Athletes on the defensive about going Greek

Coaches and players debate the influence of fraternity life on Yale athletics. By Benjamin Case

SHAWN CHENG/YH

Yale's fraternities play a significant role in the lives of a large number of Eli athletes. Some houses have a majority of members that play on one or two athletic teams, and many have identities that are closely connected to certain sports teams. For instance, Delta Kappa Epsilon (DKE)—the fraternity that former President George Bush, DC '48, belonged to during his days as captain of Yale's baseball team—still has a large number of baseball and football players among its ranks. While some fraternities have a variety of athletes from different sports teams as members, there are certain Yale teams that send a large proportion of athletes to specific houses. For example, most of the basketball team belongs to the Zeta Psi fraternity, and a majority of lacrosse players are in Alpha Delta Phi. The connection between athletes and fraternities at Yale is rooted in the large membership numbers—but coaches and athletes sometimes disagree on whether or not that connection is a positive one.

Livin' large

Most athletes believe that when a significant number of members of a team belongs to the same fraternity, the fraternity plays an important role in team bonding. Football captain Jake Fuller, BR '00, estimated that 40 football players—about one half of the team—are members of fraternities. "I can see the impact on team unity of the football team, because of the fact that a lot of guys that are in one fraternity live in that house together," he said. "While we were practicing, guys on the team divided up—there's eight, nine, 10 guys living in a house together that are all on the team, and they become closer. From what I've seen as captain, it seems obvious that if you're in a fraternity and you spend that much more time together, you're going to become closer, both on the football field and off."

Chris Turitto, SM '00, president of Zeta Psi, estimated that out of a total membership of 55, his fraternity has about 30 athletes who come from a variety of teams, including basketball, football, and golf. He agreed that fraternities can promote team unity and bring teams closer together. "I think there's some correlation between players being in fraternities and team unity," he said. "I mean, the majority of the basketball team is in here, and it gives them the opportunity to spend extra time with each other. A few of them live in the house, too, so it gives them a chance to live together, and I think the bonding between guys that goes on will always help out the team."

A coach's dream?

Some Bulldog coaches have a vastly different view of fraternities and how they affect athletes. While Dave Paterson, head coach of the men's golf team, supported the idea that fraternities can promote team unity, he also voiced concerns about their influence on his players. "There are quite a number of golfers in fraternities, and I've seen them gather in the fraternity houses for social evenings. In large part, I feel that kind of thing can be helpful and help bond the relationships within the team. But as a coach, I'm a little bit concerned about [the fraternities]," he said. "When we have a meet at home, a coach is always concerned about what is everybody doing the night before the meet. Are they enjoying fraternity life, especially on the weekends, or are they getting some sleep like they should be? It definitely worries me, because I think a lot of drinking goes on, and alcohol can affect one's ability to perform in any sport."

Paterson also mentioned fraternity pledging and team initiations as issues that concern him. Most teams have embarrassing, yet good-natured initiation rituals, and fraternities have long pledging periods before recruits can become official brothers. "I remember a golf-related incident during one of these pledge evenings, and one of the students was tied to a lamppost and pelted with snowballs," Paterson said. "All of the Ivy League newspapers picked up on it, and I certainly wasn't happy to hear about it. I don't know how much alcohol was involved, but I assume it was, and that type of thing is something that we as coaches have to fear—athletes abusing alcohol to that degree."

Zach Boisi, TD '01, president of Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE), disputed the notion that hazing exists at Yale's fraternities. Fourteen of SAE's 40 members are athletes, from the track, crew, squash, swimming, and lacrosse teams. "It may be a worry for coaches on certain teams—the stereotype that hazing goes on, and that's why coaches are afraid if kids join fraternities. But from what I've seen, people are smart about what goes on, and understand the personal consequences associated with hazing. Also, we've seen the legal problems at other places and we're all aware of the legal implications. So I don't think hazing exists anywhere on this campus, and I think that is unique to Yale."

Both fraternity members and team leaders played down the perception that fraternities can negatively impact athletic performance. Men's soccer captain Hiro Suzuki, BR '00, estimated that one third of Yale's soccer players are members of Beta Theta Pi or Sigma Nu. "We've never had a problem in the past," he said. "I can't think of any examples of [fraternity life] hurting our team's play." Fuller agreed, emphasizing, "I've never seen that kind of thing make a difference. We don't have a set policy on drinking, but it's pretty much understood that guys don't drink during the week before a game, and our guys are smart enough to take care of themselves."

Assisting the athletes

Both Turitto and Boisi explained that because fraternities have large numbers of athlete members, they are aware of team schedules and make an effort to accommodate athlete-pledges. "The athletic team always comes before the fraternity," Turitto said. "I think fraternities know their place on the campus. Whenever we schedule rush events or pledge events, or even brother events, we always consult the athletes. And academics come before our events. Our events just allow the brothers, pledges, and rushees to get together at a time when they would be doing things outside of their academics and athletics anyway. Over 50 percent of our fraternity is involved with athletics, so we wouldn't have athletes in our fraternity if they felt it was affecting their performance."

Boisi maintained that SAE understands the demands on athletes and designs the pledging period to limit potentially harmful drinking and late-night events. "When we have events, guys have their choice whether they would like to drink or not. And when we have pledge events, we're very conscious of guys that are on sports teams, making sure that they are not out late or overworked on the night before or two nights before a competition. I think with the large number of brothers we have, we've all gone through it, so we're not going to make it difficult for the new guys either. I run track, and I actually ran my best times when I was pledging. I pledged when I was in season, and it didn't affect me."

Team leaders also dismissed the notion that there are social pressures on athletes to join the fraternities of the veteran members of their teams. "I'm not in a fraternity personally, and I don't think there's any pressure to join," Fuller said. "I think it's an opportunity for our guys, because a lot of athletes are in fraternities, so they have connections if they want, but I don't think there's any pressure." Suzuki—who also does not belong to a fraternity—said, "There's no pressure. It's just an option that's there."

Graphic by Shawn Cheng.

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