Murray State Year of the Greeks

[TSteven]

Delta Sigma Theta and Lambda Chi Alpha

Largest national black Greek organization brings awareness to MSU
By: Robyn Smith
Issue date: 3/3/06 Section: Lifestyles
The Murray State News

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The women of Delta Sigma Theta pride themselves on being a public service sorority.

Since the founding of the sorority at Howard University in Washington on Jan. 13, 1913, members have been "empowering their communities through committed service," according to Delta's Web site.

"I got involved with Delta because of the history," said Launa Wood, Delta vice president.

The 22 original founders broke away from Alpha Kappa Alpha because they didn't think AKA was doing enough for the community.

Wood, senior from Jackson, Tenn., said the first thing the Deltas did nationally was march in a woman's suffrage parade.

"This was really monumental because they were black, but they still marched in the front lines with the white women, even though they knew they would still not get the right to vote," Wood said.

Delta was established at Murray State May 22, 1970, and was reactivated April 24, 2005.

Today, Delta has more than 200,000 members nationally and is the largest black Greek organization in the world, Wood said.

The major programs of the sorority are based on the organization's Five Point Thrust, which includes economic and educational development, international awareness and involvement, physical and mental health and political awareness and involvement.

~and

Fraternity collects food, money for local Needline pantry
By: Janet Robb
Issue date: 3/3/06 Section: Lifestyles
The Murray State News

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By tossing watermelons and collecting food, Lambda Chi Alpha has given back to the community in a big way.

During the past five years, Marshall Welch, Lambda Chi vice president of external affairs, said the fraternity has collected at least 100,000 pounds of food for Needline.

"Our philanthropy is actually the national philanthropy ... called North American Food Drive," said Welch, senior from Murray. "In the past, (nationally) we've raised somewhere close to 8 to 9 million pounds (of food)."

Every fall, Lambda Chi chapters across the nation collect food for local food pantries. Welch said they give their donations to Needline because they know it goes directly back into the Murray community.

"It's more of an impact on the local community than if we sent it off to ... Red Cross," Welch said. "If we gave money and food to Red Cross, it wouldn't necessarily be given out here. It could be shipped off. With Needline they give back directly to the community, and there are a number of families who have a dependency on Needline."

Lambda Chi, which Warren A. Cole founded Nov. 2, 1909, at Boston University, strives to bring together students of good moral character. Welch said the story about how Cole started the fraternity was interesting.

"Cole was more of a businessman than one seeking fraternal status," Welch said. "He proposed it at two different universities and ... he said this other school is doing it, you want to get on the ball and said the same thing at the other school."

The Lambda Eta chapter established itself at Murray State May 18, 1968, but the chapter originally started as a colony under different Greek letters.

"It was a colony of another fraternity, not as large," Welch said. "They had other chapters at other institutions but not very many at all, and then that was in 1965. In 1968, we adopted or, I guess you could say, Lambda Chi Alpha adopted us."

[TSteven]

Sigma Sigma Sigma and Phi Beta Sigma

Sigmas hold title of 1st sorority at Murray State
Frisbee tournament raises money for kids
By: Janet Robb
Issue date: 3/10/06 Section: Lifestyles
The Murray State News

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Thanks to Sigma Sigma Sigma, children can learn about their illnesses and how to cope with it through play therapy.

"(In) play therapy ... they use dolls to show the kids what is wrong with them," said Brittaney Hall, Sigma co-public relations and co-music chair. "It also creates a more normal environment for them."

Hall, senior from Powell, Ohio, said the Sigma Sigma Sigma Foundation funds play therapy for the Children's Medical Center in Dallas, and the University of North Carolina Hospital in Chapel Hill, N.C.

"That's the only way they are funded," Hall said. "Through Sigma chapters."

Nancy Parrish, Sigma president, said the foundation originally put the funds toward polio research after Robbie Page, son of a former national president, died from polio.

"Once a vaccine was found, they kept the funds and decided to support children in general," said Parrish, senior from Medina, Tenn. "So our motto is 'Sigma serves children.'"

Founded April 20, 1898, at Longwood College in Farmville, Va., the sorority became known as part of the Farmville Four because four different sororities began there. In 1942, Sigma took the honor as the first Panhellenic sorority at the Murray State.

~and

Phi Beta Sigma provides fitness, tutoring services for students
By: Audrey Ferguson
Issue date: 3/10/06 Section: Lifestyles
The Murray State News

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As Phi Beta Sigma members work to serve the campus and the community, they are building on a long-standing legacy.

