While students are at dining halls on campus waiting to have their Action Card swiped to gain entrance, fraternity and sorority members are presented with the alternative of campus dining in their respective houses.

Fraternities and sororities hire cooks to prepare breakfast, lunch and dinner on weekdays and meals for game days.

Jereme Gray, a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon and the new member educator for the fraternity, said in an e-mailed statement that the cooking staff is esteemed as integral to the organization.

Gray said the fraternity venerates Moulton Cook, or Moe, for his long-standing relationship to DKE as one of their cooks. Moe, after more than 40 years of working for DKE, recently retired, Gray said.

“He is a truly remarkable man, a legend and is afforded more respect than any other member of our house still alive,” Gray said. “Moe is an initiated deke, and he is an inspiration to all the actives and alumni. Due to his long relationship with the DKE house, he is also a connection to many of our uncles and fathers.”

Gray said the fraternity inculcates a respect for its cooking staff at the earliest stages of pledgeship.

“We love our cooks,” Gray said. “Every member of our house treats them with the utmost respect, and this is among the first things incoming pledge classes learn.”

Ida Rainer said she has cooked for the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity house for two years, and before that, she worked as head cook for the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority house for 10 years.

Rainer said her experience with SAE has been rewarding.

“It’s great,” Rainer said. “This is my second year here, and I’ve had no problem at all with the boys.”

Rainer said the cooks often encourage the pledges that have to endure weeks of initiation practices in order to be deemed an “active” of the fraternity.

“[As for] the pledges, I could take them all home,” Rainer said. “We make sure we look after the pledges. We know it’s not easy.”

Rainer said the pledges help out in the kitchen to lighten the load of the cooking staff by taking out garbage, cleaning dishes and removing pots and pans from the stoves.

Rainer said the true reward of her work comes from seeing the fraternity members enjoy her cooking.

She said she asks herself one fundamental question on a workday: “Is they hungry?”

Mattie Marks, who has cooked for the SAE house for 10 years, said the food selection ranges with any desirable type of menu.

“They prefer it all,” Marks said.

Marks also said she finds her work to be rewarding.

“I enjoy every bit of it,” Marks said.