or social hierarchy.”
Alpha Phi holds diversity training sessions and have invited members of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated an intercollegiate, historically Black sorority, to share their personal experiences coming to Pepperdine with Alpha Phi members. The chapter wishes to educate their members and foster ways to be a positive force in society, Cunningham said.
“It breaks my heart to think that people can be coming from the South and have a negative connotation with Alpha Phi and associate that with Alpha Phi at Pepperdine,” Cunningham said. “We do not condone any actions like racism, anti-LGBTQ nature; and we don’t share those feelings. But, when you’re a part of an international system, it’s something that comes.”
Sasha Brenden, active member of Kappa Alpha Theta and a sophomore, touched on her experiences joining the sorority.
“I’m not blond, I’m Middle Eastern,” Brenden said. “I’m not the ideal vision of a typical Southern girl in Greek Life would be. So it’s been nice at Pepperdine because I don’t think they judge anyone on their physical appearance.”
Yeo, who identifies as Asian American, said he also valued inclusivity in his pledge process with Psi U.
“I haven’t seen them lie about inclusivity yet,” Yeo said. “At every event, whether it be how old you are, your interests, they make sure to include anyone in whatever they’re doing.”
Yeo said Psi U exceeded his expectations when he joined a fraternity regarding their diversity and inclusion within the fraternity.
“Just seeing how much they care about each other and seeing brothers grow, that exceeded my expectations a lot and farther than I ever imagined,” Yeo said.
Ethan Pettengill, active member of Sig Ep and first-year, said he was nervous when joining a fraternity, as he comes from the south. But, he said Sig Ep has continued to surpass any judgments going into Pepperdine.
“I’ve met lifelong brothers and people that I would trust with my life now,” Pettengill said.
Pepperdine Sororities Tackle Body Image Issues
Sororities can also breed self-esteem and body image issues, according to the Addiction Center.
The Addiction Center survey found that “parents of sorority members were three times more likely to worry about their daughter’s body image and self-esteem than parents of women students outside of the Greek system.”
At Pepperdine, Greek leaders said seeking out the “perfect” body and finding the ideal woman was not what they looked for in the recruitment process.
“What I loved about Theta is the diversity it truly promoted,” Theta President Paige Fontes said. “It’s not just how you look, but personality, interests and opinions.”
Theta ended their legacy rule, which was the preferential treatment given to legacies during the recruitment process, according to a 2020 statement made by the sorority at their international level. This means that there will no longer be an automatic invitation following the first round of recruitment or an automatic placement on the chapter’s bid list for students whose family members were in the sorority.
“With Theta we look for a woman as a whole representation and not just if they didn’t have an additional credit,” Fontes said. “It’s about the encompassing of a woman and not just different aspects. Looks are especially not cared for.”
Theta’s tagline at Pepperdine is “leading women.” Fontes said they recruit women based on their own leadership potential and value building future leaders.
“You do feel like you belong, but it’s not in a cookie cutter atmosphere,” Fontes said. “Which I think is what you need to grow as a person and even intellectually.”
Highlighting Pepperdine’s Greek Organizations Philanthropy Events
At Pepperdine, there is a constant push to break away from these negative stigmas and highlight how Greek members come together to serve the community.
“Pepperdine does a really great job at fostering community,” Williams said. “They make sure it’s more of a loving environment than anything else.”
CASA is Theta’s philanthropy, which helps support children in foster care. They held their philanthropy event, Kat at Bat, a softball tournament, which raised over $2,000.
Pepperdine’s Alpha Phi focuses on their international values of leadership, community and heart health. Community service is important to the chapter to help them grow as individuals and they plan on hosting a feminine products drive/used clothing drive for numerous communities in the Los Angeles area.
Alpha Phi held their March philanthropy event, Alpha Phifa, where all active chapters of Greek organizations at Pepperdine joined the promotion of heart health.
Yeo said Psi U strives to uphold their service to the community.
“We want it to be a service fraternity where we provide for the community,” Yeo said. “That’s what motivates and fuels us to be the golden fraternity.”
Psi U raised $14,000 at their Psi U Think You Can Dance event in March. The money will support and raise awareness for spinal cord paralysis.
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Email Mary Elisabeth: mary.caulfield@pepperdine.edu
