Greek community has religious side

In an age of increasingly politicized and polarized religion and skepticism, Emily Pressley just wanted to hand out free lemonade and Blow Pops to students.

It was part of her sorority's yearly Random Acts of Kindness project, but when passersby found out the group was Christian, she says some were cynical.

"We always get the question, 'You mean you can be a Christian and be in a sorority?'" Pressley says. "They are viewed in a negative light. When I first came (to UNC), I said there's no way I'm joining a sorority."

That was last year, and now she's the president of that group, Phi Beta Chi, a self-proclaimed "social sorority with Christian ideals."

The sisters of Phi Beta Chi, along with several other Christian fraternities and sororities, have proven that being Greek and being Christian at UNC are traits that are not mutually exclusive.

Like many of the more traditional sororities, Phi Beta Chi considers itself to be largely community service oriented.

Fifty to 60 girls rush every year, and the group cooks breakfast at the Inter-Faith Council and visits with children in the UNC Hospitals pediatric playroom, among other things.

And though they all worship on Sundays, they don't sit in the same pews.

Both Catholics and Protestants are in the group, Pressley says, and there are some girls who rush without ever having gone to church.

But some Christian groups have run into problems with their requirements for membership.

Last year, Alpha Iota Omega went to federal court last year when members refused to sign the University's nondiscrimination policy.

AIO's status as a campus organization was revoked before a judge ordered it be restored pending the conclusion of the legal proceedings.

Jonathan Park, a senior public policy major, is AIO's president and makes up half its membership.

"We're not a social fraternity, we're more of a fraternity that seeks to build each other up through the Christian faith," Park says.

Before the group's status was temporarily revoked, Park says they would meet together to pray for each other, the campus and the community.

The group's first order of business is to increase membership. AIO is proceeding cautiously, Park says, because they want to make sure they have legitimate status as a fraternity.

There is one other Christian fraternity on campus, Chi Alpha Omega. With about 10 brothers, the fraternity is looking for members too, President Mark Longwill says.

But recruitment hasn't proven easy. "I think Christian fraternities have it hard because those two words don't usually associate together and lots of people tend to go towards other groups to fit their spiritual needs," he says. "They don't want to make a full commitment into a fraternity."

Last semester, junior Janel Jack made that commitment to another Christian sorority on campus, Alpha Epsilon Omega, and she says she loves it.

And while the sorority has only a handful of members - they receive three to five rushees every season - she says it's a diverse group in terms of race and geography.

Pressley says that just because the sisters all have religion in common, it doesn't mean they're not looking outside their circle.

"We're there to build each other upA-," she says. "We say we are sisters in Christ, but we do not discriminate because this person hasn't read all of the book of John."

 

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