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The Lindburg Plaza featured fraternities Tuesday, Aug. 21, at 5:30 p.m. for the Inter-Fraternal Council (IFC) to “chill and grill” with prospective recruits to their ranks.
The “Chillin’ and Grillin’” cookout is part of the Campus Activity Center’s (CAC) “Fraternity Life 101,” a joint effort to market fraternity and sorority life.
“An event like this just helps open the mind,” said Marcus Fleming, senior in finance and member of Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity. “It’s an opportunity for all the new guys interested in Greek life to see everybody.”
Fleming and others on the Inter-Fraternity Council invited each of the IFC fraternities to come out, mingle, and inform both freshmen and returning students about what it means to be a “fraternity man.”
“Many people can second guess themselves about Greek life, and this mixer is a great way for people to find someone past just the first person they meet,” he said.
Fleming also noted that mixer-type events for Greek life have not always gone well, but are hopeful.
“Attendance has been rough in the past, but we’ve worked really hard on marketing this event,” he said. “We invited the CAC and Student Success to come out and talk to the new guys as well.”
The CAC and Student Success often work alongside IFC so as to insure students are informed and academically successful.
“Part of fraternity life is academic success,” said Heather Eckstein, director of student success programs. “We provide for all students opportunities to enhance their academic skills.”
Eckstein said she enjoys working with fraternities and sororities, citing the mentor students who help build connections back to Student Success.
“I’ve got students everywhere and if someone has a question they ask around,” she said. “They find out. Fraternities teach brotherly unity and mixers like these only help that.”
The mixer was organized primarily by IFC along with leadership of its recruitment chair Ian Duncan, senior in graphics management.
“It’s not about each house, it’s about making it so each kid can see every house offered to them.” Duncan said.
Duncan said that not everyone who comes to Pitt State knows about Greek life, so this mixer is used as a way of solving that.
“Putting on events like this are a way for students to at least talk to the houses, learn what each Greek house stands for,” he said.
Along with informing students about fraternity life and meeting other students, Duncan said the mixer can ease some concerns new students might have about Greek life.
“A lot of people don’t agree with this, but Greek life has kind of a bad image,” he said. “There’s a lot more than what goes into Greek life than what is seen, and most of the bad image comes D-1 schools or instances of hazing.”
Duncan’s favorite aspect about Greek life at Pitt State is that there is a no tolerance policy on hazing.
“Chapters get in trouble in a heartbeat,” he said. “It really is a no hazing environment.”
