Underground Groups Make Headway

The social scene on campus, long anchored by traditional outlets like student hosted parties, area bars and the nine all-male final clubs has taken a new twist in recent years.

Since 1985, five fraternities--three in the last two years--have secured national recognition and begun all-male groups at Harvard, with members trying to bolster their social lives while pursuing the elusive sense of "brotherhood."

And although there are only 165 total members of campus fraternities--including the recently formed five and two Black fraternities which are older--these groups are making their presence felt. In short, their existence is both an indictment of the house-based social structure of Harvard and another step away from equality of opportunity among the sexes in social resources here.

"Fraternities seem to meet a need among some students for a more active social life," says Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III.

And members say they do meet this need for some, despite the disadvantages of lacking houses on campus, being at a University that does not recognize their activities and among a student body that is somewhat hostile to their single-sex nature.

"We throw mixers with sororities from other colleges, or we do things in other houses at other colleges," says Rudy D. Torrijos III '93, former president of Sigma Alpha Mu--called "Sammy."

"Sometimes we rent out space for parties," Torrijos says.

Still, fraternities cannot ignore an important fact: Harvard officials do not want them around.

Since the University insists that student groups make all policy decisions without following direction from any parent organization, the fraternities are forced underground.

Without the benefit of University facilities, the frats have to focus their activities off campus--in night clubs, with affiliated fraternities at other campuses, or with sororities at other campuses.

Of course, the fraternities are often forced to use the most basic of means in Harvard partying--having functions in students' rooms.

"We make do with what we have," says Adam D. Taxin '93, historian of Zeta Psi.

While these room parties lack institutional feel and are often mistaken for standard student hosted parties, fraternities get a taste of the real "Animal House" experience by travelling to neighboring campuses.

"We take part in social events between our school and others," says the president of Zeta Psi, who asked not to be named.

Due to their underground status, however, fraternities are unable to organize widely-known activities, and thus end up serving a small segment of the population.

Matt J. V. Bencke '94, president of Eta Sigma Chi, the largest fraternity at Harvard, says that fraternities cannot fulfill that social need on a campus-wide level.

"We're not here to serve the campus," he says. "We are a brotherhood. Providing for the social needs of the campus is not our goal."

Frat History

Despite the dramatic resurgence, fraternities at Harvard are not a new phenomenon. The campus was peppered with frats in the 19th and early 20th centuries, all of which were closed down in the 1930s when the University began to require that student groups be autonomous.

Some fraternities became final clubs--like the D.U., which stands for Delta Upsilon--and others folded. Many of the current fraternities are merely revivals of those that existed on campus previously.

Epps attributes the recent resurgence to an active move from chapters on other campuses to colonize--or initiate new chapters--at Harvard.

But David K. Easlick, the national representative of Delta Kappa Epsilon, says that fraternities do not actively seek out campuses to colonize.

"We don't go out and actively try to get anyone," he says.

Rather, national organizations seem eager to colonize at Harvard because of the nature of the students here. Still, the main reason the frats are forming, it seems, is student interest from within Harvard, not recruiting effort from without.

"When we found out that Harvard students were interested in establishing a chapter, we were eager to help them out," Easlick says.

When it comes to explaining the trend of fraternity revival, frat members--even those involved in the founding of their organizations--don't delve into Harvard history. They also do not speak in negative terms about trying to flee the social life here or avoiding the residential houses.

Instead, members say they are just looking for good times and a sense of community at a large school.

"Fraternities are an additional dimension to life at Harvard, offering guys a chance to get together and have a broader base of people as friends," says Thomas D. Caughey '92, a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon.

But somehow separate from the resurgence of fraternities with primarily social goals are two more well established frats--both with a well defined mandate emphasizing community service. These are Alpha Phi Alpha and Kappa Alpha Psi, fraternities composed entirely of Black members.

The Alphas, whose chapter covers Harvard, MIT and Tufts, were founded in 1906 at Cornell in response to Black men being excluded from all the other fraternities.

J. Douglas Minor '92, one of the founding members of the fraternity, says that the focus of the Alphas is not social but that they are rather community service and leadership oriented.

