Name: Spenser
Bio: Spenser is the only non-Greek on the team, and brings a critical outsider's perspective to the Greek community. Beyond WebGreek, he is a rock climber, SCUBA diver, and general outdoor kinda guy.
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- Fewer risk management issues
- Improved scholastic performance (GPA increased from 2.73 to 2.93)
- Larger chapters (3rd largest of all fraternal organizations), with 44% more members than the national average
- Undergraduate membership has increased from under 8,500 in 2000 to nearly 10,000 in 2010
- 94% fewer dollars spent on insurance claims
- Greater alumni involvement, including 55% more alumni advisers
And The Winner Is…
December 10th, 2010Congratulations to Linda Ablard of Alpha Delta Pi! You’ve won a $250 gift certificate to the spa of your choice, courtesy of the entire WebGreek team, including our two mascots, Lady and Ollie the Owl. On behalf of all of us here at the Owl’s Nest, we hope you enjoy some relaxing treatments!
Phi Delta Theta (-) Alcohol = Win?
December 8th, 2010Phi Delta Theta has just published a white paper called “Brotherhood: Our Substance of Choice,” assessing the fraternity’s last 10 years as an alcohol-free fraternity (all fraternity houses and properties kept free of alcohol at all times). You can download it from Phi Delt’s blog here, and I recommend doing so, as the results are quite striking. While it’s difficult to say exactly how much the numbers in the report are explicitly due to the new policy, or if additional factors are at play (for example, increased marketing efforts and/or social media adoption), it certainly seems like things have improved for Phi Delt.
A brief recap:
The insurance figure is perhaps the most striking, and obviously a very compelling reason for an organization to consider taking this drastic step. Many organizations have policies that restrict alcohol in chapter facilities, but Phi Delt is the first fraternity organization of its size to mandate that all fraternity property be alcohol free.
An obvious goal of such an action is to try to combat the binge drinking culture that Greeks are, fairly or otherwise, known for. A related goal is improving the health and scholastic engagement of students, which goes hand in hand with less alcohol consumption. But does it really work?
Interestingly, and perhaps tellingly, the Phi Delt white paper does not give any hard data with regard to the amount their members drink. Of course, a study would be difficult for a national organization to do accurately and without prohibitive expense. This is one reason the aforementioned data might not have been included.
Another reason might be that going alcohol-free doesn’t actually work to reduce binge drinking. According to a 2006 study in the Journal of Primary Prevention, removing alcohol from housing premises has no effect on how much the students drink. The only difference is where they drink. In other words, going alcohol-free on premises just moves the drinking to bars, other chapter houses, and tailgates.
This same phenomenon was described by Benoit Denizet-Lewis, a New York Times Magazine writer who visited Northwestern University and interviewed the members of Phi Delta Theta, as well as other chapters. The article is long but makes a great read. His subjective observations of the chapter were that the alcohol ban did nothing to curb the drinking, drugs, and “fratty” behavior of the members. He also wonders why it would even be a good thing, seeming to ask if fraternities should “let boys be boys” (within reason of course). And according to the white paper, even Phi Delta Theta still has several alcohol-related incidents each year.
Clearly, banning alcohol in a given location isn’t a magic pill, and it takes much more to foster gentlemanly behavior. Denizet-Lewis stood in awe of the results of SigEp’s Balanced Man Program, which was responsible for creating much more balanced, reasonable men who knew how to self-govern. Of course, this man’s assessment is based on one campus, and the results could be exactly the opposite at another campus. The point is that one simple rule will not transform an entire organization. It takes complimentary actions.
In my opinion, even if overall alcohol consumption isn’t actually reduced, it would be quite beneficial for members to have the safety of the chapter house as sort of DMZ. If brothers can study at the chapter on a Tuesday night and not worry about drunken antics, then they can get schoolwork done and then party elsewhere. Not to mention the fact that a fraternity house strewn with beer cans is a lot less pleasant. Segregating work and play is a valuable benefit of alcohol-free housing, and this is reflected in the improved academic standing of Phi Delta Theta chapters.
