Amnesty Day: A day to unite Greeks

Since the beginning of Greek life rivalry, houses have played pranks on each other. Some of these pranks are harmless; some of them, like taking other houses’ belongings, have consequences. 

On Monday, Greek life houses participated in Amnesty Day. Amnesty Day is a day which allows houses to return any items they have from another house, without any consequence. After Jan. 27, the presidents of the houses will obtain full responsibility for the stolen items. 

If the stolen goods were not returned on Amnesty Day and the director of sorority or fraternity life finds them, they will immediately call the police, Andrew Tilde, Pi Kappa Alpha (PIKE) President said. 

“(I am) very nervous. We have our composite with every single person’s face in our house, those are worth $1,000 each. That will come back to the president because they hold full liability,” Tilde said. 

In addition to the hefty price tag attached to items often stolen, like composites and plaques, Tilde said the charges will also go to the president as a felony. 

To avoid getting placed with a felony and the expenses, Tilde said he and other executive members made sure the rest of the house knew how important Amnesty Day was. 

“We notified everyone a week prior and we are going room to room and every crook and cranny,” he said. “Safety is a top priority and I also don’t want to have that felony obviously.”

Sidney Juffers, the Chief Executive Officer of Kappa Alpha Theta, is also at risk of getting fined. She said she made the purpose of Amnesty Day clear to all of Theta’s members to try and avoid missing items. 

“I trust the members of our chapter and I believe that if any member has an item or items belonging to any other house, they will bring them to myself or return them on this day,” Juffers said. 

The items that are stolen from other houses, Juffers said, might seem like a harmless prank, but they are there for a purpose and should be respected.

“Every award, composite or any item belonging to a chapter has meaning and we have these items for a reason,” she said. “If a chapter is missing an item, they are missing an important piece of the history of their chapter.”

In addition to the president fines, if serious enough, Tilde said, the houses could get put on probation or even shut down. This, he said, is why taking Amnesty Day seriously is so important. 

“I believe that fraternities and sororities will take it seriously due to the dire situations if they get caught. I think it will be a little bit of a fresh start and use our common sense and not do it this time,” Tilde said. “They educate us now on the consequences if they find this stuff. It definitely gives us a fresh start.”

Tilde said he hopes with the clean slate there can be more unity between Greek houses. 

“It is just a day for redemption,” he said. “They’ve given us a day to reaffirm Greek unity and give everything back to get a fresh start for the year.”