This week, let’s venture to 126 Packard Avenue to find Zeta Beta Tau, the brown house across from Theta Delta Chi. Here are all the details from the chapter president, Markus Willhite, who tells us about their cozy home and tight brotherhood. (On a side note, their house sounds sweet- I kind of want to move in…)
Zeta Beta Tau Fraternity
Flower: Gold Carnation
Motto: A Powerhouse of Excellence
Colors: Medium Blue and White with Gold Trim
Founded: 1898 in New York
Established at Tufts: 1987
Philanthropy: Relay for Life, Boys and Girls Club
Events: Get on the Ball
Markus Willhite
Hometown: Sacramento, California
Major: International Relations
Class: 2013
What made you want to join Greek Life?
Two of my really good friends at the time were rushing and I decided to rush with them. Both of my brothers went Greek in college, so I figured I’d try it out and ended up really enjoying it.
Tell us about ZBT, what makes it unique? Is it an engineering frat?
(Laughs) There’s a lot of misconceptions about ZBT. It is not an engineering frat or a Jewish frat. I thought ZBT was unique because it seemed like people were less concerned about being a stereotypical frat, to get girls, to throw parties. It was a group of people looking for a brotherhood, friends, people to have a good time with…Also, we’re smaller, with around 40 brothers, which makes everyone really close. We have a really small house, there are only 4 tenants upstairs, so parties stay confined to the bottom floor and you don’t have to worry about your stuff getting trashed. One of my favorite things is the big-little system, I was so close to my grand-big and even though he’s in grad school, we still get dinner. And my little is absolutely great.
What do you think of Greek Life at Tufts?
I think there’s a lot of negative attention…People have the impression that at Tufts, we take ourselves super seriously and aim to be a stereotypical fraternity, but they don’t keep in mind that we’re still Tufts students. And the way it is set up here, without it being so stereotypical, is something that works for us. It’s not actually that we’re trying to attach to a system that doesn’t exist here.
What do you think is the biggest misconception about Greek Life?
The one thing that bothers me the most is when people say, “I don’t have enough money to buy my friends.” But, I’m not paying for friends; I just wanted another aspect of the Tufts experience. I have friends apart from ZBT and am social. So, in the long run, you end up paying for alumni relations, networking connections, and in the short term, you pay for fun. You pay for another place that’s a safe space to hang out.
What are you excited about in the coming year in ZBT?
Our philanthropy event, “Get On the Ball.” It benefits the Children Miracle Network and the Children Miracle Hospital in Boston. Essentially what we do is roll a massive beach ball around campus for a week and people sign it. We have sponsorships all over, through businesses or individuals. They pledge a certain amount of money per signature. It’s going to be a lot of fun! We have a big kick off event at Hillel with Tony Monaco, The Bubs, S Factor and a midweek event in Hotung sponsored by JP Licks with ice cream and performances by Blackout, and more. The kickoff event was on the 23rd and it ends on the 30th. Check it out at https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=117271941712480
How would you improve ZBT?
We’ve been doing a lot of house renovation work, like fixing up the basement. We’ve been encouraging attendance at different events and have set-up number standards to see how many brothers can come…so basically a lot of internal management. We want more people actively involved in the house, and it’s working really well. Our attendance has been going up as the year has progressed.
What would be your advice to people considering going through recruitment?
My advice would be to just go! Just show up! Hang out with the brothers or sisters and get to know a few of them. Because Tufts is such a colorful school and Greek life just randomly attracts people from different facets of campus, you never know who you’ll meet. Hopefully, you’ll meet a lot of people you like. And if you don’t like it, it is very simple to drop. Recruitment for guys is basically free food, hanging out, playing video games. There’s no penalty to not go or to drop out. So, just give it a chance and show up!