In any event, I think there should be a balanced approach. The reason that Phi Delta Theta has been so successful since their new policy is that, in addition to being a more marketable product (you can actually study in our houses!), they’ve been able to be proactive in many other areas. Reducing the insurance bill certainly goes a long way. At the end of the day, a fraternity’s mission is to prepare men to be leaders of the world, and the world extends beyond just alcohol. Alcohol should be a target only to the extent that it detracts from the primary mission, but if a few 21 year olds want a beer in their rooms after a long day putting on a philanthropy event, I don’t think that action in itself will cause too much mayhem. I’m glad that Phi Delt took this step, and I wonder if any other organizations will follow suit.
Want to learn more? There are a number of organizations and teen alcohol rehab centers dedicated to raising awareness and prevention of alcohol abuse.
…And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Thanks
November 30th, 2010After a Thanksgiving spent stuffing ourselves with stuffing, gobbling turkey, smashing mashed potatoes and washing it all down with gravy, we returned to the Roost to continue our mission of making Greek life easier for fraternities and sororities everywhere. One reason we do this is so that Greeks can focus on making life easier for those less fortunate in their communities. So for the sake of warming hearts during this chilly time of year, and inspiring similar action at all campuses, I’ve gathered some stories of Greek chapters sharing the holiday spirit. If you have any stories to add to the list, please don’t hesitate to leave a link in the comments.
Phi Delta Theta at Southwestern College provides turkey, stuffing, and all the fixings to five families in Winfield, Kansas. 13 of 18 members participated, and the chapter looks forward to providing presents to 25 children for Christmas.
Omega Delta Phi brothers at the University of Houston delivered 13 turkey dinners to families in need as part of a fraternity Thanksgiving tradition reaching back to 1997.
Delta Upsilon at Tufts University organized a huge food drive to deliver 100 meals to the homeless of Somerville, MA. Most fraternities and sororities got involved, and the Somerville Homeless Coalition was surprised to see the Greek community actually come through with 100 turkeys!
Members of Sigma Lambda Beta at UT San Antonio volunteered at the 31st annual Raul Jimenez Thanksgiving dinner, an event that fed about 25,000 people with 11,000 pounds of turkey, and required over 4,000 volunteers. Volunteering for an existing event is a great alternative to spearheading a project.
The entire Greek community of Colorado State University, councils and chapters included, sponsored a food drive that resulted in 150 boxed Thanksgiving meals given to needy families in the Ft. Collins region.
The community extends beyond our borders, and the Phi Mu chapter at the University of Tennessee sent care packages to soldiers serving in Afghanistan. At first the project was meant to send Thanksgiving themed greeting cards, but now all kinds of non-perishable items are included, from water purifying tablets to soy sauce.
Alpha Phi Alpha’s Xi Epsilon Lambda alumni chapter gathered meals for 30 families in Columbia, Missouri. What makes this event special is that the fraternity selects 30 families to feed not for a night, but for a whole week.
Sigma Alpha sorority at Middle Tennessee State University teamed up with other campus organizations to adopt five families for Thanksgiving. Professors even got into it, offering extra credit for donations of canned food. Over 2,000 cans were donated!
This list is not even close to exhaustive. The amount of help that the Greek communities across the country provided last week is truly inspiring, and helped countless families have happy, healthy and well-fed holidays. A big WebGreek salute goes out to all those fraternities and sororities who pulled together to help those less fortunate. We can’t wait to see what Greeks have planned for the December holiday season!
Greeks Are Facebook
November 18th, 2010It’s been a spell since the last Thursday Thought. It’s not that we’ve been thoughtless, mind you. We’ve just been working our tails off on a couple of major happenings, including a brand new home page. The other big news will wait for it’s own post, so for now, let’s just get on with the musings, shall we? Here goes:
A brief article in TechCrunch reported that Yuri Milner predicts Facebook will play a major part of the development of artificial intelligence. Milner is the CEO of DST and an investor in Facebook, Zynga and Groupon. Here’s what TechCrunch said he said:
I think that when you have billions of people connected and the unprecedented pace of exchange of information then you need filtering mechanisms. And now we’re in the very early stages where your friends and networks are doing it for you, like on Twitter and Facebook. Or the Google approach, where there are a whole bunch of machines that are learning fast. And I think there will be a convergence between those two models. And I think Facebook will be one of those platforms from which AI will emerge in the next ten years.