Phi Beta Sigma was founded Jan. 9, 1914, after the founders didn't like what was available in other Greek organizations.

According to pbs1914.org, the founders "wanted their fraternity to exist as part of even a greater brotherhood which would be devoted to the 'inclusive we' rather than the 'exclusive we.'"

Also, they believed family background should not affect membership. It should be judged upon merit without consideration to race or nationality. They wanted to form an organization that would focus on being part of the community, instead of being apart from the community.

According to the Phi Beta Sigma Web site, the national fraternity played a role in the passing of anti-lynching laws, abolishing of Jim Crow laws and outlawing discrimination in the work force.

In 1995, the national fraternity supported and sponsored the Million Man March in Washington. The march called for unity among African-Americans.

"We were the first (black fraternity) to be (incorporated) in Washington D.C.," said Demetrick Westbrook, Murray State's Phi Beta Sigma chapter president .

Westbrook, senior from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., said the fraternity began at Murray State in 1982. However, the fraternity became inactive in 1991.

"It was rechartered in 1998 by Kevin Ragland and Les Graves," Westbrook said. "It went from basically those guys to over 32 guys that we have had go through the fraternity. We have had a rich history on this campus."

The fraternity's motto, "Culture for service, service for humanity," displays its services. Sigma's Fight Against AIDS, Sleepout for the Homeless, and the Sigma Fit Club are a few of the fraternity's local projects.

[TSteven]

Zeta Phi Beta and Phi Kappa Tau

Zeta Phi Beta uses sisterhood to make positive impact in community
By: Casey Northcutt
Issue date: 3/16/06 Section: Lifestyles
The Murray State News

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In the midst of economic hardships of the Great Depression and the racial tension that plagued the 1920s, five women founded Zeta Phi Beta to uplift women.

Arizona Cleaver, Myrtle Tyler, Viola Tyler, Fannie Pettie and Pearl Neal established the sorority at Howard University in Washington, D.C., upon the principles of scholarship, service, sisterly love and finer womanhood.

The founders, whom members call the Five Pearls, wanted to create a sorority open to all women regardless of race, creed or color, according to zphib1920.org.

"We're an equal opportunity sorority," said Zeta treasurer April Gilbert, senior from Lexington. "This is not (just) for black people or minorities."

Since it's beginning, Zeta has created a legacy that includes many alumnae including author Zora Neale Hurston.

The sorority also boasts several firsts in Greek organizational history. It became the first to charter a chapter in Africa and centralize its operations in a national headquarters.

It also became the first to constitutionally bind itself to a fraternity, Phi Beta Sigma. Vice President Nicole DeFreeze, senior from Bowling Green, said the two organizations are the only two in Murray State's National Pan-Hellenic Council that have such a bond.

"That's a unique fact," DeFreeze said. "Everybody else, they can say they're brothers and they're sisters, but really, they're not. We're the only ones that are constitutionally blood brother and sister."

Zetas established a chapter at Murray State Nov. 18, 2000. Six women came to Murray knowing they wanted to join the organization, so they established their own chapter. Six years later, the sorority remains small with an enrollment of five members.

"Just because we're small doesn't mean we don't do (anything)," DeFreeze said. "We're out there."

The Zetas have worked hard to raise funds for their philanthropies, The Stork's Nest, a program that buys baby products for mothers who can't afford them, and the March of Dimes, a program that benefits premature babies.

~and

Fraternity returns after nearly 20 years of dormancy
By: Casey Northcutt
Issue date: 3/16/06 Section: Lifestyles
The Murray State News

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The national Phi Kappa Tau will celebrate its 100th anniversary Friday.

For the Murray State chapter, this event will mark a century of the organization's existence and celebrate victory in its own struggle for establishment.

Four men founded Phi Kappa Tau in 1906 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. According to phikappatau.org, the founders established the fraternity with the mission to "champion a lifelong commitment to brotherhood, learning, ethical leadership and exemplary character."

The fraternity boasts an impressive legacy, possessing such alumni as actor and philanthropist Paul Newman and Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. It also ranks with the top 25 fraternities in the North-Atlantic Interfraternity Conference regarding active members and total living alumni.

Phi Kappa Tau originally established itself on Murray State's campus in the early 1980s. However, the University shut down the fraternity, and it stayed inactive for about two decades.

"I think it was mainly, from what I've understood, from financial reasons and the University having some issues with the national fraternity," said Terry Burgess, faculty adviser. "We have heard from past members that there's a lot of hard feelings toward the University."

