Vandalism results in acts of Greek unity

Story by Alicia Steele, Staff writer

Members of Lambda Chi Alpha, or Chop, woke up last Thursday to find someone had spray-painted their fraternity house with question marks, a vulgar image and the words “Greek War.” Additionally, the fraternity letters were painted over and the front lawn ravaged.

For now, Chop members still aren’t sure who vandalized their house. They filed a police report but haven’t heard anything more. 

“As an organization, we don’t want to point fingers at anybody, because the sad truth is that we don’t know,” said Jeremy DuCharme, a Chop member. “And we may never know.”

By Saturday, fraternity members filled in the holes in the lawn and pressure washed and re-painted the house with help from Sigma Pi, Pi Kappa Alpha, Alpha Gamma Rho and Alpha Tau Omega members.

“We want to strive to help each other,” said Jordan Norber, Sigma Pi member. “And when something like this happens it’s really hurtful to not only Lambda Chi as a whole, but to the entire Greek life.”

Craig Lamb, president of Pi Kappa Alpha, said this kind of vandalism is not the kind of example Murray State Greek life wants to set. Instead, he wants to set the example of “Greek unity.”

“I like to preach Greek unity and it’s easy to talk about or easy to say, ‘We’ve got your back,’ but when something like this actually happens we really want to give a hand and show that we’ll be there,” Lamb said.

Norber said the idea of Greek unity has been around since he rushed in 2012, and was started by former Greek life Coordinator Jason Hinson-Nolen.

“He wanted us to come together as a whole, and work with each other and try to promote each other as Greek life,” Norber said.

Current Coordinator of Greek life and Student Leadership Programs Evan Ditty wrote in an email to The Murray State News that the support the brothers of Chop received from other Greek organizations was “admirable” and it is not something seen on a daily basis.

“While the fraternities and sororities are often competing against each other (intramurals, philanthropy events, academics, etc.), at the end of the day, they also support one another when it matters most,” Ditty wrote.

Seth Parsley, brother of Alpha Gamma Rho, said Greek unity is what prompted his fraternity to help the Chops on Saturday.

“Regardless of if you’re in a fraternity or a sorority, we all need to come together,” Parsley said. “If somebody’s having a rough time or somebody’s going through something that is predetermined by somebody, then we all just need to come together and help out.”

Keegan Camron, a member of Alpha Tau Omega, said the Chops have been there for them in the past by helping with philanthropies, so ATO wanted to return the favor.

Camron said Greek unity means everyone coming together to help someone out.

“Whenever you get the chance to bring everybody together just to help another fraternity, that’s Greek unity in itself,” Camron said.

Robert Rosa, president of Lambda Chi Alpha, said it was exciting to see how much the other fraternities cared and were willing to sacrifice their time for his fraternity.

“I think this experience has opened a new door for Greek organizations to come together,” Rosa said.

DuCharme said it meant a lot to Chop members that other fraternities helped clean up the house.

“We’re going to repaint it, and hope that this cohesive vibe coming from other fraternities outweighs the need for somebody to try and do this again,” DuCharme said.