I thought this was a cool para-quote, and keep in mind that earlier this year Facebook surpassed Google in terms of traffic sent to news websites.
If you spend time on Facebook then you already know: gone are the days of firing off links via email, for the most part. If you find a wacky news article about a guy who ate his own beard, or whatever you think your friends should read, you post it on the ‘Book. And what Milner is saying, essentially, is that Facebook has become a custom filtered content stream, where news, videos, links and photos are curated by the people you keep as friends. More after the jump… Read the rest of this entry “
A Response to ‘College Students in Trouble’
November 12th, 2010Yesterday’s piece, in which we reported that the entire student body of Anytown University had been banned from campus, got some mixed responses. Some laughed uproariously, some thought it was reasonably amusing, some people didn’t understand it, and some thought it was crappy.
Fair enough. What I was aiming for was a satirical look at the way that Greeks are held to shifting standards. While I believe that those who haze and abuse and act irresponsibly need to be punished and/or educated, I don’t think that these behaviors are endemic to the Greek community. In order to have a rational, calm discussion about the pros and cons of Greek organizations on campus, I think we all need to take it down a notch and have an open, honest conversation about the way things are now, the way things should ideally be, and the way things could reasonably be.
What needs to not happen, is higher education pundits grabbing torches and pitchforks every time a fraternity member goes to the hospital. The vitriolic tone in so many news articles and comments sadly mirrors the state of US politics, polarized and irreconcilable.
I was glad to get this response from a student from Brown University. He is a fraternity member who has been in the middle of a real-life word war between the Greeks and what can only be referred to as “haters.” Please read on, and then check out the articles that he linked. The final article, by Hunter Fast, is an example of the “sane” rhetoric that I’m advocating. (Names of people and chapters withheld, just in case.)
It’s really interesting you posted this. These kinds of issues have been on my mind and my brothers’ minds recently. The Greek Community at Brown is in a bit of a battle of words that began recently.
Now, I’m sure that by now you’ve heard of the Yale University fraternity and their “No means yes, yes means anal!” march around campus. This has sparked a series of articles in the Brown Daily Herald (henceforth referred to as “BDH”) opening a discussion about sexual assault and complacency among Universities and students. In the Brown context, reference has been made to Spring Weekend and t-shirts that groups (likely fraternities) have made over the years. The main example brought up was one from 2008: “Brown Spring Weekend: it’s easier to beg forgiveness than to ask for permission.” This is now, obviously, taken in a sexual assault context. Another one comes from [a fraternity's] shirt from 4 or 5 years ago: “Why date you when you can [Greek letter] you?” with accompanying picture. More after the jump… Read the rest of this entry “
College Students In Trouble for Drinking or Hazing or Something
November 10th, 2010ANYTOWN, USA- The Anytown University chapter of College Students has been placed on behavioral probation for conduct and policy violations following an alleged party last Friday night. The party ended when 4 students were hospitalized with alcohol poisoning, according to Bruce Digginson, Vice President of College Student Affairs. The Office of College Student Affairs and the Student Judiciary Committee are investigating the incident.
“College students have historically been an integral part of our university,” said Digginson. “Unfortunately, after Friday night’s incident, the administration needs to send a message that such reckless and dangerous behavior is not acceptable. We are reevaluating the role that college students play at this university.”
According to university rules, college students on behavioral probation may not host parties, enter classrooms, or consume alcohol. College students are also prohibited from playing sports, eating in the dining halls, gathering in groups larger than 5, and using campus restroom facilities. The ban against playing cards, dice, drinking cups and ping pong balls remains in effect as part of the effort to curb drinking games.
