Colorado Mesa University Fraternity Will Be No ‘Animal House’

It's official, Colorado Mesa University has it's first Greek fraternity and I have to say, it's about time. I don't know for how long or how many times over the years attempts have been made to organize a fraternity on campus, but I remember some 30-plus years ago when I was a student at Mesa College, (as it was known then), being approached by people who were trying to get a fraternity started, although I'm not completely sure how legitimate that attempt was.The push for a fraternity was no overnight success. The CMU Kappa Sigma fraternity actually started informally during the fall semester 2011 and got the approval of CMU's administration and student government in December 2011. It took over a year to complete the application process and recruit enough students to meet the minimum membership requirements.

Kappa Mu is CMU's chapter of the national fraternity Kappa Sigma. Mu which is pronounced "moo" can easily be associated with the university's mascot, the Maverick, and also shares letters of the university acronym. One of the founders of the CMU chapter, Ronin Bennet-Vonderostensaken, says the chapter's name selection was purely coincidental as the fraternity assigns the letter from a roster.

Fraternity members are quick to respond to concerns about Greek life and behavior portrayed in movies like 'Animal House'. They say Kappa Mu will be more focused on service than drinking and partying. Plus, CMU has no immediate plans to build a fraternity house. For now, the "frat house" will have to be the ground floor of Elm Hall.

A sorority is an obvious next step. CMU women may have an opportunity to be a part of Greek life in the near future.

[gjsentinel.com]