The Kind of Story GDI's Hate

[MaryPoppins]

The Chapter certainly deserves credit for their part. I hope the story makes it into the Group's magazine.

[IrishLake]

Originally Posted by LaneSig

Can you tell us your husband's fraternity? This is a great story. You should contact his fraternity's magazine; it is a big credit to the chapter.

Ditto! I was going to say this. I'm so glad your husband will be ok, Dee, and that your son and dog were taken care of. Four-wheelers can be so dangerous!

(FWIW, we also used the term GDI as a term for those who HATED greeks, not those who simply decided greek life wasn't for them, or never considered it).

[MaryPoppins]

^^^^
Yeah GDI is kind of strong wording:
G for your higher power of your choice;
D for the outcast and beset by plagues and bad luck;
I for the independent which can be a good thing even in a Fraternity context.

[greekdee]

Thanks so much for your kind words! Yes, WE. ARE. BLESSED. Praise God for it. Doctors told us that, had my husband not been wearing protective gear, there is a 100 percent chance he would have been killed. They said he absolutely would not have survived being hit in the chest by an 800-pound flying ATV and would have probably died instantly -- it would have crushed his heart had that protective gear not absorbed the shock. He is doing amazingly well and may be released as early as Friday.

I am more than happy to give the fraternity's name -- it is Sigma Phi Epsilon. Go Sig Ep, Tennessee Gamma chapter at East Tennessee State University. I do plan to write up something for their nationals and hope it will be included in their quarterly newsletter. Our youngest son and dog ended up staying with a Sig Ep (a senior at ETSU) who lives down the street from the fraternity house and has two dogs of his own and a fenced in back yard. It worked out beautifully and that guy was so attentive to our son. His girlfriend was also very helpful and she is a Sigma Kappa at ETSU.

As for the whole GDI thing, I did not mean to offend anyone. I honestly thought it was the official, across-the-board term for true haters of Greeks. I went to school in the "radical" 70's and it may have been worse then. We had independents who were non-Greeks but took no issue with those who were. Then we had the GD Independents who had it out for us. This group at ETSU, back then, was organized; had tee-shirts, meetings and showed up at events like Derby Days and Pike's Peak just to taunt and jeer.

They were always trying to get GLO's in trouble. For example, one night some of my sisters and a couple of pledges were walking back to campus from a fraternity party. There was this For Sale at the edge of somebody's lawn. It was one of those tall ones, basically a post with an arm that the sign hung from. One of the pledges jumped up, grabbed the arm and swung a couple of times then stopped and continued walking. There was a guy walking past them, though and the pledge said to him, "Oh look,. I'm a pledge and they make me swing from signs." Well, it was a JOKE, just a girl being crazy! This guy, though, was in the hater's club. He went to the Dean of Students, embellished the story and said he witnessed us hazing a couple of pledges by making them destroy private property. Several of our executive officers were brought before the Dean, our NATIONALS got called...it was ridiculous. It all got straightened out and no harm done, but -- they did things like that all the time.

The girl who started the whole movement on campus was well known because she was heavily involved with student government. Here is a twist, though-- my sorority (Phi Mu) ended up pledging her!! She went through recruitment ("rush" back then) her senior year. Her program was 5 years, so she still had two to go, but she was classified as a senior. Let me tell ya, Panhellenic was all abuzz when her name showed up on the registration list. We were wondering what she was up to.

When I was talking to her during recruitment and asked her straight up what made her decide to do it, she looked me right in the eye and said, "I have spent the last three years trying to run Greeks off campus, but all you've done is get bigger and stronger. I got to thinking maybe there is something to this and decided to see what I might learn from rushing."

I was impressed with her honesty and willingness to admit she might have been wrong -- especially with having her group of "followers." Could not have been easy. I don't know if anyone else did, but we gave her a bid. I had several sisters who were active with SGA and knew a whole different side to this girl -- insisted she'd be a great asset if we could just get her to give up all the Greek hating.

At first, she declined the bid, but called our president everyday for three weeks to talk about it. Our president finally said, "Look, accept your bid. You know you want to. If it doesn't work out, you can de-pledge and no hard feelings, no questions asked.

So -- she pledged, initiated and ended up becoming treasurer! I kid you not, true story.

Thanks again for all the good thoughts for my husband!

[BadSquirrelBeta]

This is a great story! Thank God there was someplace your son and dog could stay while your husband could get medical attention-what a load off his mind...and the outpouring of support from all the guys, alums and their wives...made me a bit teary. Thanks for sharing!! I needed to hear something good today and "ding! ding! ding! we have a winner!" with that story for sure!!

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by greekdee

I am more than happy to give the fraternity's name -- it is Sigma Phi Epsilon. Go Sig Ep, Tennessee Gamma chapter at East Tennessee State University. I do plan to write up something for their nationals and hope it will be included in their quarterly newsletter. Our youngest son and dog ended up staying with a Sig Ep (a senior at ETSU) who lives down the street from the fraternity house and has two dogs of his own and a fenced in back yard. It worked out beautifully and that guy was so attentive to our son. His girlfriend was also very helpful and she is a Sigma Kappa at ETSU.

I'm glad you're writing it up. What a great story to go with Sig Ep's red door tradition.

[carnation]

Originally Posted by greekdee

Can we close this thread and remove it? I am really sorry I started it.

I'm really glad you put this here. I've emailed it to several Greeks!

[greekdee]

My husband was released from the hospital Friday evening! I had brought my son and dog back home to Georgia earlier -- my husband has friends from Georgia going to get him and haul all the dirt bike/ATV's from their trip back. My cousins went deep into them thar hills and pulled the wrecked ATV out.

My husband had a lot of "helpmate" type things he needed me to do at home to ease his mind, and since he was out of danger and not needing surgery, I came on home with our youngest son and dog...plus with all the Sig Eps around, I was not worried about him lacking company.

When he was discharged this evening, he was picked up by a Sig Ep brother he had actually lived with in the house back in the day. Staying overnight with him and his wife until the Georgia friends arrive.

The property my husband wrecked on is some I inherited from my dad in 1996. He was a wonderful man, but his wife was a witch and tried to steal it from dad's estate. We fought and won, and guess who the attorney was that saved the property? The same Sig Ep who picked my husband up from the hospital tonight!

Thanks for all your well wishes for my Sig Ep's recovery!

[AGDLynn]

Awesome!!

One of the BEST examples of fraternity/sisterhood and living up to the organization's vows.

[MaryPoppins]

^^^^ What AGDLynn said!