Santa Clara's 'other' Greek life

By Maggie Beidelman

While over 200 prospective women lined up outside the houses Kappa Alpha Theta, Alpha Phi and Delta Gamma this past week, multicultural fraternity Nu Alpha Kappa ran its rush on a smaller scale.

The lowest number of admitted members to one of the three "traditional" Greek sororities this year was 51 -- about five times the size of Nu Alpha Kappa's entire chapter.

There are 11 social Greek societies within the Santa Clara community, five of which are multicultural Greek organizations.

Though the multicultural Greek societies offer many of the same opportunities to its members as the traditional societies, in terms of philanthropies and events, their numbers are significantly smaller and they rarely interact with the traditional societies.

"Both multicultural and traditional Greek societies serve the same purpose," said Amanda Rojas, "but diversity separates us."

With the exception of Chi Upsilon Zeta, which has mostly Asian members, Santa Clara multicultural Greek societies do not designate themselves as societies for specific ethnicities, rather they attract members from a range of minority groups.

"We've had whites, blacks, Indians, Asians, everything at Santa Clara," said Robert Flores, president of Nu Alpha Kappa. "Sometimes it looks like we're mostly Latino one year, and the next year, we're more diverse."

Most of the members of the multicultural societies are Hispanic, a group that made up about 12.5 percent of last year's undergraduate population, or 618 undergraduates according to the Admission's Office.

"If a Latino were to join a regular fraternity, it would be awkward," said Oscar Lopez of Sigma Lambda Beta. "It makes you feel part of a group," he said, of being in a multicultural Greek society.

Combined, the five multicultural societies have an estimated 100 members in total. Each society has boasted no more than twenty active members at any given point since their creation.

Robert Flores said membership of the multicultural societies has been consistent since they began.

"We've remained at about seven to ten members," said Robert Flores. He also said he has a desire to see his fraternity become better known on campus, but as far as size goes, "we have a little saying that we call quality over quantity."

Robert Flores said he was looking more for dedication and people who will help the fraternity grow as a chapter, not just an increase in membership.

"I had no idea that the multicultural Greeks even existed," said sophomore Kim Odom.

Some traditional Greek societies have existed on college campuses nationwide since the 19th century whereas the multicultural societies are far more recent.

The multicultural Greek societies have been an active part of Santa Clara since the 1990s, except for Chi Upsilon Zeta, which has been at Santa Clara for only two years. All except for Chi Upsilon Zeta are part of national organizations.

"It's just something that I never thought about," said sophomore Tucker Heiner. "I can't believe I'm so ignorant."

Robert Flores said, "We are usually a lot more well-known among the multicultural crowd at Santa Clara." They participate in events with several multicultural clubs and organizations on campus, mostly through the Multicultural Center, he said.

Out of the 4,938 undergraduates that attended Santa Clara last year, about 35.3 percent, or 1,742, were students of color.

For the most part, traditional and multicultural Greeks at Santa Clara do not often interact said Veronica Flores, the president of Sigma Lambda Gamma.

Neal Teutsch, president of the traditional fraternity Pi Kappa Alpha agrees. "We don't really have any interaction with them unless it's Greek Awards or a sorority event that brings everyone together," he said. "I'm not sure why. There hasn't been too much effort on either side."

There are exceptions. "We have a club party," said Veronica Flores, "which is on Thursday of this week, where we go around to the different chapter meetings (of traditional and multicultural Greeks) and say you're personally invited to whatever event we're doing." Past events that both societies have done together have included Anchor Splash and Star Search.

At the end of each year, all of Greek life at Santa Clara gathers for the Greek Awards, in which certain chapters are honored for their successes. "The last award that we won was an academics award in May (of 2006)," said Veronica Flores. "The year before that we won a community service award."

None of the Greek societies at Santa Clara are officially affiliated with the university. As such, they aren't allowed to officially participate in Multicultural Center events as Greeks. "It's an understanding that the multicultural Greeks do not show their letters, or recruit, during our events," said Bernice Aguas, director of the MCC.

Many members of the multicultural Greek societies are also members of the MCC.

"The fact that the university doesn't recognize us enforces the stigma that Greek letters carry, whether it be multicultural or traditional," said Veronica Flores. "We have this stigma on campus as Greeks."

According to Jeanne Rosenberger, vice provost for student life, the multicultural Greeks were part of an Inter-Greek Council when the university decided to end its financial support of the Greek system. Rosenberger said each Greek society made an individual decision to disassociate from the university.

Multicultural Greeks are involved with philanthropies in the surrounding Santa Clara and San Jose communities.

The sorority Sigma Lambda Gamma, known as the "Gammas," has adopted Yerba Buena High School in San Jose as a place where they meet with young women to both help with homework, everyday problems and encourage them to go to college.

"A lot of them are first generation and don't have relatives who go to college, so they look up to us. We provide an incentive for them to go to college," she said.

Other philanthropies that the societies participate in include supporting awareness of AIDS and breast cancer and volunteering at homeless shelters, in San Jose for low-income families.

Contact Maggie Beidelman at (408) 554-4546 or mbeidelman@scu.edu.