“The University will follow up with us regarding concerns of a possible alcohol consumption incident,” said the College Student President, Jamie Darinkowicz, ’11, in an email statement. “We take these allegations seriously and are cooperating fully with police and the administration. I want to be clear that overall, college students are high achievers and upstanding citizens, and that we are all being punished for the actions of a few. In fact, joining a college is a great way to get involved, make professional connections, and improve scholastic performance. Over 90% of all Fortune 500 CEO’s were members of a college.”
“Nothing we did contradicts our mission statement,” Darinkowicz added.
The mission statement of the Students includes such language as “make new friends and try new experiences,” “make our own mistakes and learn about personal responsibility,” “explore different career paths,” and “fucking rage.”
“I think these sanctions are over the top. College students have done so much for this university, and this one little incident is all it takes to make them forget? Now we won’t even have a football team to play against [our rivals] The Tigers this Saturday,” said Jason Joose, a sophomore member of the College Students. “Besides, those 4 students didn’t get that alcohol from us. They probably pre-partied at another college.”
To others, such as Anytown resident Marylou Prudie, the punishment doesn’t go far enough.
“College students are trash, they just party and molest each other and cheat their way through school. When is the school going to finally get rid of students?”
“Besides, students spend a bunch of their parents’ money just to join a college. It’s like paying for friends. And then they do all this schoolwork and community service, like it gives them an excuse to get drunk. It makes me sick,” added Prudie, before turning back to an episode of Jersey Shore.
Psychologist Janet Amberscum confirmed that some aspects of the college students make dangerous behavior a cultural norm. “When someone sees their peers drinking alcohol, the behavior becomes normalized, and when alcohol is readily available at parties, students are more likely to try it. When you factor in the initiation process for these college student societies – a long application including seemingly meaningless essay writing, being forced to take the SAT, and a mandatory orientation program that often lasts an entire week – it’s easy to see that individuals can become vulnerable to groupthink, which supplants personal responsibility.”
The sanctions for last Friday’s incident are intended to “change the culture of drinking and gallivanting about among college students,” according to a university official. Indeed, this is not the first time college students have come under fire. Each of the past 5,280 weekends there have been allegations of underage drinking, physical assault, and general douchebaggery.
For their part, the National office of the college students has said they would not revoke the Anytown chapter’s charter. “We are working hand in hand with the Anytown chapter to prevent any further hazing incidents, and we have developed a robust member education program,” said Phinneas Pittman, a spokesman for the national body overseeing the Anytown chapter. “Wait, I’m sorry, that’s the wrong statement. What are they in trouble for again?”
For now, the Anytown campus remains a lonely place, as all students have been blocked out of classrooms and dormitories. The only people allowed to attend classes despite the probation are members of fraternities and sororities because, according to Digginson, “they aren’t really students anyway.”
“Besides,” he added, “at least they have experience with partying, and they can hold their damn liquor.”
Interview with David Morin
October 27th, 2010My Google Alerts delivered this article from the Toledo Blade to my inbox recently. The author, a Bowling Green graduate student named David Morin, discusses the pros and cons of going Greek for this year’s incoming freshmen. I found this article to be interesting, and after an email I got the chance to interview David over the phone.
As a brief summary, David starts the article by mentioning some of the benefits of going Greek, including the friends, the social scene, leadership opportunities, and the lifelong connections that help in networking for the real world. He also stressed the beauty of the Greek system as a place for people to remake themselves. “Wallflowers have a chance to remake themselves into outgoing students. The lazy have the opportunity to find energy and transform themselves into bold leaders. In many ways, the Greek system allows you to be whatever you want to be.”
As for arguments against going Greek, he points to the financial aspect. Joining a fraternity or sorority, he says, will certainly impact the pocketbook. (I refuted this point, which we’ll get to in the interview portion.) Also worth keeping in mind is the negative image often associated with Greeks. Warranted or not, he says, people associate Greeks with the stereotypical movies, the drunkenness, and the usual gang of misconceptions.
