Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Togas for Jesus

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports:
Athens — In a sea of Greek letters on the University of Georgia campus, Beta Upsilon Chi stands apart.

Not for what it is — a social fraternity — but for what it stands for: Brothers Under Christ."The biggest thing you hear is 'Why?' " said Jake Webster, president and founder of the fraternity and a third-year student from Alpharetta. "People don't understand why you're here."

Fraternities and Christ seem unlikely bedfellows at a football-frenzied university with a party school reputation.

But since Beta Upsilon Chi — BYX, in Greek letters — was chartered at UGA nearly a year ago, more than 30 male undergraduates have pledged. They've joined about 1,000 young men in schools across the South who have bonded through their commitment to God "in a college setting that is often contrary to Christianity," according to the Brothers Under Christ Web site.

"We're very much a social fraternity," said Jason Hoyt, executive director of the Brothers Under Christ national organization in Fort Worth, Texas. "But we're very much a ministry."