Greek life arrives at Brock

What do you do when your boyfriend - who you think is going to propose to you - ends up dumping you instead, only to get engaged to a chick that he met at Harvard Law School, but you still desperately want to try and get him back and will do whatever it takes?

What about if you come home early from a business trip to find your girlfriend engaging in sexual activities with multiple people, give up on your relationship, run into your high school crush, have a Mitch-A-Palooza thrown for you which thrusts you to the top of the college social scene, but are still trying to find a reason in life, get the girl and combat your mid-life crisis?

Or maybe if you get a note from Hugh Hefner, kicking you out of the Playboy mansion because you are too old and you are desperately searching for a new life and purpose?

The answer to these questions - as the movies Legally Blonde, Old School and House Bunny would tell us - has something to do with joining a fraternity or a sorority.

Granted, these are ridiculous situations - ones that, hopefully, not many people will find themselves in - but for people who are unaware of the real philosophy behind what a fraternity or a sorority is, especially within Canada, it is precisely these depictions that help to formulate their ideas about what constitutes Greek life.

Commonly misunderstood as being drinking clubs full of obnoxious frat boys and ditzy sorority girls who are a part of an elite members only club where the only way to gain access is by going through heinous hazing rituals - being a part of a fraternity or sorority group involves much more than that.

For students in Canadian universities, you will be hard-pressed to find someone who actually properly understands exactly what is involved and what it is like to be part of one. Many people are unaware that they even exist in Canada - let alone at Brock University itself.

Breaking these stereotypes and getting people to understand exactly what is involved in being a part of a fraternity or sorority has proved to be difficult for members of Brock's first and only fraternity group, Zeta Psi and sorority group, Alpha Sigma Chi, than initially expected, but it has not hindered them.

Brock students, Marc Reynolds, creator and current president of Brock's Greek Life on Campus, John Matisz, current president of Zeta Psi, and Paige Walker, current president of Alpha Sigma Chi, all agree that it hasn't been easy getting the word out and moving people past their initial conceptions about fraternities and sororities, but what they have gained in the process has been well worth it.

"I have had a lot of people just think of hazing, getting drunk or these major parties and we have really had to combat that, but you just have to take it in stride and accept it for what it is. You can't let it discourage you when you get that negative feedback initially," said Walker. "We are a lot more layered than that, we are not just crazy partiers or really ditzy girls."

And for the members of Brock's first and only fraternity and sorority groups, moving past these ideas is not going to get easier. Every year the groups are going to have to face the same battles.

"The thing is, since this is a university, people continuously move through it; they come and go. That hurdle is constantly going to be put in front of you because you are going to have new people coming in. The current members of the fraternity and sorority are going to have to jump that hurdle every time a new group comes it," said Reynolds. "There is always that stereotype because it is so easy to attach a name to a group of people."

After defining what it is that fraternities and sororities are not, what exactly are they then?

"A fraternity is a multigenerational network of students from all different types of backgrounds," said Reynolds. "Generally speaking for us, it is people who have like-minded goals, want to be successful in life and take on challenges. It is very similar to a lot of different clubs and groups that we have at Brock, but I think the thing that is different about the fraternity system is not only that usually it is specific for guys for fraternities and girl for sororities, but it takes in people from all different ages."

As the three students explained, by being a part of a fraternity or sorority students can gain hands-on-experience in what it is like in the 'real world'. Running a fraternity or sorority can be equated to running a non-profit organization where students are involved in recruitment, human resources, marketing, event planning and philanthropy. Students get to learn how to balance the business aspects of life while still remaining true to the sense of community that is instilled and understand how to properly conduct themselves in a manner which is personable, yet still professional.

Reynolds started up the fraternity chapter at Brock last May and it has consistently grown since then, now involving over 30 members.

Initially, Reynolds was not unlike many students in that he was unaware of the presence of fraternities on Canadian campuses. However, while visiting some friends at University of Western Ontario, he encountered their Zeta Psi chapter on campus and wanted to bring the same kind of presence to Brock.

"That really solidified to me that there was something actually tangible to this whole fraternity thing, and that it wasn't just a myth in Canada," said Reynolds. "When I came back and I showed people that this could actually be accomplished, a bunch of us got together and started recruiting people."

While the fraternity was officially started in the spring of 2009, over the duration of the summer months, Reynolds and other members of the fraternity decided that it would be a good idea to start a sorority as well in order to make sure that it was not exclusively male.

"A few girls contacted me over the summer saying that they would like to start up a sorority, and they really got the ball rolling," said Reynolds.