In the last week, Jared Newman and the Interfraternity Council have made some rather disparaging comments about the brothers of former Kappa Sigma fraternity and of former Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. In addition to having their recruitment and pledging chair write a column that discouraged freshmen from participating in our rush process, it has come to our attention that the IFC distributed flyers on East Campus expressing a similar sentiment.
We would like to publicly state that we do not have a problem with on-campus IFC fraternities and will not discourage freshmen from participating in their rush process.
We also think that IFC fraternities are generally a positive force at Duke. However, IFC fraternities don't have a monopoly on a commitment to brotherhood, participation in intramural sports or service to the community, and we do not think affiliation with a national organization guarantees any of those things.
We participate in the aforementioned activities and promote the ideals of a brotherhood that bond us for life. We strongly believe that off-campus fraternities can thrive and be a positive force at Duke. We want freshmen to join organizations that are a good fit for them, and we don't understand why the IFC feels the need to publicly smear us or discourage freshmen from exploring all of the options open to them.
We invite freshmen to participate in both IFC and off- campus fraternity rush and choose the groups that are the best fit for them. That being said, we wish the IFC the best of luck in their recruitment efforts and hope that they will henceforth respond in kind.
The writers are former presidents of SAE and Kappa Sigma fraternities
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.