VOLUME 51 ISSUE 9 ESTABLISHED IN 1968
THE UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO WWW.THEUSDVISTA.COM
Thursday, November 7, 2013
Greek Life expands to add new fraternities By Kevin Searle CONTRIBUTOR and
Contributing interviews by:
Brittany Carava
As of next semester, USD’s Greek life community will be expanding. With the approval of campus administrators, two new fraternities will be coming to USD in the next two spring semesters. “I think it’s great that Greek Life is taking over campus,” said Ryan Stoll, a sophomore and an active member of Phi Kappa Theta. At the end of this summer, the Interfraternity Council, a six member governing board with the goal of making the fraternity experience at USD excellent, formed an expansion committee. The committee, composed of the IFC Executive Board; two
members from each fraternity; and a representative from the chapter advisers, has the goal of welcoming new fraternity chapters to USD’s campus in the coming semesters. According to senior Mark Barnett, the IFC President, the group began by looking at eight nationally recognized organizations of varying sizes that Greek Life community. The criteria included their former presence at USD, their success at similar campuses and recent recognition for their excellence. The expansion committee narrowed the potential new chapters down to three existing Greek Life community: Sigma Pi, Delta Upsilon, and Pi Kappa Phi. Sigma Pi is a secret fraternity founded in 1897 at Vincennes University in Indiana. Secret fraternities are those which choose to conceal their
inner functions and secrets from those who are not members. The fraternity has initiated over 95,000 members in its history and currently has 6,000 members spread over its 124 chapters and 5 colonies “[USD] and Sigma Pi have a shared set of values” said Zach Spillner, Sigma Pi’s Director of Expansion. “Our goal in bringing a new chapter to USD is with the hope to effect positive change within the campus culture.” Founded in 1934 at Williams College in Massachusetts, Delta Upsilon is the sixth-oldest all-male fraternity. With 79 active chapters, nearly 4,000 active members and more than 125,000 members since its founding, Delta Upsilon is the largest non-secret fraternity. A non-secret fraternity is one that does not actively conceal its secrets from non-members; Delta Upsilon prefers the term “social
fraternity.” The Executive Director of Delta Upsilon, Justin Kirk, believes that the fraternity and USD would be a values. “Delta Upsilon and the USD both have a strong commitment to creating globally competent, ethically minded, leaders” Kirk said. “Delta Upsilon’s foundational value of justice, commitment to diversity, and non-secrecy would provide a unique opportunity for USD students.” Pi Kappa Phi, often referred to as Pi Kapp, is a secret fraternity founded at the College of Charleston in South Carolina in 1904. Pi Kapp has initiated more than 110,000 members in its history and has nearly 10,000 members in its 178 active chapters. Clint Carlisle, Pi Kapp’s Coordinator of Expansion, said, “Over the years, Pi Kappa Phi has continued to partner with
universities that share our mission by providing students with an opportunity to challenge themselves to develop knowledge, values and skills in order to enrich their lives and empower them to impact their communities.” He believes that “expanding to the University of San Diego would be an ideal opportunity to partner with a university that provides students with an environment that will nurture amongst a new group of men.” Each of the three potential new member fraternities met with staff and alumni, along with IFC and Panhellenic groups. Finally, the potential chapters held campus wide presentations on USD Greek Life community. With these meetings, all those involved See GREEK, Page 3
Wealth gap at USD By Jackson Somes NEWS EDITOR
Before settling on USD for her graduate work, Erica Ruiz decided to tour the campus with her parents. One of the standout features of the campus recognized by her parents was that USD was comprised of of predominantly white students from
Photo Courtesy of Vikki Hambley
USD’s womens cross country team competed in the WCC championships this past weekend. USD’s team finished eighth overall.
XC in WCC championships By Davis Jones
SPORTS EDITOR The Torero cross country program wrapped up its regular season in Malibu, CA last weekend during the 2013 West Coast Conference Championships, with an eighth-place Two weeks before for both the men’s side and the women’s side, we
had one of the best races that we’ve had, so we came from a pretty big high,” USD head coach Will Guarino said. “A lot of personal bests were broken. We also came away with some school records, one on the freshmen side and the other on the senior girls side. And you want to have that kind of momentum going into the conference championships. But at the same time, I felt like something happened along the process where we needed to come back even higher and expect even more from
NEWS 2-4
ourselves at the championship level, which is what we prepare for.” For the women’s race, three USD positions. Senior Gillian Gorelik, who broke the school’s all-time record in the 6km two weeks ago, took 29th place with a time of 22:31. Freshman Andrea Hughes ran a time of 22:55 Padberg (23:12) took 50th place. See RACE, page 16
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generation, oldest in my family and my parents didn’t graduate, they didn’t even go to high school,” Ruiz said. “My dad is a carpenter and there are months where he does construction and even farm work.” After touring the campus, Ruiz’s parents felt they had to make sure that she would be comfortable attending USD given the disconnect between her own background and the apparent backgrounds of the other students who attend the university. Currently, Ruiz is a USD graduate student working to create a more inclusive and welcoming environment for students from working class and low income backgrounds at the university. Ruiz said she is suited for the task due to her own personal background. “I feel I can empathize a lot with those students,” Ruiz said. “When we start having those conversations with students it will be a great way to start talking about the elephant in the room.” Ruiz has teamed up with Esteban del Rio, Associate Provost and Inclusion and Diversity director, to plan a series of events and forums to understand student attitudes toward
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Dia De Los Muertos Celebration RateMyProfessor Students and faculty respond to the popular PFL comes to USD Students and faculty come together to rating site during the registration process. Toreros hold on to their standing with celebrate the traditional holiday. a win at Valparaiso. PAGE 2
OPINION 5-7
Use extra semesters to explore opportunities Spending an extra year or two earning your undergraduate degree PAGE 6
PAGES 8-9
ARTS AND CULTURE 10-13
Rock from down under is top notch Australian indie band Atlas Genius is a hit on their current US tour, stopping in San Diego to rock downtown’s House of Blues. PAGE 10
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economic disparity and build empathy for low income students. “Students from more modest backgrounds whose families are just struggling to make it; who every year may be feeling excluded from USD deserve to have a conversation where the university acknowledges class difference,” del Rio said. reasons students decide to leave USD. Within this reasoning also stems the concept that these students from lower income families are not feeling welcomed due to the notion that the seemingly wealthy atmosphere of the university can be a real challenge for working class students. It is this notion that del Rio and Ruiz seek to overcome. Del Rio and Ruiz have developed The Class Project. This is a yearlong program aimed at discussion and data collection of the understanding of what ‘class’ is on campus. A workshop for faculty and staff has already been developed through the Center for Educational Excellence. This workshop provides instruction about how to discuss class within the work of the faculty. Efforts are being made to develop additional workshops for students to help develop empathy for class differences among students and the challenges class presents. By the end of this semester del Rio and Ruiz hope have an understanding of the campus and student attitudes of See DISPARITY, page 3