Let’s not kid ourselves, MUN is missing many “normal” university fixtures—proper ventilation, ceiling tiles, and undisturbed asbestos—just to name a few. But the root causes of these issues are boring—resource management, provincial government funding, and administrative issues.
MUN is also missing another aspect of university life: Greek Life.
The earliest concept of fraternities existing at MUN was back in 1955, when male students unofficially formed a group called The B’ys. However, this group was rather rag-tag and according to a 1957 edition of The Muse, the group “wasn’t very elaborate.”
In that same 1957 article, a mention of the first official frat is found. The group is unnamed in the article, but mentions that they planned to apply for recognition from the Council of Students’ Union (CSU,) unlike their faux predecessors, The B’ys.
Though they vied for recognition, some students at the time opposed the granting of official status to the group. One wrote in The Muse, “But the disadvantages of fraternities at Memorial would outweigh any advantages they might have. Fraternities mean segregation—an ugly word—and snobbery.”
Despite some students’ objections, fraternities were allowed. Upsilon Nu and Delta Beta Sigma were subsequently formed by 1960. Their roles as frats were as expected: parties and events justified by perhaps pathetic philanthropic endeavours. They operated fairly similarly to how any other frat would, even competing against other frats athletically.
In 1962, Delta Beta Sigma trashed Upsilon Nu 6-1 in an inter-fraternity hockey game. Upsilon Nu got trashed again that night with one player reportedly raising team “spirits” by bringing some consolatory spirits—shocking behaviour from the hockey-playing frat boys.
Frat spirits would take a serious blow just months later, when MUN’s President denied the formation of a new frat and said that he was “opposed” to any new frats, citing their “disproportionate role” in dictating student life. This sentiment was not extended to sororities though, as they approved two sisterhoods—Mu Gamma and Omega Phi.
The 1960s began the use of The Muse as an outlet for those on all sides of the debate to voice their opinions, even to the governing bodies of MUN societies. One frat proponent accused the Students’ Union of having “in effect, two constitutions” and unfairly targeting frats. The Council of Students’ Union (CSU) refused to recognize fraternities but would still engage with them on student issues.
This enraged a member of Upilson Nu to point where he wrote a scathing op-ed in The Muse, referring to himself as a “right wing cynic” and the CSU President and Muse Editor as “psuedo-leftists.”
The publishing of such an incoherent rant marked the end of the significance of frats at MUN until the turn of the millennium. The refusal to recognize frats by the CSU, pushed them, kicking and screaming, to the brink of irrelevance.
Modern resurgence?
The debate would reignite in 2011, this time with Sigma Theta Pi and MUNSU (CSU’s successor) at odds. Sigma Theta Pi touted themselves as the second chapter in Canada, though they were not officially recognized by MUNSU.
The Director of Student Life at the time, Ryan Murphy, cited the exclusionary nature of frats as the reason to why they remained unrecognized. Pushback did come, citing the fact that MUNSU seemed to pick and choose when they applied their inclusion clauses, as faith-based clubs and societies existed. However, there were some terrible arguments made, such as using gendered bathrooms as an example of said “hypocrisy”—rather than their existence being of legal necessity.
Sigma Theta Pi fraternity and Nu Delta Mu sorority attempted to gain legitimacy through the Greek Philantrophic Society (GPS) in 2013. This was eventually shot down by MUNSU, killing the Greek Life dream at MUN.
The GPS rehashed many of their broken arguments highlighted earlier, though they did make an interesting point surrounding the “exclusionary nature” of the GPS. They argued that MUNSU picked and chose which societies were “exclusionary”—highlighting the existence of faith-based and gender-based societies existing.
In their arguments, MUNSU pivoted mainly to the correlation of sexual assault and harassment with fraternities and sororities. This may be a legitimate concern, and in all honesty, before researching for this article I assumed that frats dissolved due to an incident related to this, simply due to their reputation. However, I could not find cases or reports of sexual assault or harassment at MUN’s frats, at least in the pages of the Muse.
The most striking issue with this portion of the debate was that both sides were making arguments to hide the fact that they simply just didn’t like each other. MUNSU would make their case on preventing discrimination and sexual assault, and the GPS would fire back about their philanthropic endeavours.
From the several op-eds and interviews given by prominent figures from both MUNSU and the GPS it was clear that they simply had different perspectives on what university is supposed to be like.
It makes complete sense—think of the types individuals who are interested in MUNSU leadership and then compare that to the types of individuals who are interested in Greek Life. They don’t mesh.
At the end of it all, it was MUNSU with the power. And though their reasoning may have been hypocritical, it was and still is understandable.
On a social level, MUN does not operate as other universities do. It is highly divided between its international students, local students, and students living in residence. Combine that with the fact that the bar scene is located well off-campus and you’ll find a strange and vaguely disjointed social scene.
Perhaps the presence of frats and sororities could have helped remedy that. One thing overlooked by the near 70-year-old debate is the lasting cultural impact this has had at MUN—one that is largely unknown.
Editors note: Evidence of Nu Delta Mu’s operation continues as far as 2020, however with a private Instagram account, and broken links to their LinkedIn and Facebook account, it is unclear whether they are still active. We have sent an email to request an interview to the address on listed on their website. If you have experience with Greek Life at MUN, send an email to editor@themuse.ca