Minor cites fellow Alpha Phi Alpha brothers, such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., W.E.B. DuBois, Jesse Owens, New York Mayor David Dinkins, and Harvard Foundation Chair S. Allen Counter.

"Our focus is the uplift of the Black community," Minor says. "You're singled out to uplift the community from which you came."

Similarly, the Kappas date their organization from 1911 and have had an active presence on campus since 1982, with about eight undergraduates in their ranks currently.

E. Michael Bobbit '91-'92, the director of the Kappas national service program which focuses on mentoring Black youths, says his fraternity's purpose is "do things by the highest standards."

Of course, the Black fraternities do have a social component to their activities, and at the same time the other five fraternities claim to do community service as well.

Many are involved in tutoring and mentoring programs, fundraisers, recycling programs, aid to the homeless and other community service activities.

Targets of Criticism

With their all-male status, fraternities on campus cannot avoid the comparison with the nine all-male final clubs.

Despite the obvious differences in wealth, age and institutionalization, fraternities are targeted by critics for their exclusive nature.

"Fraternities are still selective. The criteria for selection may be different [from the final clubs] but they are still restricted membership groups," says Dean of the College L. Fred Jewett '57.

But Taxin rejects the accusation that fraternities are elitist.

"I have a hard time taking the elitist argument when we're all here at Harvard, which is most definitely an elitist institution," he says.

A member of Zeta Psi, who spoke on condition of anonymity, also emphasized the difference between fraternities and final clubs.

"We are not a final club. We're not exclusive or elitist. The policies used by final clubs in selecting people are elitist," he says.

Fraternity members say that their rush process, unlike the "punch" used by the final clubs, is open and that anyone is invited to try out. Even the Black frats, who refused to disclose details about their rush, say that they try to be inclusive.

But some are also quick to criticize the fraternities for the role they play in further widening the gap between resources for men and women on campus.

Since the national sorority organization won't approve campus chapters without Harvard's recognition, it is unlikely that female sororities will ever parallel the growth of fraternities.

Two Black sororities get around this rule by combining with students from other campuses, but Harvard's autonomy rule has made campus chapters impossible.

"Nothing can happen until the University policy is changed," says Amy H. Mezulis '94, who was involved in efforts to start a chapter of Pi Beta Phi on campus last year.

The inability of women to start sororities and the apparent success of fraternities at Harvard, some say, further tilts the balance of resources at Harvard towards men.

"There are not that many outlets for women to get together and meet people," says Jill M. Stocker '92, who also tried to establish a sorority. "I wish the University would recognize that there is this need for young women, and that the Lyman Common Room is not reaching out to them."

Though Harvard refuses to recognize the fraternities, College administrators are not blind to the message that students are sending them.

Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III admits that fraternities fill a need among students who are dissatisfied with House life.

And Jewett says fraternities are likely gaining popularity because Harvard's size can be intimidating.

"They give a sense of having a smaller community whom you can get close to," Jewett says.

Epps has long emphasized the need for a social center, to help compensate for inadequacies in the house system. Plans for a student center in Memorial Hall--unveiled with flourish two years ago--are on hold until new revenues are raised to fund it.

Although fraternities seem to be a reaction to poor social life in the houses, members say the house system is essential to their organizations.

"We enjoy house life," says Bencke. "There's something about Harvard that gives us an interest in something more."

Many fraternities are considering buying buildings that would serve as a meeting place, but most members admit that the house system provides a good incentive for people to live on campus.

Thus fraternity houses are not key to the fraternity experience here. In fact, many members say that not having houses makes Harvard fraternities even stronger.

"The biggest advantage of fraternities at Harvard is the fact that members are closer knit, since they don't have houses. It makes for a strong feeling of brotherhood," Taxin says.

Still, fraternities are looking to acquire real estate to lend their groups a more institutionalized feel.

Zeta Psi, for example, recently approached the national organization, which is willing to fund a house. However, members cite the problem of high real estate prices in Cambridge, and the adequacy of the house system as a residential option.

"The idea of getting a house is not to become another final club. It would be a place for people to live and participate in the community," says the Zeta Psi president.

Tomorrow in the series: The Crimson examines the Hasty Pudding social club.