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December 11, 2009
Local Jewish fraternity soars
With membership on the rise, AEPi makes plans for expansion.
PAT JOHNSON
Jewish fraternity brothers at the University of British Columbia are gearing up for a January recruitment drive that is likely to see the successful chapter reach unprecedented numbers.
The Beta Chi chapter of Alpha Epsilon Pi has seen enormous growth and been recognized for various achievements in recent years. But 2010 seems destined to be a turning point, said chapter president Jonathan Lerner.
"We have more brothers this year than ever before," said Lerner. And, after a decade, he added, the fraternity is finally going to get a permanent home on campus in 2010.
"It's going to be a fundamental change for AEPi," said Lerner. "We have been in a sort of diaspora. We have been the only fraternity on campus without a house."
For 10 years, the group met in the old Hillel House, but with the new Hillel Centre being constructed for opening next summer, AEPi will finally have a space of its own. The new Hillel House: The Diamond Foundation Centre for Jewish Campus Life will have a designated office for the fraternity, adjacent to a large games room, and the run of the building for larger events as necessary.
"This will be the first time we've had that," he said. "It's just going to be a totally different reality for us."
One of the first big differences will be the potential to host major international conferences, something the wandering AEPi chapter was not able to do before.
"After we explained to AEPi International that we are going to have the use of the new Hillel building, we have been offered to host the first-ever Pacific Northwest conclave," said Lerner. That conference, likely in October 2010, will unite brothers from Washington, Oregon and British Columbia.
In all, the fraternity has 141 chapters in North America and Israel, making it the largest fraternity in Canada, the third largest in the United States and the only one in Israel.
The Vancouver chapter has been reaping awards from the international body over the past several years, including most improved chapter, rush results award (for largest recruitment), best website and recognition for Jewish community service and philanthropy. The chapter was admitted to the AEPi Century Club, in recognition of the chapter's support for Chai Lifeline, a hospital in Israel. Each year, the brothers put on a Rock for Cancer event, a 36-hour outdoor marathon in rocking chairs at the heart of campus, with brothers haranguing passers-by for loonies. This year, the chapter raised $5,000 for the B.C. Cancer Foundation.
"Philanthropy is a keystone in AEPi's philosophy," Lerner said. "To be part of the Jewish community means to give back to it."
The chapter is also solidifying its reputation on campus. At the annual Songfest, in which all fraternities and sororities compete in a talent show, AEPi swept the awards, winning best fraternity, best overall and best individual performance by Andy Cohen. Their winning piece? "You Won't Succeed on Broadway if You Don't Have Any Jews" from Monty Python's Spamalot.
The September pledge class of 15 was the chapter's largest yet and in January they expect to "rush" new pledges to surpass their current 37 members.
The fraternity is relatively recent at UBC. Over the years, other Jewish fraternities have come and gone but Lerner credits the strength and staying power of AEPi to the close relationship the chapter has built with the local Hillel. Although it might seem like an obvious partnership, the tight fit between AEPi and Hillel in British Columbia is highly unusual. Top officials from the fraternity's headquarters in Indiana have traveled to Vancouver and commended the close working relationship between the Beta Chi chapter and Vancouver Hillel. The international body even awarded the chapter and Vancouver Hillel for their successful partnership.
"It is very unusual because around North America there are Hillels and AEPis on pretty much all the major campuses, but they do not see each other as partners," Lerner said. "Here at UBC, we see each other as having a similar mandate – to improve campus life for Jewish students and creating leadership opportunities. There's nowhere else with a relationship that strong."
This year, Simon Fraser University reversed its long-standing ban on fraternities and already AEPi has initiated its first brothers from the region's second-largest campus. For now, the SFU brothers will travel to UBC for meetings, but in future may form an independent chapter. Taking a hint from the success of the fraternity, Hillel has also helped to initiate a group for sorority women, called the Greek Chai Honor Society. While not a sorority as such, the new group unites Jewish young women from across the various sororities on campus.
In addition to providing opportunities to "regain and maintain a sense of Jewish identity" and to develop a social network, there are also sports teams, conferences, social events and travel opportunities for AEPi brothers. Each year, there are regional, national and international conclaves, during which brothers meet up with peers from around the continent.
"You get a group of people who you share common interest with. Being in AEPi you get a lot more. You get a sense of brotherhood and camaraderie within the Jewish community and get to grow as a leader," said Lerner.
Alpha Epsilon Pi was founded 95 years ago, in 1913 at New York University, partly as a refuge for working-class Jewish young men who were discriminated against or blackballed by other groups. When other traditionally Jewish fraternities were throwing off their Jewish particularity and appealing for a broader membership in the 1980s, AEPi stuck to its Jewish roots and is now the most successful of the traditionally Jewish Greek organizations. (The use of the term "Greek system" to describe fraternity life is ironic in a Jewish context, particularly at Chanukah, which marks the victory of the Hebrews over the Greek "Hellenistic invaders.")
AEPi brothers include Mark Zuckerberg, the creator of Facebook, Gary Bettman, commissioner of the National Hockey League, CNN's Wolf Blitzer, musicians Art Garfunkel and Paul Simon, architect Frank Gehry, comedian Jerry Lewis, U.S. Congressman Jerrold Nadler and two former Israeli ambassadors to Canada: Alan Baker and Haim Divon.
Among the late brothers are the infamous gossip column pioneer Walter Winchell and Michael Schwerner, a civil rights worker murdered in 1964, whose story was depicted in the film Mississippi Burning.
"The fraternity is really one of the most significant phenomena in the recent history of Hillel," said Eyal Lichtmann, executive director of Vancouver Hillel. "We see young men forming a group of responsible, mutually supportive community-minded citizens. The AEPi boys have been crucial to the growth and strength of Hillel at UBC and now we are excited about them expanding to other campuses and also helping launch a sorority-type organization for the young women on campus."
If the cooperation between Hillel and AEPi has had so dramatic an impact locally, why haven't more Hillels reached out to their local fraternities?
"It's hard to say," Lichtmann responded. "Maybe Vancouver can be a model for that kind of cooperation."
Pat Johnson is, among other things, an honorary brother of AEPi Beta Chi chapter.
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