Greek system can create cliques

By nne Rose Ramos

As I walked into my residence hall today, I was ushered in by two young fraternity men clad in business attire and assigned the task of opening the doors for people as they entered the building.

While I was enjoying the luxury of having the doors held open for me, I thought about the level of commitment shown by many male students to their fraternity.

In the name of brotherhood, young men all over the country have been notorious for performing outrageous acts and unthinkable tasks in order to belong to the privileged elite, the fe* chosen ones. Were I a man, I don't think I could ever belong to a fraternity. Such an intense level of humiliation and torture would prove intolerable. But I suppose that's what makes it intriguing and compelling to join in the first place.

I understand the completion of such rigorous tasks gives the pledge a sense of pride; the memory serves as proof that the potential member has overcome the pledging challenge and earned a place in a fraternity. But does this sense of community, this one group, in unity with its cause and fervor, grant life-long companionship, or does it encourage exclusivity? While I was walking with a friend one day, we ran into another friend, a newly initiated member of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity. He was in a hurry and didn't stop to say hi so we decided to tease him, saying he couldn't possibly slo* down to talk to us -- he was a Pike no* and much too popular to mingle with us non-affiliates.

We even went so far as to call him "Pikafied." While my friend and I engaged in a little harmless humor, it dawned on me that becoming a part of the greek community can more than occasionally isolate you from the rest of the student body at Santa Clara.

While its original purpose is to make friends, has greek life become an opportunity to separate oneself from others?

I do not belong to a sorority and it's possible that my non-greek status allows me to evaluate this situation with unbiased eyes. I have both sorority and non-sorority friends.

Those who are a part of greek life have all been welcoming of my friendship. But as I sat down in Benson today, I became aware of just ho* segregated our cafeteria has become. I felt like I was looking at the map Janis Ian pulled out for Cady Heron in "Mean Girls."

I began to see the apparent division, ho* the unusually business-attired Sigma Pi members sat together, the Alpha Phi girls all dressed in white, and all the "Anchor Splash"-clad Delta Gamma members at tables with one another.

I am fully aware that by spending a great deal of time with a certain group of people, an inevitable bond of familiarity is formed.

I'm also conscious of the "rut" we all fall into. We become satisfied with our group of friends and don't bother to expand beyond that, into ne* friendships. The Santa Clara community is generally composed of semi-exclusive groups of men and women based on sports, living situations, or greek life.

Don't get me wrong. I think finding people with whom you get along and can enjoy time is an important thing. Whether or not the social group you belong to reflects with whom you sit at lunch, there are certain things that inevitably determine with whom we associate. I hope Sigma Pi continues the whole "door opening" thing. I could really get used to it. And you kno* it's amusing to see freshman boys running down the street dressed like girls. If nothing else, at least it makes me smile.

I can only trust that the fraternities and sororities, as well as clubs and residence halls, encourage a welcoming, non-judgemental approach to making and having friends not only within their group, but with every student.

*Contact Annie Rose Ramos at aramos@scu.edu.