Jefferson Duo

[jefflee108]

The first time I ever worked in a law office, the other intern who I worked closely with was a FIJI, though that was before I became a Phi Psi...I have heard of the two houses jointly throwing a Jefferson Duo formal but that's the extent of it out here in California. Except for I believe UCI, most schools have one but not the other, and in the ones that don't, our chapters often did not have much in common-i.e. FIJI's strongest chapter is at Berkeley, where Phi Psi has struggled over the last decade, and our proud USC chapter has been doing well versus FIJI's which closed down a while ago. It's a shame Stanford does not have Phi Gamma Delta because that relationship WOULD thrive in a Greek environment like ours.

Though the terms themselves are fairly meaningless, I actually always regarded FIJI and Phi Psi as brothers-I think our Sesquicentennial book refers to them as such. Mainly it's because I've always heard of the Monmouth Duo referred to as sister sororities-Kappa Kappa Gamma and Pi Beta Phi. Although I know they're close at many schools, they are particularly so at Stanford right now, and probably half of the members in each group are unaware of their history. The way rush dynamics work, the two sororities attract the same type of girls, but Kappa doesn't have a house--hence what many members see is the perfect environment for cooperation and not competition. During pledgeship, Kappas and Pi Phis throw numerous events together at Stanford, including several dances and bonding events, and there is very much the "sister" idea in force.