Life After MTV

It has been almost a year since members of the UB community crowded around television sets to watch drama unfold as the familiar UB campus in the background made this particular reality television show more real than the rest.

But now, after UB - and the rest of the world - watched the highs and lows of the pledging, dating and the Buffalo night life - the ladies of Delta Xi Omega and Sigma Chi Omega, the stars of MTV's "Sorority Life 2" and "Fraternity Life," are back to business as usual.

"We've just gone back to our normal lives," said Maggie, a junior communication and psychology major and former co-star of "Sorority Life 2."

"It's not like The Real World, where everyone ends up in L.A. the next day," she said. "Everything has pretty much blown over by now."

The girls of DZO no longer share the decked out house MTV provided for them, but each member lives off-campus with at least one other sister. Right now, they are in the midst of formal pledging and are concentrating on starting a new chapter at Buffalo State College.

"We're just basically getting on with real sorority life," Maggie said.

All are very excited about that, especially junior communication major Nicole, who landed a paid gig as a spokesperson for the anti-smoking campaign Reality Check, where she served as a role model for teens along with Real World-er Malik.

But now she is an active member of DZO and working on graduating and getting an internship with MTV. Nicole is most noted for her seemingly one-sided romance with an SCO pledge on the show.

"I guess the big question is whether I'm still dating Tim," she said. "The answer is no, but we are still very close friends. We talk all the time."

She said it was hard to watch him deny their relationship on the show, but that he has slowly gained back her trust.

"No one saw the nice things he did while the show was taping that showed he cared for me," she said. "No one saw the 3 a.m. phone calls and the flowers he sent."

Of all the things she learned from her experience, she said watching herself appear as some "innocent girl who pines over some guy" on television has taught her the biggest lesson.

"I used to always put guys first," she said. "Now I realize how important your girl friends are."

Junior biomedical sciences major Alex plans to go on to medical school. He is not an active member of SCO this semester because he could not afford to pay his $175 membership dues, but he still retains his position as secretary.

All the money he makes as a bartender at Sphere goes toward a secret purchase that is now sitting in an SCO brother's garage.

"I bought a motorcycle," he said. "Don't tell my mom."

Alex, too, was best known for his romance on the show.

"Everyone knows me as this whipped little boy," he said. "Yeah, it's embarrassing, but that's how I was at the time. I was just young and met a girl that I really liked."

Junior business administration major Earl was probably best known for his temper, and for almost quitting halfway through the pledge process. Now he is one of SCO's more invested members, serving as pledge brother to one of the 10 new pledges.

"I gotta be around a lot," he said. "I have to be here for this kid," he said referring to the new pledge. According to him, most of the pledges from the show are no longer around.

"It's basically down to me and Paul, and he's one of the kids you didn't see too much on the show," he said.

He said he never hears from most of the other guys and wonders if certain members, like Tim, only joined because of MTV.

"He was a media studies kind of guy," he said. "He was the one who was really dramatic for the cameras whenever anything happened."

Steve, a pledge who did not make it into the fraternity, has not been heard from since last semester. Earl assumes he went home to New York City. According to Earl, Steve's parents - his father is a minister - had no idea Steve was on the show.

"He said, 'They don't have a TV, they'll never find out,'" said Earl. "But I guess some people in the congregation were like, 'Did you see the way your son acted on TV?'"

Though much of the hoopla has subsided, the members of DZO and SCO still get recognized, which, they say, is not always a good thing.

"Some people are really cool, they're like 'I swear I know you from somewhere,'" said junior psychology major Melissa. "But some people will yell stuff like, 'Hey, there are those ugly girls from MTV."

According to Alex, the guys have had an even harder time. He said he is not sure why they get the reaction they do, but some of it stems from rival fraternities.

"Everywhere we go outside of Buffalo people are super open and nice," he said. "But here everyone always wants to fight. I never go to a bar by myself anymore. I always make sure I'm with at least one other person."

"It has definitely hurt us more than it has helped us," said Maggie.

Even so, most agreed on one thing - It was worth it.

They were able to spend Spring Break with other reality stars, like Trishelle from The Real World. Another time, the girls were put up at a luxury hotel in Los Angeles and treated to dinner at The Ivy, an exclusive restaurant.

"And we'll never go to New Orleans in style like we did with MTV," Maggie said. "Never."

[Editor's Note: The last names of members of DZO and SCO have been withheld for privacy.]