Frat’s food revolution

Although this little revolution won’t save fraternities by itself, the emergence of passionate fraternity chefs is absolutely vital to saving the fraternity system because their actions bring out the best that fraternities have to offer. See, fraternities are all about cultivation. The idea behind them is that these institutions cultivate old boys into young men. Their advertised product is a civilized, mature young man who is both knowledgeable of the world around him and the people he interacts with. By introducing them to proper cuisine and proper dining habits, these chefs are cultivating the old boy into an erudite food consumer. Business is not just done in offices but on playing fields and restaurants. Parents hire golf, tennis, and squash coaches for specific reasons; shouldn’t they also entrust their children to a kind of teaching that will let their kids learn about what it means to order the right food.

Furthermore, unlike the vast educational institutions which also advertise cultivation of the demeanor as much as cultivation of the intellect (the Honor Code’s roll in W&L recruitment is a good example), fraternities claim to cultivate the man through close, personal interactions that the educational institutions cannot provide. Fraternities are supposed to aid you in becoming the man you want to be. So if you are interested in the culinary arts as a fad, hobby, or even a profession, how is micro-waved General Tso’s Chicken enticing you in any way to develop that interest? By throwing themselves passionately into their profession, these new chefs are enticing their fraternity members to unearth a hidden interest in the culinary arts.

Finally, these chefs are creating the cultivated man by serving as teachers. When I came to college, my parents advised me to take at least one economics and accounting class, not because they wanted me to sell my soul and become an accountant, but because they thought it was important that I know how to manage my money. Well, these fraternity chefs are now teaching their profession to their students, the fraternity members, not because there are aspiring cooks in the audience but because every cultivated man needs to know how to cook at least something himself to survive.

These three factors these new chefs are bringing to the table are exclusive to the Greek system. D-Hall has too many students to feed to experiment and work with students, and the Co-Op and Hillel House grill don’t serve dinners the same way. These new chefs are bringing with them a new fraternity culture of camaraderie and culinary appreciation. Maybe this won’t block the sea of anti-fraternity sentiment, but it has helped slow the tide and made fraternity life a much more positive experience. And even though we are not at the promised land of fraternity cooking yet, the future is smelling mighty delicious.

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