A SWEET(HEART) SONG

“I was invited back to the house that night. I walked in, and they handed me flowers,” Fuller said.“They serenaded me with the sweetheart song. I wasn’t nervous or anything about it, it was more excitement.”

The duties of a sweetheart can vary when it comes to the fraternities. The values of the fraternities could bring out different duties for the sweethearts.

“[Sigma Phi Epsilon] really like when the sweetheart is hanging out with them a lot,” Miller said. “I go above and beyond and like bringing them food like cookies or my buffalo chicken dip.”

For the sweethearts, doing some of the duties can cost a good amount of money throughout the semester. According to Novack, a decent portion of the fraternity’s budget goes toward the sweetheart, so she doesn’t have to pay out of pocket when it comes to helping out with events.

The sweethearts are invited to all of their fraternity’s events throughout the school year. For some events, the sweethearts are required to show up and help out.

• The song was written in 1911 by two undergraduates at Albion College in Michigan. The Sweetheart of Sigma Chi song became the most popular college fraternity song in history.

• The two writers were F. Dudleigh “Dud” Vernor and Byron D. Stokes.

• It was written for the 25th Anniversary Reunion in June 1911 of Alpha Pi Chapter. It was first sung by Harry H. Clifford.

• After writing the song in 1911, Stokes said, “The ‘Sweetheart’ is the symbol for the spiritual ingredient in brotherhood. It was the Sigma Chi Fraternity itself that inspired the song.”

“The most that they’ve asked me to do is to hand out name tags for one of their alumni dinners,” Miller said.

As for how women feel being a part of the fraternity, they are normally treated like a member themselves. The fraternity members make sure they have what they need to be comfortable and safe in their homes, according to Gassensmith.

Miller said they gave her a parking spot at their home, so she could come and hangout anytime she wants. It made her feel like royalty, and she is humbled by it. Other sweethearts feel the same way.

“I know I’m not initiated, so I can’t consider myself a member, but I feel a part of it,” Fuller said. “I feel like I’m connected with them on a different level from when I started.”

Contact Mya Cataline with comments at mbcataline@bsu.edu or on Twitter @mcata_20