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Show Hemming7s Way The Greeks-Utah Style Editor's Note: This is the second sec-ond of a two-part series comparing compar-ing the Greek system at UCLA and Berkeley and the University of Utah. The Greeks at the University of Utah, just like their brothers in California, have begun to take steps to change the current image of their system. But they reject the popular idea -on the coast that the change must begin with active involvement of Greeks, other University students, stu-dents, and community members in a major project sponsored by their inter-fraternity council. Norman Brockbank, a former Greek who is now serving as IFC advisor at Utah, said that UCLA and Berkeley were just becoming service organizations by expanding their major, efforts towards a campus-wide fund raising drive or speakers bureau. He agrees that the Greeks must get more actively involved in the University but this involvement must be in the form of greater participation in student government, gov-ernment, the upcoming mock conventions con-ventions and other University activities. ac-tivities. Utah System Mr. Brockbank also strongly rejects re-jects the idea that the Greek system t ! in Utah is dying. If the system does not appear to be strong, he attributes attrib-utes this in part to the" influence of the church which supplies the young men and women in this area with social, cultural and leadership -activities. Fraternities turned in the 1920's to protest the rigid administrative restrictions re-strictions placed on students in that era. The fraternities thus became the center for providing weekend entertainment, housing for the out-of-town student and free thinking in opposition to the university standards. stand-ards. Greeks Can't Compete Gradually, the university began to provide the union buildings for activities, the dorms for housing and the liberal atmosphere for the debate of current issues. The Greeks may be losing a little ground, according to Mr. Brockbank, Brock-bank, because .they can no longer compete with the university in these areas and therefore must change their original purpose. At Utah the change will mean a return-to developing devel-oping the individual's character and his reaction to others in a group situation. situ-ation. They will still keep the parties par-ties and Greek ritual but these things will not be as prominent as current steps toward improving the fraternity student in his university environment. Greeks Control In spite of maintaining approximately approxi-mately the same number of fraternity fra-ternity members over the last 10 years, Mr. Brockbank stated the Greeks still control campus activities. activi-ties. However, they have not yet attained at-tained their full potential strength because they organize only as houses, hous-es, not as a strong inter-fraternity unit. In comparison with regional and national fraternities the University of Utah has three chapters, Pi Kappa Kap-pa Alpha, Beta Theta Pi and Sigma Chi who have rated nationally among the top 10 houses in t h e country. This change which the University of Utah wishes to inaugurate has been a well thought out decision. It is not as dynamic as the large sums of money UCLA IFC was able to raise in two successive fund raising rais-ing drives, nor is it as impressive as providing money for the appearance appear-ance of well known political leaders such as Bob Kennedy, Stokely Car-michael, Car-michael, William Buckley and others oth-ers which Berkeley succeeded in doing. The change will be very subtle, sub-tle, but a change must come and hopefully the fraternities and the entire university may reap its benefits. |