UCSD Fraternity Brothers Get
to Test Whether They are “Smarter Than a 5th Grader”

Christine Clark | December 3, 2007

UCSD junior Tyler Van Buren and host Jeff Foxworthy.

Six UC San Diego students tried to outsmart a group of fifth-graders on the national television show, "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?" which aired Thursday night.

The students on the episode are a part of the Pi Kappa Alpha (PIKE) fraternity. The episode featured UCSD junior Tyler Van Buren as the main contestant on the show. Van Buren had to answer a series of questions and he either got to rely on the advice of a group of fifth-graders or five of his fraternity brothers. The PIKE brothers proved unsuccessful against the fifth-graders, but the experience was very rewarding, Van Buren said.

UCSD senior Greg Murphy is an active member of the PIKE fraternity and was one of the contestants on the episode. He said that although the episode was filmed in August, the participants were excited for it to finally air. "They treated us like royalty," Murphy said. "They put us up in the green room, we had drinks, food and tons of video games." Although Murphy was nervous, he said the filming was fun. " Jeff Foxworthy kept on making joke after joke about fraternities on the show," Murphy said, referring to the host of the show, which airs Thursday nights on the FOX network. "Afterward, we got to stay in a five-star hotel and the executive producer from the show came to the hotel and said it was one of the funniest episodes he had seen."

Van Buren auditioned for the show after a fraternity member notified him about it. He said the experience was nerve-racking because he had to share the stage with a noteworthy comedian and because the episode was filmed in front of a live audience. "I wanted to be funny," Van Buren said. "But I kept thinking that if I tried to one-up Jeff Foxworthy, he would destroy me."

Although Foxworthy teased the contestants for being members of a fraternity, the show presented UCSD in a positive light, Murphy said. "UCSD is a top research institution," he said. "This might present a different perspective of the university, that we can have fun too."

Although UCSD does not have a Greek Row and the PIKE brothers do not live in a frat house, they do feel a sense of pride in their fraternity. The airing of the "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?" comes right after the 10-year anniversary of the PIKE fraternity. The fraternity celebrated the anniversary with a soiree at the Omni Hotel downtown and more than 80 PIKE alumni attended the event.

"I have been e-mailing the alumni about the show because I am in charge of alumni relations," Murphy said. "And they are all excited to see their fraternity represented on national television."

Van Buren said that although he is very focused on studying biochemistry at UCSD, he wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to work in the entertainment industry. In the final round of the episode, he was asked whether Buddhism originated in China or India. He picked the wrong answer, China, and had to admit he wasn’t smarter than a fifth-grader. However, he did not walk away empty handed. "The experience was the biggest reward," he said. "It was surreal and I never thought I would have had the opportunity."