University of Virginia Library

Charles Weir

Unnecessary Hard Feelings

Once again the castles on Rugby
Road and Madison Lane have let
down their drawbridges to seek out
possible new candidates for
knighthood in their kingdom. The
now twice annual ritual of rush is
upon us again.

What do the Greeks have to
offer? To many it offers little or
nothing in light of the recent rapid
increase in the numbers of
admission and the zero increase in
pledge numbers.

First yearmen were recently sent
cards through the mail by the IFC
so they could signify what houses
they were interested in. The list has
now been compiled and sent to the
fraternity houses so they can
contact the prospective rushees.

Onion Dip

This requires that I give up
several evenings to the house and go
over to cat onion dip and potato
chips while I listen to the life
history of all the rushees. From
these few meetings I get something
of a feeling about the guy and
whether or not he would fit into
our brotherhood.

Fraternity life is a very personal
thing and cannot be described in an
informal discussion. It must be
lived to be understood. To many it
doesn't and can't appeal. To some
of us it means a great deal and an
opportunity not to be found
outside of it. It is much more than
eating with friends or a party. No
one can understand it unless they are
exposed to it. Rush was designed to
offer a small glimpse and that is just
what it does. The fraternities have
recently come under attack from
many segments of the university.
This has required a rebuttal to the
attacks. Both the attacks and the
rebuttals have been very shallow.
Charges have been leveled that
would appear quite humorous they
had not been made in earnest.
Houses are thought of as places for
perverted people to collect. There
could be no better place for like
minds to congregate in the same
gutter. Those who make the attacks
are called social outcasts who
couldn't make it into a fraternity
even if they rushed (it must be
added that many did and weren't
accepted). A true feeling of hate
grows up between the fraternity
followers and their critics.

Blinded

Most supporters are blinded by
their love for the fraternity and
most critics are blinded by that
same love. There is no attempt to
let the other alone. Both groups are
stereotyped. No understanding of
the other's feelings is sought or
desired. How can this animosity be
changed?

Sell Themselves

The simple solution some think
would be to lay off on the criticism
of fraternities and let them try to
sell themselves. This does not allow
for constructive criticism to be
given. The fraternities need to find
what those not in them think of
them and must be open and willing
to change.

A changing student generation is
upon us and new beliefs must be
conveyed to the Greeks. If a
different strand of student comes
to Virginia that shuns the tie and
coat of a few years back, not to
allow those who don't wear them
into your house will quickly kill the
house. The same goes for the length
of one's hair and color of his skin.
Coeds also are presenting a new
type of hurdle that must be crossed
by Virginia's fraternities.

The addition of several new
houses to the fraternity system
shows that the fraternity way of
life may not appeal to some as it
presently exists but a group of
students have gotten together to
form and mold their own. This
probably is one of the strongest
points in the fraternity system and
may appear to take on a new
dimension when coeds come
together to form new sororities.

Social Outlet

One of the former main outlets
of social life in this cultural mecca
of Charlottesville will continue. It
takes a lot of dedication and money
to keep a fraternity going and those
who believe in this way of life
continue and will continue in the
future to come here. Hopefully, the
hatred and hostility that has
surrounded these institutions will
subside. While criticism is vital and
must come from both within and
without, personal character
assassinations are both unwanted
and unnecessary.