David is studying media and communication. He spent his undergraduate career at the University of Illinois, which is known for having the largest Greek community in the country, 98 chapters currently active according to the council websites. He went through recruitment, and ended up de-pledging from Delta Phi his first semester. I wanted to find out why, and he ended up giving me some great insights into the Greek system as a close, but outside observer.
Spenser: Why did you decide not to join Delta Phi?
David: A large part of it had to do with my dad, to be honest. He was fairly anti-Greek, and made that clear before I went off to school. That was about 20% of the decision. The rest was because I’d pledged as a means of making some friends, and by the time pledging was going on, I was making friends from dorms and in classes.
I still made a lot of friends and enjoyed the process, but I think it just wasn’t for me. (Read on…) Read the rest of this entry “
The Great Foodfight Overreaction of 2010
October 20th, 2010I love when I get to read something that reminds me of simpler times, before rampant lawsuits and special interest groups and politicking ensured that, for every action, there would be a disproportionate reaction. Perhaps it’s my sepia-toned conception of history, but it seems to me (and my dad agrees) that harmless college pranks were once much more common. What better way to celebrate the end of childhood and the beginning of adulthood than taking childhood antics to their absurdist endpoints? As long as these antics don’t damage people or property, I feel that they should be tacitly allowed, or even encouraged.
That’s why I smiled this morning when I read about a food fight at Cal State University Northridge. Apparently, this is a tradition that began with a water balloon fight at the end of rush week, and has escalated over the last three years to include food.
I was glad to read that silly goofy good times were still alive and kicking in this litigious, self-important society, but then I read past the first half-sentence. The aftermath was a $4,000+ cleanup effort by campus crews, who also had to spend 120 hours scrubbing egg shells and honey off the quad. Apparently, the fraternities and sorority involved might have to pay the cost of the cleanup, and may face other sanctions.
Furthermore, the case was referred to IFC and Panhellenic Judicial Boards, who presented their findings to the VP of Student Affairs. The Panhellenic president issued a statement saying “We want to make it clear that this is not behavior that reflects our values as a Greek organization on campus, and do apologize for the damage that this has caused.”
Call me old-fashioned (glazed, of course), but c’mon. This is a food fight. As you know if you’ve ever read this blog, we at WebGreek (and myself personally) do not abide a lot of stuff that Greeks are deservedly or undeservedly known for, such as hazing in any form, alcohol abuse, or those really stupid shirts with overt sexual slogans in bright colors. But c’mon. This is a food fight, not large-scale academic dishonesty. Forget “reflects our values as a Greek organization” for a second. Does a Slip-n-Slide reflect values of a Greek organization? Not as far as I can tell, and neither does watching Glee, and none of these deserve a judicial board report.
I know, I know: You’re always wearing your letters and should be have like upstanding citizens. But it’s naïve at best to expect anyone, college students in particular, not to misbehave every now and again. And if you don’t let kids blow off steam doing something creative and non-serious, then you risk a major eruption, or worse, a generation of rule-jacking killjoys who think that starting Hawaiian Shirt Friday makes them cool and edgy office managers. As far as I know, there was no property damage or personal injury. This is not a newsworthy, sanction-worthy, or ire-worthy event. If anything, I am offended by the waste of food.
In a Perfect World…
The fraternities and sororities at CSUN show up early the next morning and clean up their own mess, voluntarily paying for any additional costs. Students who witnessed the food fight thought to themselves “wow, going Greek looks like fun. And these upstanding citizens cleaned up after themselves, something my roommate refuses to do.” The student affairs office makes the required “we’re not angry, just disappointed” statement, but is quite thankful that it was a food fight and not a fistfight. Next year, the IFC and PHC organize a much bigger fight with tarps on the ground and a garbage truck nearby, so that cleanup takes twenty minutes. Everyone goes home dirty, tired, happy, and with dreams of the next great public entertainment spectacle.