The organization reemerged on campus when Murray State alumnus Shane Williams, now considered the founder of the chapter, established it as a colony. The fledgling fraternity started to garner a few members with the first faculty adviser Ross Malone, one of the original Phi Kappas.

[TSteven]

Pi Kappa Alpha

Pikes contribute to American Diabetes Association with Murray Tug
By: Robyn Smith
Issue date: 3/31/06 Section: Lifestyles
The Murray State News

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Pi Kappa Alpha wants students to think back to their playground days and engage in a friendly game of tug of war.

The Pikes' philanthropy, Murray Tug, will be held at the old Pike Lodge April 29, and is open to all campus organizations. It also will be a competition between Greeks from nine universities in six states.

Mike Brown, senior from Henderson, said he hopes the event will be a huge success.

"Western's teams are pretty hardcore tug," said Brown, Pike vice president. "They practice for six months in advance. Hopefully, a lot of them will come down here and bring the tug mood and the tug momentum they have from their competition."

Proceeds from Murray Tug benefit the American Diabetes Association, the Pikes' main philanthropy. One of the chapter members has diabetes, so everyone relates to the cause.

"In addition to the greater cause, which would be the fundraiser for juvenile diabetes, the event encourages organizations from the nine universities to participate as to cultivate the true spirit of camaraderie and fellowship between our institutions," Brown said.

Pi Kappa Alpha, founded in 1868 at the University of Virginia, came to Murray State May 17, 1958. Epsilon Lambda, the Murray State chapter, was the first fraternity at Murray State. The chapter hopes to receive the Most Improved Chapter award from the national organization in August.

Brown believes getting involved in any Greek organization can give students opportunities they might not have otherwise.

"It is easier to find community service and leadership opportunities within a group of people that is serving a common goal," Brown said.

It is clear that Pikes value leadership, he said. They have eight members in branches of the Student Government Association, which is more than any other fraternity on campus.

[TSteven]

Fraternity strives to eliminate hazing, teach boys to be men
By: Casey Northcutt
Issue date: 4/7/06 Section: Lifestyles
The Murray State News

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In 1854, Delta Kappa Epsilon Fraternity expelled six members for disagreeing with the organization. These castaways banded together in 1855 and formed Sigma Chi based on their principles and beliefs.

"It was over some ideals that these men didn't believe in," said faculty adviser Rob Binford. "They felt like ... some people were being treated unjustly and so forth, and from that they created their own fraternity, and their doctrine. Their ritual is what we still use and read today."

Later, William Lewis Lockwood joined the six expelled Delta Kappas and completed the group of seven founding fathers of Sigma Chi. According to sigmachi.org, they based their organization on three basic elements: friendship, justice and learning.

Binford said the fathers elected Constantine, the man who spread Christianity through the Roman Empire, as their patron.

"The fact that our symbol is a white cross wasn't by accident," Binford said. "There's certainly a strong religious undertone to Sigma Chi, and I think what is unique about Sigma Chi is that it invariably tries to take hopefully good men and make them better men."

During the next 150 years, Sigma Chi grew to include 217 undergraduate chapters and 145 alumni chapters. The organization has produced famous alumni such as Brad Pitt, John Wayne and President James Garfield.

Sigma Chi appeared on campus in 1959. It grew out of a Delta Alpha colony that wanted to become an official Greek organization and carefully researched several organizations to determine with whom it wanted to join. Murray Mayor Tom Rushing belonged to the founding chapter.

"The white cross explains it all," Rushing said. "It teaches boys to be men."

Rob Binford said the current chapter realized fraternities have strayed from the values upon which they were established.

"We are one of the very few who have recognized that and are trying to go back to the old days where being Greek was special - it was unique," Binford said. "We're trying to instill self-respect and responsibility - leadership ideals that carry on and transcend through life."

[TSteven]

Sigma Phi Epsilon

Written purpose sets Sig Ep apart from others
By: Janet Robb
Issue date: 4/14/06 Section: Lifestyles
The Murray State News

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From little beginnings to now the largest national fraternity, Sigma Phi Epsilon grew because of its ideals and principles.

"Our ideals and principles applied to so many people," Zac Elmore, Sig Ep vice president of communications, said. "Many people felt so strongly about the principles that they grabbed onto it."

The founders who established the fraternity Nov. 1, 1901 at Richmond College in Richmond, Va., wanted Sig Ep to be different, Elmore, sophomore from Henderson said.

"(They) wanted it to be based not only on brotherhood, which every fraternity is based on, but based on ... academics and career goals," Elmore said.

