Greek life: Fraternities

Many students wonder about the party and Greek life scene on campus. This article will cover two fraternities — Alpha Sigma Phi and Tau Kappa Epsilon — identifying how they contribute to campus life and the UAA social scene.

Alpha Sigma Phi is the youngest fraternity on campus. Its president Colton Mosbaugh, vice president Brandon Adams, and around 10  members revitalized the fraternity from nothing and claimed the title of founding fathers. According to the fraternity’s vice president, more than 40 students have expressed interest in joining the fraternity.

The Northern Light interviewed vice president Brandon Adams, who spoke on all things Alpha Sigma Phi. 

Adams said a national recruiter reached out to them and “me and the guys decided that this would be a fun thing for us to start up, like a big project to work on. And also the idea of being a founding father to a guy’s ears is very appetizing.” 

Adams said the organization is struggling to find a place on campus to call their own to host functions for other students. Adams said, “There are a lot of places on campus that we can rent rooms out, but there’s not a lot you can do in those rooms that's fun for a group of guys.” 

Adams explained some of the fraternities plans for the future, including a trip for members and getting their own house.

Adams described the process of starting a fraternity as being both fun and time consuming. 

“Creating a whole schedule, planning out finances, planning out activities and things to do. And then trying to find the time where everyone is available to hang out together. It’s just a lot of work,” he said.

Adams said financial aspects involving the fraternity falls on the students based on their semester schedule and how much they want to contribute. The cost, called semester dues, is split evenly between the members. 

Adams mentioned the bond that forms between members of the fraternity and how current members also share a bond with past members. “Once they are officially a brother in the frat, they are brothers for life,” he said.

As the interview came to an end, Adams said, “I want to shout out our honorary member Cassie, she’s our cleaning lady. She just goes around and we pay her a little bit to pick up after us whenever we have an event — shout out Cassie.”

Tau Kappa Epsilon’s president, Owen Ford has been president for over a year. There are 12 brothers in the frat, the majority of whom live on campus. Ford described the organization as one big friend group. 

Tau Kappa Epsilon — known as TKE — has been partnered with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital since the hospitals founding. Danny Thomas joined the fraternity in 1962 and later helped found St. Jude, asking his brothers to help volunteer and raise money for the cause. 

Each semester Tau Kappa Epsilon has committed to donate to St. Jude. Ford explained that “It’s never really felt like a chore. It’s always just something that we kinda sit down and ask ‘ok how are we gonna do it this semester?’” 

After 20 years of being a part of UAA’s community, they have yet to miss their goal. They also donate to smaller philanthropies if they exceed their donation goal for St. Jude. 

Last semester TKE had their main philanthropy event, Rent a TKE, which resulted in a surprising amount of funds, all of which were donated to St. Jude. Rent a TKE is an event that involves the brothers “renting” themselves out to the community for tasks and skills they can contribute to a project.

Ford described his presidency as a surprise at being able to corral a group of guys together to make plans for events. He said that by remaining flexible they are able to communicate ideas, plans and goals to accomplish together throughout the semester. Ford said the brothers take a lot of pride in accomplishing their goals, whether they’re fundraising events or personal get-togethers.

Ford explained that time management was one of the hardest parts of being president. “I wouldn’t say that it’s always an issue, but especially for me, sometimes I have to kind of limit the amount of fun that I’m having to allow other people to have more fun. It’s not really something I’ve struggled with immensely; it's just probably the hardest part,” he said.

Ford described the personality types in TKE as very well-rounded. 

“I get the idea that there’s everyone wearing polo shirts and they’re all like jocks and they wanna do pre-workout and just hit pumps and stuff like that. It’s definitely not like that,” said Ford. “We have a pretty good spread of academics, people who are more athletic minded, people who like playing games, or who like going outside.” 

Ford said he doesn’t think there’s a specific type of person who would want to join the fraternity and that the people who join are willing to put themselves out there and see what might interest them.

To advertise Tau Kappa Epsilon, Ford helps with tabling events, making posters and having a presence on campus. According to Ford, talking to new students, helping people move into the dorms and trying to be more of an active force on campus are all ways the fraternity gets out in the UAA community.

Rush is their main social event on campus, which also serves as a recruiting event. It happens once every semester.  This year, Rush will take place Feb. 17 through Feb. 21. During Rush, different events occur every day of the week, and are open to the community. The activities are social minded with events ranging from game show night to bowling. 

The brothers do many activities on campus, Ford commented, “I think the better question is what do we not do as a group.” 

Although they do not have their own house, Ford said it is very normal to have brothers in his dorm, whether they’re studying, getting food, playing cards or hanging out. 

Tau Kappa Epsilon plans on doing more brotherhood events this semester such as sledding, going to the movies and playing games in the Esports Lounge. They also intend to do more community events to show that they’re not just an organization that functions privately.

Ford said that TKE dream of getting their own frat house, however, he explained that university policies are strict against Greek Life housing. Although, there are plans that they will be able to have a Mac apartment instead. He said it would be a ‘superficial change’ since there is already a Mac full of TKE members who requested to room together at the start of the semester.

Ford said that if students were looking for a way to find a traditional college experience, joining Greek life would be one of the best things to do. He said Greek life brings students a sense of community beyond other social events on campus and meeting classmates.