Friday, September 28, 2007

Origins of "Greek Life"

We see them every fresh start of the year wearing their Greek letters proudly. As for the rest of us non-members, we are clueless about what it means to be truly be part of the Greek system or the Greek terms. Sure, many of us stereotype and say that all "frats" and sorority girls do is party, but I am here to blog about what fraternity and sorority members really contribute on campus, whether that be positive or negative, and any other newsworthy events that is associated with CSULB Greek Life.

First and foremost, we must understand that these social organizations have been an on-going American tradition since 1776 with the first nationally recognized fraternity, Phi Beta Kappa.
This Greek society began in the College of William and Mary and was composed of those rejected from the "Flat Hat Club."

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photo from wofford.edu

Phi Beta Kappa is still an active organization today and has several prominent alum to boast.

Samuel Morse — Yale, 1810

Theodore Roosevelt — Harvard, 1880

Pearl Buck — Randoph-Macon Woman's College, 1914

Francis Ford Coppola — Hofstra, 1959

Tom Brokaw — South Dakota, 1962

Bill Clinton — Georgetown, 1968

Condoleezza Rice — Denver, 1974

Peyton Manning — Tennessee, 1997

As for the letters themselves, they obviously represent the Greek alphabet, but the actual symbolic value of each letter differs for every organization. Each combination of letters and the letters themselves carry a special (and highly secretive) meaning that only members of the specific group can know.

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CSULB's oldest running Greek organization is
Sigma Pi and has been an active organization on campus since 1955. They are the the oldest and largest fraternity on campus with 84 members currently.

They recently won the IFC basketball championship and have iniated 45 new members this year alone.


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photo from Sigma Pi's Official Website