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Frats open doors for interested students
By KELLEY HASCALL / Daily Nebraskan
August 26, 2005

Quote:

The air was filled with the smell of hamburgers and the shouts of men playing football.

Music blared from speakers set up on balconies and on lawns while wide-eyed students wandered through enormous houses usually closed to the public.

It could only mean one thing: the Fall Fraternity Open House and Barbecue.

It was the first of its kind, and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Interfraternity Council hopes it will be only one of many open houses and barbecues to come, said Andrew Faltin, adjunct professor of political science and the fraternity coordinator at Greek Affairs.

Its purpose was to invite students, both greek and non-greek, and faculty to tour the fraternity houses and meet the members of each fraternity, Faltin said.

It also served as a way for male students to decide if they’d like to join a fraternity if they hadn’t received an earlier opportunity, said John Lohr, president of Sigma Nu fraternity and a senior biochemistry, German and international studies major.

Of the 26 fraternities at the UNL, 22 held an open house and barbecue.

“We want to make ourselves known as a part of a larger community,” Faltin said. “We want to increase our visibility and broaden our membership to include more international students and out-of-state students.”

By holding the Fall Fraternity Open House and Barbecue, each fraternity’s primary goal is recruitment, he said.

“The open house and barbecue are part of a larger plan to show that some of the negative views of the fraternities are not all true,” Falten said.

“Many members don’t haze or participate in drinking. We want to present the reality of the situation, not the kind of thing portrayed on 'Tommy Lee (Goes to College).”

The events are two of the many activities Greek Affairs and the Office of Admissions have planned for the coming months and years, Lohr said.

“The barbecue, open house and booths at the (Nebraska) Union are a multi-pronged effort to improve understanding for the entire university community,” Lohr said. “We hope to dispel myths about the greek system as well as allow a lot of people who would otherwise not have the ability to tour the house.”

Frank Opal, a senior chemical engineering major and member of Triangle fraternity, is adamant about re-educating the non-greeks on campus.

“I think the greek system is something a lot of people don’t understand,” Opal said. "The greek system develops people academically, socially and professionally. It builds them for success."

© 2005 Daily Nebraskan