Members of fraternities and sororities share why traditions in fraternities and sororities are important while also sharing how they add more to the experience.
Luke Nelson, junior finance and marketing major, explained how different fraternities and sororities have their own traditions, and gave examples of traditions in his fraternity, Alpha Delta.
“Every sorority and every fraternity has something different, like our fraternity has American Diabetes Association and we have events in the spring like trivia night,” Nelson said. “Another tradition that we particularly do is that we do a field trip where you have to go 30 miles outside of Washburn and you get to go camping or hunting. It’s a really good way to get to know your brothers.”
Caden Davis, senior accounting and finance major, shared a couple of his favorite traditions in his fraternity, Kappa Sigma.
“We don’t exactly have chapter dinners, so what we do is we actually go after chapter to either Applebee’s or we go to Johnny’s Tavern or somewhere else, and that actually is probably some of the best fun we have all week,” Davis said. “I would say the other tradition we have that’s really meaningful to us is the gavel. Every single president that’s installed receives a gavel and that gavel is our symbol of leadership and respect.”
Davis also gave his own reason on why having traditions in fraternities and sororities is important.
“I think traditions are important because they help define who we are as a Greek organization. If you’re constantly evolving, if you’re constantly changing in every single way, bylaws, culture, academics, you name it…Traditions really solidify as that cornerstone that allows us to build on the organization we want to be, and those traditions look different for other Greek organizations, but that’s the beauty in it because in that way you have diversity,” Davis said.
Davis talked more on this.
“I think traditions are really important because it allows you to connect with other people, both before you and after you. There are many initiates before your time, whether it was a couple years ago or decades ago and there’s going to be initiates after you. Couple years from now, maybe even decades from now and having those same traditions is what allows you to feel that connection with future students,” Davis said.
Kati Woltje, senior nursing major, shared what is her favorite tradition from her sorority, Alpha Phi, and also gave her own reason on why traditions are important in fraternities and sororities.
“I would say Founders Day or Phi Christmas are my favorite traditions because there’s so much excitement. All of them bring excitement to the chapter. Some are just long and people don’t stay engaged the whole time, but all of them are very thought out with Alpha Phi and we strive to make everyone happy,” Woltje said. “I feel like they’re super important to keep members engaged as well as bring those alumni back. When you don’t have an active alumni, it’s hard to keep a chapter going. I would say they’re important to keep people engaged.”
Traditions in fraternities and sororities help members show their spirit by connecting and having fun with their brotherhood and sisterhood.
Stuti Khadka and Alijah McCracken