The fraternity took root at Murray State May 17, 1969, after chapter founders Jim Cooper, Mike Bradley and George Wilder pushed for a charter.

Elmore said having a written purpose and developing leaders for today's changing world are two ways the fraternity sets themselves apart from others.

"We actually have a set out program called the Balance Man Program where we emphasize sound mind and body," he said. "We try to teach career skills through hands on training and team building but the main thing we try to do is stress academics. That is the main thing."

Sig Ep President Kevin Taber said the Balance Man Program is a four-year development program.

"It keeps people engaged all throughout college so they don't pledge for a semester and become full member then plateau," Taber, senior from Paducah, said. "It's suited to meet the needs and goals of young college men as they grow and mature."

For six out of the last seven semesters, Sig Ep has had the highest overall GPA and has won the President's Cup for academics for the past two years. However, local awards are not all the chapter has won.

"Nationally, we just won the Exelsior award for having the highest recruitment in our region," Zac Elmore said. "We have grown the most of any other fraternity on campus in the past year."

Other than having high GPAs and receiving awards, the fraternity also raises money for its national philanthropy, YouthAIDS, through Party Gras. The nonprofit organization helps children who are born with AIDS or receive the virus through a blood transfusion.

[TSteven]

Sigma Pi

Fraternity follows motto of achievement, brotherhood
By: Phil Dishon
Issue date: 4/21/06 Section: Lifestyles
The Murray State News

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Brotherhood.

This word best represents the members of Murray State's Gamma Upsilon chapter of Sigma Pi fraternity.

Jarrod Heltsley, junior from Calhoun and president of the fraternity, said the chapter was officially founded in 1968. Since then, the organization has been building the character and attitude of its members by living the group's motto.

"We've got one quote that, as president, I try to (use to create) a positive mental attitude," Heltsley said. "'What the mind of a man can conceive and believe the mind of a man can achieve.'"

Heltsley said this shared attitude sets the fraternity apart from other Greek organizations.

"Sigma Pi, to me, has made Murray more of a home than a place to go to school," he said. "I feel like our brotherhood, as well as the opportunity we get from our national (organization) ... has really given us a good opportunity (to unite)."

Heltsley said these opportunities have allowed him to become a responsible leader and support from alumni and brothers has helped during this phase of his life.

"Fraternities are run like a small business," Heltsley said. "(Being president has given) me a mid-point between being a student and going out into the working environment."

Kent Clouse, junior from Calhoun, serves as the philanthropic and social chair of the fraternity. Clouse said this same focus on brotherhood drew him to the fraternity.

"I came out to a lot of different (rush events)," Clouse said. "I felt really at home here. They just felt more like family than anyone else. They were really good guys that treated me with a lot of respect and that's why I joined.

"I think (Sigma Pi has) a really good brotherhood here. Someone is always going to be there for you."

[TSteven]

Iota Phi Theta

Fraternity gives back to community through volunteering
By: Audrey Ferguson
Issue date: 4/28/06 Section: Lifestyles
The Murray State News

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Instead of simply following time-honored traditions, the brothers of Iota Phi Theta endeavor to create their own.

Iota Phi Theta fraternity seeks to contribute to Murray State and the community by building traditions. Operating under the motto "Building a tradition, not resting upon one," the members of Iota Phi Theta attempt to make a difference.

"(The members of Iota Phi Theta) are trying to develop and perpetuate scholarship, citizenship, leadership, fidelity and brotherhood amongst men," said Derrick McReynolds, Iota Phi Theta faculty adviser and assistant director of residential education. "From what I've gathered and seen, they really do try to do that."

According to iotaphitheta.org, Iota Phi Theta was founded at Morgan State University in Baltimore, Md., in 1963. This was during the Civil Rights Movement, and the 12 original founders sought to work toward making a difference, while encouraging others to do the same.

One of the newest black Greek organizations, Iota Phi Theta was chartered at Murray State on March 4, 2001. The chapter, called Epsilon Theta, works in conjunction with the national fraternity. Nationally, Iota Phi Theta is involved in Iota and Youth Alliance, the Developing Better Fatherhood Project and the Cultural Education Movement.

"The Cultural Educating Movement is working to educate students about the culture we are now in," McReynolds said.

On a local level, the members of Iota Phi Theta volunteer through the Toys for Tots program with the Willis Center day care center for children of single parent homes.

[Tom Earp]

Holly Cow, Bat TS, Murray State is a Greek Paradise!

Good For Them and All of the fine works done by GLOs there.

Maybe it will rub off on others!

Oh, and other ADMS to see!