dallas hall d e c e m b e r 1, 2014 | 7:00 Pm
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December 1, 2014 MONday High 43, Low 30 TUEsday High 55, Low 47
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NEWS Briefs World BERLIN — Germany’s president is considering awarding a posthumous medal to a young woman killed after defending two teenage girls from male harassment. KABUL, Afghanistan — Taliban suicide attackers killed the South African leader of a foreign aid group, his son and daughter and an Afghan worker in an assault on the agency’s Kabul offices, authorities said Sunday, as the city’s police chief resigned in the wake of the latest insurgent attack there.
National CHICAGO — Authorities say a 22-year-old woman died a day after she was shot inside a Nordstrom department store in Chicago during Black Friday shopping. FERGUSON, Mo.— Ferguson police Officer Darren Wilson did not receive a severance package when he resigned over the weekend, the St. Louis suburb’s mayor said Sunday. Wilson, 28, won’t receive any further pay or benefits, and he and the city have cut their ties, Mayor James Knowles told reporters a day after Wilson tendered his resignation, which was effective immediately.
Texas RENO — A Texas hamlet shaken by its first recorded earthquake last year and hundreds since then is among communities now taking steps to challenge the oil and gas industry’s traditional supremacy over the right to frack. The U.S. Geological Survey confirmed that Reno, a community about 50 miles west of Dallas, had its first earthquake.
Courtesy of SMU
Students hold on to candles and sing along to Christmas carols at last year’s Celebration of Lights.
All is calm, all is definitely bright A preview of what’s to come at tonight’s Celebration of Lights
Daniela Huebner Contributing Writer dhuebner@smu.edu There may not be a partridge in that tree, but Dec. 1 at 7 p.m., that tree will light up the Dallas Hall Lawn in a spectacular display. Celebration of Lights is one of SMU’s oldest and beloved traditions. This year marks the event’s 41st annual celebration. David Lee, president of Student Foundation, said that the Celebration of Lights is more than just an event; it’s an opportunity for the community
to gather together and remember what’s important during the holiday season. “It really brings the whole campus together,” Lee said. Celebration of Lights kicks off the winter holiday season by lighting the university Christmas tree and the main quad’s surrounding trees. The community enjoys live performances, Christmas singalongs and a reading of “‘The Christmas Story” by SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “Regardless of what grade you are in or what organization you are a part
of, Celebration of Lights is a time for everyone to celebrate the joy of the holiday season together,” said Mallory Massa, entertainment coordinator for Student Foundation. Celebration of Lights first began in 1973 when Mike Miller, one of the first members of the newly founded Student Foundation, came up with the idea. Only 5,000 lights were initially used, but over the years, Student Foundation has built up enough funding through the school, so this year more than 138,000 lights will light up
the night. “It’s so exciting seeing the lights go on all at once,” said Kelsey McLaughlin, campus events vice-chair. “The entire Dallas Hall quad gets lit up, and it’s just so beautiful.” Each year during the celebration, Student Foundation honors a charity. This year, the group will sponsor Dallas CASA, an organization that helps children affected by domestic violence. Through CASA’s angel tree program, 82 sponsored children will receive holiday gifts, toys and clothes from different
organizations and Residential Commons on campus. But that’s not all Celebration of Lights has in store. More than 80 gallons of hot chocolate, 60 gallons of hot apple cider and 40 dozen goodies from Tiff ’s Treats will be served at the event. Ten performances are scheduled for the evening, including three musical groups, three duets and three soloists. The songs, however, are not released until the day of the event. “The songs we choose really
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COMMENTARY
Sorority members remain silent, exclusionary brandon brigham Contributing Writer bbrigham@smu.edu “I’m very sorry to have to do this but after speaking with my chapter president and advisor it has come to my attention that chapter president is the only person allowed to speak on behalf of the chapter and our opinions about recruitment. I was not aware of this and I’m very sorry I cannot participate in this article.” I received the above email Nov. 11 at 3:32 p.m. from a recruitment chair for SMU’s Alpha Chi Omega sorority chapter, just hours before we planned to conduct an interview about SMU’s new Spring ’15 Panhellenic recruitment schedule. I had also scheduled interviews with the recruitment chair from Chi Omega, as well as sorority members from Kappa Kappa Gamma, Delta Gamma and Alpha Chi Omega. Every one of them canceled. The reason they all gave? Speaking to the media breaks their promise of secrecy. I realized soon enough that sorority women would never spill their secrets to a male journalist they don’t know, seeking information about how their sororities recruit members. Traditionally, about 500 SMU
Courtesy of Facebook
There are eight Panhellenic sororities on SMU’s campus that participate in spring recruitment.
women participate in Panhellenic sorority recruitment. Only three to four of these women will not receive membership to one of the eight chapters at SMU, according to SMU’s Panhellenic Council. Rumors have been circulating since the 1980s that some of the women who don’t get a bid for the chapter they want, or don’t receive a bid at all, have left the university with nearly a full refund of their tuition. That’s because they learned of their fate before the first day of class.
My initial assignment was to find out if there was any truth to this rumor by comparing the retention rates from past years to spring ’15, when the offers for the first time would go out after the first class day, making students ineligible for a total tuition refund. My editor and I realized there was another story in my failed attempt at trying to uncover the truth about Panhellenic recruitment: The secrecy and exclusionary atmosphere around
recruitment, that leaves some students feeling left out. I asked the coordinator for Student Life, Ashley Fitzpatrick, if she was familiar with the whispers of women leaving the university as a result of being denied a spot in a sorority. I pointed out to her that Bid Day is Jan. 18, which comes after the first day of class on Jan.16, making it difficult to receive a refund for spring tuition. I also asked whether this might discourage women from leaving
the university. Fitzpatrick said the recruitment schedule is made based on the timing of January Transfer AARO and the opening of the Residential Commons buildings. “The schedule is made to ensure that it fits the needs of the Panhellenic chapters and the women participating,” she wrote in an email. My colleague in the Division of Journalism, who asked not to be named, is 20 and from west Los Angeles. She has been through recruitment twice – and dropped out both times. She doesn’t want to speak on the record for fear of offending her friends who are in sororities. “I knew a girl that was a Delta Gamma at SMU but transferred to USC to be a DG because it’s the top house,” she said. But at SMU, Delta Gamma is not considered a top tier sorority chapter. The top tier sororities at SMU are Kappa Alpha Theta, Kappa Kappa Gamma and Pi Beta Phi, according to my classmate. Adriana Frenandez, 22, and a senior in the Division of Journalism, is familiar with women leaving the university because of Greek life.
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