A day in the life of a sorority sister

I have to pause and decode the big brass letters that crown the entrance to Alpha Xi Delta. It appears to be the right address, but instead of a row of similarly clad sorority girls, I’m greeted by two elderly ladies with clipboards. As they lead me into the house and beyond the stacks of moving boxes, I learn that they are the house moms, warily watching over their nest.

The girls inside have pulled their chairs into a semicircle to speak with me. It’s a Friday afternoon, and the sun is glinting through the large wood-paneled windows.

“I decided to go through recruitment just to get the small university feel,” said sophomore Kayla Gearin of her reasons to join a sorority. “I definitely had my preconceptions … but I got more out of it than I could’ve ever expected.”

Abby Grotz pledged Alpha Xi Delta for a similar reason. She came from a private high school and worried that the dorms wouldn’t provide her with the intimacy she’d hoped for from her college experience.

When asked about their daily routine, both girls playfully deny the mystery and glamor surrounding sorority living.

Just like any other UW student, they attend classes in the morning, come home for lunch when time permits, and return to campus for their afternoon lectures. In the evening, the girls come together for dinner and then retreat to their rooms for homework and studying. Depending on the workload for the night, they’ll sometimes participate in exchanges or other social activities.

“It’s the same general atmosphere as the dorms,” said sophomore Emily Elijah, a member of Sigma Kappa who lived in Lander her freshman year. “I guess you could think of the sorority as the floor you would have in your dorm.”

Of course, as with the residence halls, there are certain policies and restrictions. For example, gentlemen aren’t allowed upstairs after 11 p.m. and on the main floor after 2 a.m. House members are required to live in for at least three quarters, and, during that time, most share a space with at least two other girls. Unlike the dorms, the girls are encouraged to move their beds to the sleeping porch, which is essentially a large room packed tight with bunk beds. The porch is a 24-hour quiet and dark area.

The house moms serve as guardians — older figures to mentor the girls through the chaos and stress of college. Occasionally, they’ll double as a seamstress, hemming dresses and stitching up tears.

“All sororities have a house mom, and they live in the house,” said Grotz of another Alpha Xi Delta tradition. “But they’re just there to help with maintenance.”

The family-style dinners also allow the girls to take a step back from their studies and come together as a sisterhood. Every other Monday, the members of Alpha Xi Delta get dressed up for dinner. They don their house pins, line the hallway, and, in an almost ceremonial rhythm, they funnel into the dining room and solemnly take their place behind a chair. They then stand for grace. It’s a well-practiced tradition and an integral part of most sororities on campus.

Kitchen boys dart between the tables, clearing plates and refilling pitchers of juice where needed. Occasionally, they’ll pause to greet the house members, but, for the most part, they keep to themselves.

As I scan the tables of Alpha Xi Delta, the girls chat with their neighbors. They seem completely at ease with one another, a table of young ladies who have apparently found their niche, their community on campus.

A day in the life of a fraternity brother

The dining room at Alpha Epsilon Pi (AEPi) looks almost like a summer-camp cafeteria, with overgrown boys playfully nudging one another and heatedly discussing the weekend’s football wins and losses.

Throughout the dinner, they slip into the kitchen for seconds and thirds. The food is arranged in several large “bins” — a bowl for the salad, a hotplate of potatoes, and a stew of shredded meat. Meanwhile, the house chef busies himself by packaging and storing the leftovers.

At the end of one such table sits Spencer Launer, a political science major and president of AEPi fraternity. Launer joined AEPi his freshman year of college. Having lived in San Diego for most of his life, the fraternity provided him with a ready-made community and a chance to meet others with the same morals and ethics.

“The majority of our house is Jewish, and it’s nice to be able to take holidays off and to not have to explain it to people,” Launder said. “It provided me with a family outside of my family.”

Most boys live in their freshman, sophomore and junior years — a tradition that’s largely unique to the UW Greek system.

In his spare time, Launer enjoys playing the guitar, watching sports and anything involving politics. Launer hopes to one day study law in Washington, D.C., while simultaneously working the Hill. He has no doubt that the friends he’s made through AEPi will play a role in his future success.

“One very nice advantage of the Greek system is the networking you get based off of your alumni support,” Launer said. “Very rarely will you leave college without having a job.”

Despite AEPi’s national history, it’s still a relatively new fraternity on campus. The UW chapter was founded in 2000 and doesn’t have the same long-lasting traditions as some of the other houses.

This will be their first year to participate in philanthropic activities. Launer is also trying to instate AE Princess, a lighthearted competition pitting sororities against one another for the title of “favorite AEPi girl.”

Launer thinks the few traditions of the house, like formal-dinner Mondays and their annual national convention are a key component in maintaining a strong brotherhood. Most houses across the UW Greek Community share the traditions as well.

“We have dinner before every chapter meeting and usually our chef will make a nicer meal,” Launer said, referring to the house traditions. “What’s cool about the national convention is that representatives from each chapter do the ritual together.”

But, as with most fraternities on campus, certain AEPi rituals are kept strictly secret.

“If they weren’t exclusive,” Launer said, “then there’d be no significant value to the process of becoming a member in the house.”

Reach reporter Celina Kareiva at lifestyles@dailyuw.com.