Sorority Life 3

[bruinaphi]

An article from last Thursday's Daily Trojan:

MTV reality show gets weak reception at USC


Filming: Campus officials, Greeks concerned about network misrepresentation

By BLAKE HENNON
Staff Writer

MTV is filming its third season of the reality series "Sorority Life," this time at USC, and has experienced a cold reception from the university community. The network's cameras are not permitted on campus or on the Row, the traditional hub of Greek life.

The show is filming the lives of sisters in Zeta Sigma Phi, a small sorority in the Multicultural Greek Council.

Zeta Sigma Phi approached university officials about a month ago and asked if MTV could film on campus.

The university declined, said Elijah May, campus filming coordinator for USC External Relations.

"As a general rule, we don't do reality shows," he said.

Despite the no-reality show policy, Campus Filming, Public Relations and the Office of Residential and Greek Life, (ORGL) reviewed the particular case and concluded there was nothing to warrant an exception from the no-filming standard.

Zeta Sigma Phi did not consult with ORGL before agreeing to do the show. After the request for filming permits was submitted, administrators met with Zeta Sigma Phi to discuss the show.

"We in the university, not just (ORGL), are concerned based on other reality shows and what may emerge after editing," said Ken Taylor, director of ORGL.

"I believe that if this sorority were portrayed fairly, they would achieve their goal of a positive image because they're very worthy," Taylor said. "It's a good chapter with good people in it."

MTV did not return calls. A Zeta Sigma Phi officer said members could not be interviewed about the show because of MTV policy.

Zeta Sigma Phi was founded in 1994 at USC as a multicultural sorority. The sorority has 25 actives and 16 pledges. The sorority does not have a house and is not affiliated with a national organization.

It is unknown whether MTV is providing the sorority with a house.

Many Greeks worry, however, that the network's portrayal will not be a fair one of Greek life, especially after the first season featured shouting matches, partying, risqué dancing and the infamous "sober sister" incident in which a sister chose to drink rather than do her duty.

MTV's Web site advertises this season of "Sorority Life" by inviting fans to "Sharpen your claws and vote for wannabe pledges." The reunion of the first-season group was promised to be a "big 'ol dysfunctional family reunion."

Such advertising and editing choices have some Greeks worried that the show will misrepresent USC Greek life.

Courtney Wong, president of the Panhellenic Council and a junior majoring in political science and communication, said Panhellenic sororities are concerned about the show's possible effect on USC sororities' reputations.

She also took exception to the show's title.

"There is no such thing as a typical sorority," she said.

National Greek organizations are distancing themselves from the show.

The show does not have permission from Panhellenic or International Fraternity Council national organizations to film on their houses' private properties, said Erin Jackson, Alpha Phi's delegate to Panhellenic and a junior majoring in communication and French.

Her sorority is not wearing its letters in public because the sisters do not want their letters shown on the show.

"I just think it's sad that that sorority doesn't really realize how detrimental the impact that they're making on USC in general and the Greek system is going to be," Jackson said.

IFC fraternities are also wary of the show.

"We were definitely informed to not participate in any way by our national fraternity," said Alex Hoover, past president of Kappa Sigma and a senior majoring in philosophy.

It is unknown how MTV will edit Zeta Sigma Phi's season, but MTV has already edited out of one sorority event.

On Feb. 22, Zeta Sigma Phi had a social event with its brother fraternity, the brotherhood of Sigma Chi Omega at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where Sigma Chi Omega did not allow MTV cameras to film the event, fraternity spokesman Paulo Galicia wrote in an e-mail.

Galicia said the fraternity has no relationship to the Sigma Chi Omega at the State University of New York, Buffalo, which is the subject of MTV's reality show, "Fraternity Life."

MTV has been criticized for presenting a distorted "reality."

Becca Ballon, president of Sigma Alpha Epsilon Pi at the University of California, Davis, who was featured in the first season of "Sorority Life" when she was the pledge master, said MTV did not show a complete picture of her sisters' lives.

"Everything that was shown obviously happened, but when you are filmed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and less than 1 percent of that footage is aired, (MTV) will really take the juiciest bits and the most dramatic moments and highlight those," Ballon said.

The show's producers also created the "pledge house," which Sigma Alpha Epsilon Pi had nothing to do with — MTV decorated it and chose who lived there, Ballon said.

Ballon warned that the Zeta Sigma Phi sisters' lives will change when the show airs and added that it will be difficult for them not to cringe while watching.

Sigma Alpha Epsilon Pi consulted legal advisers and UC Davis officials for months before agreeing to do the show, Ballon said.

MTV told the sorority it wanted to tape how the organization worked and show the Greek community's positive side.

She and her sisters decided to go ahead with the filming because it was a medium to show how far they had come as a group since their creation in 1996.

The sorority received some financial compensation for being filmed, Ballon said.

Being on the show, however, has been beneficial, she added.

"We have a louder voice. We're more recognized, and we're stronger internally," she said.