UVa gay fraternity up to nine members

[hoosier]

Gay UVA frat stirs campus debate
‘Out on Rugby’ to host meet-and-greet

By LAUREL *****


CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Students forming a gay fraternity at the University of Virginia are questioning what the longstanding Greek system of brotherhood is really all about.

If the true meaning of the fraternity system is to provide a convenient method for meeting and hooking up with women, then Out on Rugby would fail miserably, said Luke Ward, co-founder of the new fraternity group.

But if the aim is to honor brotherhood, to build commitment to service and the community, and to create leaders, Ward said, then this newly forming gay fraternity is at least as noble as its traditional, heterosexual predecessors.

Ward said the fraternity brothers volunteer their time to AIDS service organizations, the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Resource Center on campus, with Parents & Friends of Lesbians & Gays and other organizations.

Ward, a senior at the Charlottesville campus, also serves as president of UVA’s Queer Student Union. He said he never considered joining a traditional fraternity because he didn’t feel welcome.

He said he knows of students who pledged with fraternities and formed bonds with their brothers, then later came out as gay and were accepted. Ward said he was out when he first arrived on the campus, which made it more difficult.

“Looking at the fraternity system from the outside, it seemed to idealize certain things about masculinity and heterosexuality that were rewarded socially. It wasn’t something that seemed like an option for me,” he said.

Anthony Whitten, president of Out on Rugby, said reaction on campus has been largely positive. The only concern he’s heard expressed is how the group will fit in when it holds social functions.

“Our presence really asks the question: Is it about brotherhood, service and community, or is it a social dating club?” Whitten said.

Whitten, Ward and alumnus Michael Maszaros co-founded Out on Rugby in March of last year. The fraternity was named after the street where the traditional brick fraternity houses are located. Thirty percent of the student body at UVA belongs to a fraternity or sorority.

Out on Rugby does not have a formal house. There are nine members, who meet once a week. Whitten hopes to increase this to 12 or 15 by the end of the semester.

Ward said the officers have applied with the multi-cultural Greek council to obtain official status as a fraternity.

Whitten said he’d also like to eventually apply with one of the two national gay fraternities: Delta Lambda Phi or Alpha Lambda Tau.