Students in Greek organizations may be a minority at Tufts, but fraternities remain a staple of both the on-campus party scene and the off-campus housing solution. Perhaps a more interesting association, however, is that of fraternities and sports teams.
Finding a male hockey player who is not a member of Theta Delta Chi, the fraternity commonly referred to as "123," is a daunting task. Excluding freshmen, there are only three of them.
But to Jordan Karp, an unassociated junior hockey player, the decision not to pledge was not particularly wrenching. "I really received no pressure from other players to join," he said. "I made a personal decision for myself that I didn't want to present myself as a frat boy. I'm always welcome in the house, and I view it more as a kind of club than anything too exclusive."
While quick to say that 123 does not pressure Tufts' hockey players, Karp did acknowledge that athletes on campus feel pressure to join certain fraternities.
"I feel like there are some expectations if you are an athlete. I'm not positive... but I think there is that fear that you'll be the one kid on the team who doesn't join," he said.
One of the many hockey players who did elect to join 123 is Dan Mahoney, a senior defenseman and an All-New England selection last season.
"I never associated joining 123 with pressure," Mahoney said. "I viewed it more as an opportunity. The tradition of hockey players joining the frat started so long ago. I was playing hockey with these kids everyday, and they were really my circle of friends here at school. They were who I spent all my time with, so the decision to join wasn't even hard. I wanted to join."
Like Karp, Mahoney sees no problems with the recruitment practices of 123, but does believe pressures exist.
"I can see how brothers in houses would look down on an athlete who didn't pledge. I haven't seen that at all in my situation, but I am sure it's around," Mahoney said.
"More than half the football team is in DU," senior football player and DU brother Jon Rodgers said. "They want to be part of something fun. There are plenty of football players who don't do it. They still come [down to the house] and cook up some mozzarella sticks with us."
Most freshmen pledges declined to comment on the issue. One freshmen, however, spoke on the condition that his name, sport, and house remain anonymous.
"There's a level of trust encompassed in sports. A team sport lends itself to a feeling of brotherhood. So there is already a sense of camaraderie. I know the guys and like the guys already, so it was an easy choice," the freshman said.
When asked about the pressures associated with joining, he spoke of maintaining friendships. "There's a small amount of pressure, but not from the brothers in the house," he said.
"The bit of pressure I felt came from the fact that most of my good friends, most of the guys I've spent most of my days with, are pledging, and there is some fear that if I didn't try to join I wouldn't be able to maintain as close friendships with those people."
While he refrained from criticizing his particular house or sport, when asked if he thought the pressure to join certain houses or to join from a particular sport varies, he replied with an unequivocal "yes."
Rodgers said that there is "absolutely no pressure" to pledge from the brothers already on the football team. Freshmen might pledge because their friends do so, according to Rodgers, but not because of pressure from older members of their teams.
"Once you come in as a freshman the first guys you meet are gonna be your friends on the football team. I pledged because a lot of my freshmen friends on the football team pledged."
