GDI shirts 'a joke,' student creators say
Joel Pavelski
Issue date: 12/4/08 Section: News
Two students plan to order and sell T-shirts bearing the Greek letters Gamma, Delta and Iota - GDI - before the semester ends. Some students have already committed to purchasing them, while others condemn the design.
The Greek letters represent the phrase "g- d- independent," and the words "Don't Rush" sits below the GDI. "Pay us to be your friends" is written across the back.
Freshmen Brian Thomas and Joseph Chrisman said they created the design online as a joke to poke fun at fraternity friends during Greek week.
"People started asking if we were actually making the shirts, so we started a Facebook group and 30 or 40 people joined right away," Chrisman said.
While a lot of independents have ordered the T-shirt, others see the T-shirt's taunt as counterproductive.
"One thing that Greeks do is buy and wear the same T-shirts to align themselves with their group," senior Lauren Hildreth said. "These kids buying shirts that they'll all wear seems to negate their spirit of independence."
Hildreth, a member of Pi Beta Phi sorority, said that although certain people use the GDI label to jokingly refer to their independent status, others are more serious in their direct solidarity against the Greek system.
"The GDI movement is a reaction to pressure that independents think they're receiving from the Greek system to conform, but that defensive attitude is unwarranted," she said. "There seems to be more pressure from the GDI movement to stay independent than from fraternities or sororities to go Greek."
Independent sophomore Ryan Black said that independents understand the irony of using a phrase like GDI.
"Having a label like GDI is kind of oxymoronish because with it you're making a group," he said. "GDI is just a good way to say I'm not going Greek and I don't want to be bothered about it anymore."
Chrisman said he doesn't consider himself adamantly independent. The T-shirts were a fun poke at friends, he said.
"Several people have taken it really seriously, but it's not meant to be a rip on Greeks," he said. "For the most part, people realize it's a joke and if they don't, they should."
The Greek letters represent the phrase "g- d- independent," and the words "Don't Rush" sits below the GDI. "Pay us to be your friends" is written across the back.
Freshmen Brian Thomas and Joseph Chrisman said they created the design online as a joke to poke fun at fraternity friends during Greek week.
"People started asking if we were actually making the shirts, so we started a Facebook group and 30 or 40 people joined right away," Chrisman said.
While a lot of independents have ordered the T-shirt, others see the T-shirt's taunt as counterproductive.
"One thing that Greeks do is buy and wear the same T-shirts to align themselves with their group," senior Lauren Hildreth said. "These kids buying shirts that they'll all wear seems to negate their spirit of independence."
Hildreth, a member of Pi Beta Phi sorority, said that although certain people use the GDI label to jokingly refer to their independent status, others are more serious in their direct solidarity against the Greek system.
"The GDI movement is a reaction to pressure that independents think they're receiving from the Greek system to conform, but that defensive attitude is unwarranted," she said. "There seems to be more pressure from the GDI movement to stay independent than from fraternities or sororities to go Greek."
Independent sophomore Ryan Black said that independents understand the irony of using a phrase like GDI.
"Having a label like GDI is kind of oxymoronish because with it you're making a group," he said. "GDI is just a good way to say I'm not going Greek and I don't want to be bothered about it anymore."
Chrisman said he doesn't consider himself adamantly independent. The T-shirts were a fun poke at friends, he said.
"Several people have taken it really seriously, but it's not meant to be a rip on Greeks," he said. "For the most part, people realize it's a joke and if they don't, they should."
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