Making theater Greek again

Fourteen hours.

That’s how long third-year theater student Sarah Gold is on campus per day. A typical school day last quarter involved rushing to her job at the BookZone in Ackerman at 7:45 a.m., working until 11:30 a.m., then attending theater classes from noon to 6 p.m. followed by production rehearsals for her play “A Bright Room Called Day” from 7 to 11 p.m.

But her day didn’t end there.

After rehearsals, Gold would return to the Kappa Delta sorority house just in time for her fellow sorority sisters to fill her in on what she’d missed at meeting or about the next social and sisterhood events.

Gold is part of the circle of UCLA students who attempt to pursue both theater and participation in Greek life.

Students involved with either a fraternity or sorority as well as the theater department mix two disparate worlds together that both require a great amount of commitment.

Some theater students are tempted into the Greek system because it offers a sure solution to their major’s insularity.

According to Gold, it can be difficult to interact with a wider range of students because the theater department’s demanding schedule can limit the contact students have with people outside the program.

“If you don’t make a conscious effort to really try to meet people outside the theater department, it’s really hard to branch out and discover other parts of the campus,” Gold said.

Likewise, third-year theater student Alisha Zalkin joined Delta Gamma sorority her sophomore year to meet people from different majors.

“I wanted to have other opportunities beyond just meeting kids that are in your class,” Zalkin said. “I wanted to meet people who have passions about different things in life other than theater.”

Erich Lane, a theater student who graduated in Spring 2006, joined Sigma Pi spring quarter of his freshmen year to extend his circle of acquaintances also.

“The first quarter of being a theater major, you only have theater classes, so basically you are only around the same sixty people,” he said. “And since UCLA is such a big school, I wanted to branch out more.”

Gold credits living in the sorority house as a means of gaining knowledge of many activities she might never have learned about living off campus in apartments.

“The house has girls from all over campus, involved in all sorts of activities, so there are girls involved in Dance Marathon, Clothesline Project and everything on campus,” she said. “If I didn’t live in the house, I’d be in a black hole as far as knowing what’s going on.”

The benefits of joining the Greek system certainly seem numerous. But joining a fraternity or sorority entails numerous time commitments on top of the theater department’s program.

Lane described the decision to join a fraternity as an important one requiring thought, because he feels the department does not endorse Greek life, especially when a student first begins the program.

“The theater department really didn’t encourage joining Greek life for fall quarter,” Lane said. “The fall quarter for theater majors is very time-consuming, and if you are pledging, you can become really overwhelmed, especially for your first quarter in college.”

Like Gold, Lane joined the Greek system after fall of freshmen year, in the spring, when recruitment requires fewer activities.

First-year musical theater student Kyle Van Amburgh, however, decided that he could handle fraternity activities during fall of his freshmen year, pledging for Delta Sigma Phi despite discouragement from the theater department.

“Joining a fraternity didn’t really seem like the greatest idea when I was doing rush because of the large time commitment it would seem to entail,” Van Amburgh said. “Theater majors are definitely discouraged from doing anything outside of the theater program. One of the things we asked in orientation a year ago was, “˜What about joining fraternities and sororities?’ And the answer we got from the department was, “˜No, don’t, because you will be too busy.'”

The theater department could not be reached for comment at press time.

Despite his initial concerns, Van Amburgh found he could successfully balance the two activities, and remains satisfied with his choice. He credits his heavy involvement in theater and extracurricular activities during high school as good preparation.

“I always managed my time well in high school, so I still have that ability to sort of be in three places at once,” Van Amburgh said.

All four students have found the Greek system, on the other hand, to be a more relaxed program that allows its members to focus on their academics.

“The sorority has actually been incredibly accommodating,” Zalkin said. “I have never felt pressured by them for missing things that I have because of rehearsals.”

As the lead in the recent play “Marisol,” Zalkin’s part required constant dedication, with three months of rehearsal six days a week. Though she sacrificed participating in sorority events, Zalkin says that her sisters never made her feel guilty.

“In fact, most of them came to see the show, so it was really awesome to have their support,” she said.

Another challenge of balancing theater and Greek life is that both come with their own, very different stereotypical associations.

Lane explains that theater students sometimes can be viewed as cut off, in their own theatrical world, while fraternities and sororities confront the partyer image.

“Both sides have stereotypical views of the other,” he said. “It’s a really weird situation to be in because I had dual identities on the campus. At the fraternity house, I’d be known as the theater guy, and in the theater department, I’d be known as the frat guy.”

Van Amburgh notices similar associations, but they never posed any serious concerns for him.

“Theater has never been considered the most manly profession around, but I think people in the fraternity do respect it a lot,” Van Amburgh said.

Despite certain stereotypes, theater students involved in Greek life have proven that the two worlds can complement each other and provide a beneficial experience.

And at the end of a long day, participation in Greek life can actually grant busy theater students rare moments of respite.

“Returning back to the house is like entering a separate world where I can just forget about everything that is done during the day and finally relax,” Gold said.

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