Heritage deep in the BIG-C

When Horace Trent was pledging the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity in 1986, he made the mistake of wearing Levi's jeans to a house event. A brother, in order to show Trent that the pledge did not belong to Levi Strauss, cut off the label of his name brand pants. And last night, Trent described this event along with its historical significance -- noting that a master's brand on slaves can be compared to a brand name on pants -- to a crowd of over 20 in an event sponsored by the Sigma Gamma Rho sorority. The event was designed to discuss the relationship between African rites of passage and Greek letter organizations. "I show to historically black Greek letter fraternities and sororities the various origins of their traditions, customs, heritage and history and tie a lot of it back to the African origins," said Trent, who works for the Praxis Institute, a non-profit organization that promotes education of rites of passages, among other things. The talk was a mixture of numerology, astrology, science, folklore and history, as Trent weaved together these various origins for the traditions of Greek organizations. Trent discussed the symbolism that exists behind many of the Greek letters and how such symbolism relates to Greek life and Philadelphia in general. For example, he used the blackboard to draw a diagram of the two rivers framing Philadelphia with City Hall in the center of the depiction. Connecting the lines, Trent formed the Greek letter Delta. He also explained the letter's historical significance. "The pyramid is nothing but a Delta," he said. At the start of his talk, Trent challenged those in attendance to take an active part in the presentation. "Don't believe everything I say," he said. "Go back and prove it to yourself." Trent's discussion was brought to Penn following its success at a neighboring university last year. "It was one that I heard last year at Temple's campus," said Engineering senior and Sigma Gamma Rho's Programs Chairwoman Nashira Washington. "And I wanted to bring it to Penn's campus." "I think it went very well," she added. "It was definitely very productive and educational. I think everyone in attendance learned a lot." Tonight's event was one of many that the Sigma Gamma Rho sorority has sponsored this year. Many in attendance praised Trent for connecting the information he presented with their own lives. Temple sophomore and Sigma Gamma Rho sister Celeste Huff said that "breaking down the rites of passage" was her favorite aspect of the talk. Trent presented "a lot of things that I can relate to as a member of a Greek sorority," she said.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.