Kinesiology junior Marjorie Norwood and social work senior Carl Anderson discuss who they go to when they need help Sept. 17, 2013, at the Ignore the Noise event at Erickson Hall. The event focused on how to ignore negative things happening around them to move forward in their lives. Margaux Forster/The State News
Greek letters and signs are everywhere around campus with Rush week kicking off, but not all the pledges will be flocking to the major fraternities and sororities.
Special education junior Manisha Manchanda is one student who elected to steer away from the stereotypical “sorority girl” image and join a multicultural sorority.
“What I like best is that everyone respects … that we all grew up in different parts of the world,” said Manchanda, who is a member of Sigma Sigma Rho, a traditional Southern Asian sorority. “To know that everyone is more surprised and interested (in) where everyone is from instead of discriminating against it is what I think is good about being in a multicultural sorority.”
Like Manchanda some students have decided to explore all of the Greek life options this fall. Students have the option of becoming a part of Panhellenic Council, Interfraternity Council, National Pan-Hellenic Council and Independent Greek Council. They are separated into those four different governing bodies to accommodate different groups of people, but this week’s rush only includes Panhellenic Creed and Interfraternity Council.
Panhellenic Council, for women, and Interfraternity Council, for men, are known as the mainstream fraternities and sororities that students often are most familiar with. MSU’s National Pan-Hellenic Council is a traditionally African-American council made up of nine fraternities and sororities sometimes referred to as the Divine Nine. The Independent Greek Council generally is made up of multicultural students, and chapters historically represent Asian, Indian, Latino and other ethnic groups.
Robert Biddle, MSU’s National Pan-Hellenic Council advisor, said the biggest issue for his council is that some students don’t realize that there are more greek life opportunities because they aren’t always a part of MSU’s most popular Rush week.
Pat Tallman, packaging senior and member of Interfraternity Council’s Sigma Phi EpsilonLM said he’s noticed that the rushing process for multicultural councils is different from his own.
“I’ve seen multicultural houses multiple times setting up booths in public places on campus,” he said. “The Interfraternity Council houses do a public Rush week following private recruiting.”
While the recruiting process might be different among the councils, Biddle said all of the organizations strive for academic excellence and community service.
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