Lilli Patton, a Junior at Puget Sound is one of the current Sweethearts.Īccording to Patton, the Sweet heart is “just somebody who the members of the house feel portrays and lives out the values of the house.” Patton’s father was a Sigma Chi, so she feels strongly connected to the fraternity. Sigma Chi has continued with its tradition of the Sweetheart. While Sigma Alpha Epsilon has reformatted this long standing tradition, other fraternities and sororities are maintaining this custom as they always have. Though they have no formal responsibilities, they are chosen because they represent connections between communities. The Violet embodies a sort of informal advocate for the fraternity. Recently, both men and women have run for the Violet position. The Violet is a fairly recent position, there have only been three Violets so far: Caroline Harris, Maggie Berrens, and Tomicia Blunt. “I think I just mesh well with the fraternity,” she said, calling it “a perfect fit.” “I was attracted to SAEs core values because I saw the members doing things that align with my personal values,” she said. She spoke about her work as a writing advisor for the Center for Writing Learning and Teaching and how she can provide academic resources to the fraternity.īlunt emphasized that she is the Violet because of shared values. “The responsibility is to extend the fraternity’s reach on campus,” Blunt said. She also sees the Violet as someone who provides resources and new connections. She understands the role as a symbol of friendship and comradery.
“The Violet position is what I choose to make of it,” said Tomicia Blunt, the recently elected Violet. The Violet is meant to bridge communities, to encourage connections between a perceived disconnect. “We realize that the Greek community has not always been in favorable eyes amongst the student body, and we’re trying to improve that,” he added. “With being in Greek life it’s easy to come across stereotypes and stigmas,” Amend said. The Violet functions as a sort of bridge between Greek life and the rest of campus, according to Amend. This tradition ended on Puget Sound’s campus years ago. Earlier in SAE’s history, they had the Little Sisters of Minerva as, a similar phenomena, though with a larger group of women.
According to Amend, the Violet is a fairly recent position, a step in a new direction for the fraternity. The Trail met with SAE’s president, Brendan Amend to discuss this phenomenon. Sigma Alpha Epsilon’s Violet represents the changing norms of greek life. These positions are becoming more diverse many of these roles are no longer gendered. Phi Delta Theta has the Goddess, Alpha Phi has the Brother and Sister of Bordeaux, and Sigma Chi has the Sweetheart. But for many houses, the tradition is thriving. Pi Beta Phi formerly had Ring Ching King, and Gamma Phi Beta used to have the Captain Crescent, until recently. Many houses have let the tradition completely die. This tradition has fluctuated in importance among the houses on campus. They choose honorary members yearly, electing men and women that exemplify the values of the house. Other houses on campus also participate in this tradition. The Violet is a representative of the fraternity, someone who SAE believes embodies their values. This spring, Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) had elections for their next Violet, calling attention to a lesser known aspect of Greek life.
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