Without mischief, nothing will ever change for the better. After all, our country was founded by mischief-makers. Making a big deal of it when a group of students steps slightly out of line not only makes a mockery of authority, it risks snuffing the creative spark that led to disruptive innovations like Facebook and Napster, both of which required some rule-bending. I want councils and boards and governing bodies to stop playing the CYA game and start separating what needs serious attention from what only needs a wag of the finger. And I want all you young adults out there to scrape your knees, make mistakes, laugh, joke, play, and enjoy yourselves before the Lumberg years set in. Just be mindful of others, that’s all I ask.
The above photo is not from CSUN, but Bunol, Spain, where thousands flock to chuck tomatoes at each other. Awesome. Courtesy of sodahead.com.
Epsilon Nu Tau- A Home For College Entrepreneurs
October 19th, 2010In February 2009, President Obama said “the answers to our problems don’t lie beyond our reach. They exist in our laboratories and our universities, in our fields and our factories, in the imaginations of our entrepreneurs and the pride of the hardest-working people on Earth.” Entrepreneurship is what made this country great, and we’ve always felt that fraternity and entrepreneurship goes hand in hand. Small wonder, then, that 85% of Fortune 500 key executives are Greek members. Driving this concept home is Epsilon Nu Tau, or ENT, a new national fraternity founded at the University of Dayton.
ENT was started in 2008 by then-senior James Wolf, and entrepreneur major. It was founded as a co-ed fraternity, and 34 members signed up as part of this new experiment. The purpose of ENT is to create a society of entrepreneurial individuals and to nurture the spirit of creativity, salesmanship, professionalism and business ethics.
The chapters of ENT are structured differently from most Greek letter organizations. The officers are given titles more befitting corporate executives. There is a CEO, a CFO, and a COO, in addition to a Marketing Chair. In fact, every member has a spot on the executive board, and therefore a hand in ENT’s direction.
They bring expert speakers to campus for their members, and connect with local businesses to provide opportunities for networking and hands-on business experience. The single biggest goal of ENT, though, is to bring together the best and brightest entrepreneurs on campus to foster personal growth. Says sophomore Emily Rozanski in the Dayton Flyer, “What I love about ENT is the fact that I’m surrounded by highly motivated people.”
So far, they have successfully added three more chapters at Texas State San Marcos, Cal State Fullerton, and Seton Hall University. The organization counts over 75 active members, and actively encourages other campuses to start chapters. This is a perfect opportunity for motivated individuals to get in on the ground floor, since this is a very young fraternity and because every member will be in an executive position. Check out their website for more information!
WebGreek + WePay = Profit (For You!)
October 7th, 2010Here in the Owl’s Roost, we are always cooking something up. Unlike most Greek services, we have an open platform, which means that we will constantly be adding apps and improving upon our existing feature set. After hearing calls for a billing and payment application, we responded. We’ve always recommended WePay as the best group payment platform available, and today we are proud to announce that we have completed our WePay integration! So from now on, when you log in to your Webgreek account, you’ll be able to easily send bills to your chaptermates and make money for your chapter online!
The WePay app will display your chapter’s account, as well as the paid (and unpaid) bills for each member. This is a powerful and easy way to collect and manage money for dues, tshirts, you name it.
Okay, so it’s good for collecting money and reimbursement, but you said Profit!
Right you are, Italics. With WebGreek’s WePay app, you can sell tickets, and then promote directly through Facebook, Twitter, and email. All ticket sales are dumped straight into your chapter’s bank account and it’s so easy to do that this 30 second video will show you exactly how:
You can also use WePay to collect donations. You can find out how if you’ve got another 30 seconds:
So how much does this cost?
Nothing much. There is a WePay app on your dashboard. If you pay with credit card, it will cost you 3.5%, and if you pay via bank transfer, you will pay 50¢ regardless of the amount transferred.
This handy table shows how much you can save by paying 50¢ instead of 9%:
Oh, the savings you'll save!
In other words, you can save more than a month’s rent over the course of the year by using WePay instead of some of the other bill payment services out there.
For more on the potential uses for WePay, check out their blog.
Here’s a quick look at using WebGreek’s WePay integration to send bills:
