FAYETTEVILLE -- The brothers of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity aren't so different from the rest of the state when it comes to getting vaccinated against covid-19, according to leaders with the organization's chapter at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.
Joseph Huett, 21, chapter president for the fraternity, said he's gotten vaccinated, but "I think it's hard to get 18-year-old kids to listen to any kind of authority."
From information gathered over the past three weeks, the best estimate is that just under 40% of the fraternity's approximately 225 members have gotten at least partially vaccinated, said Huett and Brad Booth, a member of the chapter's alumni advisory board.
Booth said the chapter's fraternity house accommodates 58 people, with move-in to start Friday.
Working to drive that vaccination rate up is Dr. Jonathan Parker, who reached out to 10 other doctors -- all alumni of the fraternity's chapter at UA -- to sign onto a letter encouraging current members to get vaccinated.
Parker said the fraternity alumni doctors, who practice in the state and region, were eager to help.
"To a man, 10 out of 10 said, 'Absolutely. Yes. Glad to put my name on it,'" Parker said.
Parker has also offered to take the vaccine to the fraternity house for a pop-up vaccination clinic later this month, or to arrange for members to be able to go as a group and get vaccinated at the medical clinic where he works in Springdale.
"This is not the pandemic that we encountered last year. It has changed, and there are younger, healthier people getting really sick," Parker said in a phone interview.
Fraternities and sororities are hubs of social activity at UA.
Data from UA shows that 30% of new freshmen males last year joined a fraternity, while 51% of new freshmen women joined a sorority. The percentages were reported by the university in what is known as the Common Data Set. The university enrolled 4,726 new freshmen last fall, according to UA data.
"With the pandemic as severe as it is, we need everyone who can to be vaccinated. Last year it seemed like there was a significant spike in cases after school returned and after rush finished. We now have the tools to be able to stop this," Dr. John Nolen, a doctor who works in Springdale and a Phi Delta Theta alumnus who signed onto the letter, said in an email.
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The doctors in their letter, dated July 31, pulled no punches in describing the pandemic.
"Staggering numbers of people, including previously healthy young people, are unnecessarily dying," their letter says.
Parker, who earned a bachelor's degree from UA in 1995 and later earned a master's in business administration from the university, also appealed to the fraternity members' sense of leadership, stating that "we urge our active Arkansas Alpha brothers to rise to the occasion and once again be the leaders that our Bond requires of us.
"You are in a unique position to be a strong example to our national fraternity, the U of A, our families and our friends," the letter states. The letter signs off with: "Yours In The Bond."
Huett, a senior marketing major from Springdale, said the message means a little more, considering who signed it.
"We know these guys," Huett said. Some have "been around when we were initiated, they came and cheered us on."
Huett said Parker was his family's physician.
"We've been pushing our members to get vaccinated so we can kind of return to a normal U of A experience," Huett said.
Despite the efforts, he said he thinks it will be difficult to get everyone in the fraternity to come around to the idea of getting vaccinated.
But, "I do think the letter helps," he said. "These guys are Phi Delts, and they're pushing us to get vaccinated, so maybe we should."
Parice Bowser, UA's assistant vice chancellor for Greek Life and associate dean of students, in a statement praised the efforts to get more members of the fraternity vaccinated.
"Greek Life supports the proactive measures that the local Phi Delt chapter wants to implement. It's great to know that the fraternity is making health and safety a priority," Bowser said.
Booth, a part of the fraternity's alumni advisory board, said no decisions have been made yet about whether an on-site vaccination clinic would be best for the group.
"We're still trying to gather the numbers to see the interest," Booth said, adding that some members might be interested in getting vaccinated but prefer to get vaccinated by their doctors or in a drugstore setting.
Along with being an alumnus of the fraternity, Booth is also father to Parker, a sophomore at UA this fall who is also a member of the Phi Delta Theta chapter.
"There's been so much that these young men have missed out on because of the pandemic," Booth said.
The fraternity chapter has plans to do its own prize raffle for those vaccinated, with gift cards a likely prize, Booth said.
"We need these guys to get it," Booth said.
On Wednesday, UA announced that weekly prize drawings will be held beginning Sept. 1, with those able to show proof of vaccination eligible to win $500 scholarships, among other prizes.
Nolen, a 1996 UA graduate, is also the father of two UA students. His son Charlie is a Phi Delta Theta member, while daughter Sophie is a member of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, Nolen said.
He referred to the high vaccination rate for the university's football team. Sam Pittman, the Razorback head football coach, earlier this month said the team's vaccination rate had reached 90%.
Nolen said he "would love to see each fraternity house aspire to be that level of vaccination."
Parker said in his clinic he's run into some people who are "dug in" and opposed to getting the vaccine for themselves.
In the letter to the Phi Delta Theta members, Parker and the other doctors offer to answer questions while straightforwardly denouncing any unsupported theories about the vaccine.
"There is a lot of noise and misinformation surrounding this pandemic and vaccines. In this letter, we will not attempt to address the myriad of reasons people have chosen against vaccination to this point. Suffice it to say, there are dozens of reasons, and none of them are any good," the letter states.
The doctors in the letter also state that they encourage "social distancing, masks and cleaning measures," but call vaccination "the absolute key to minimizing the human damage that is upon us."
For young people in fraternities and sororities, Parker said his message is to appeal to what they want out of the year ahead.
"I think the main thing that may connect with them is the disruption of their normal college experience, and last year was horrible in that regard. If something doesn't change, this year is going to be very similar," Parker said.
Regarding vaccination, "it's important that they protect themselves, and this is the best way to do it," he said.
