At this year’s Greek Awards, the Campus Entrepreneurs Initiative — a community-based program that aims to create a “personal and accessible Jewish experience” for members in fraternities and sororities — received special recognition.
CEI represents a growing effort among religious groups on campus to reach out to fraternities and sororities.
According to University Chaplain Chaz Howard, the University has become better at integrating religion and Greek life in recent years.
“College is an interesting time for students’ faith,” Howard said. “The unique feature of Greek life is that it brings together people from different faiths.”
According to Howard, Greek InterVarsity, a Christian fellowship organization that arrived on campus in fall 2008, aims to address the challenges religious students in Penn’s Greek community face.
For Wharton sophomore and Pi Kappa Phi brother Kyle Crown, these challenges stemmed from a culture that encouraged “a great amount of partying, drinking, drugs and sex.”
“It was definitely tough coming from a Christian background,” he said. “I didn’t know how to be Greek and stick to my values.”
According to Crown, many students in Greek life who grew up with Christian values “felt outcast” by typical Christian groups on campus. Crown said although most members of his fraternity know he is Christian, “in general, there is a lot of misconception about Christianity”.
For College senior and Tau Epsilon Phi brother Josh Vittor, his fraternity has been “a great source of cultural Judaism.”
Vittor, who came to Penn from a culturally Jewish but “incredibly secular” family, will be celebrating his Bar Mitzvah later this month at his fraternity house.
Vittor said his fraternity brothers were very supportive of his going through this Jewish rite of passage. “Judaism is an important part of our lives, but it doesn’t define the frat,” he added.
“The most powerful aspect of Jewish life is not from Jewish clubs but from doing stuff with your friends on your own terms,” Associate Director of Penn Hillel Rabbi Mike Uram said. “I think it’s amazing to see, at a place at Penn, Greek life and religious life go hand in hand.”
According to Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs Director Scott Reikofski, it is common for historically Christian chapters to host Shabbat dinners and for historically Jewish organizations to support Christian observances.
However, for College junior and Sigma Kappa member Vandana Rao — who is Hindu — her religious community is separate from Greek life.
“I don’t see the need to integrate religion into Greek life,” she said. “There are so many other outlets for that.”
Howard added that the religious diversity in Greek chapters can lead to “wonderful opportunities for growth and learning.” But “religious groups on campus can do a better job to encourage dialogue between non-religious groups on campus,” he said.
“Joining a fraternity is a pressure to conform,” said Engineering sophomore Justin Broglie, who attended fraternity rush events during his freshman year but decided not to join a fraternity. Broglie is also co-president of the Consciousness Club — a club for students interested in finding spiritual fulfilment.
“I didn’t want to be tied down,” he said.
