Pledge semester is a weird psychological experiment. You're new, you want to belong, and the people deciding whether you belong have more social leverage than you do right now. That combination makes it really easy to slip into full people-pleasing mode - nodding along to everything, never pushing back, doing whatever it takes to get initiated. And honestly? That approach might work short-term. But it tends to backfire in ways you don't see coming until you're already in too deep. ... Read more

There's a headline making the rounds from Student Life at Washington University in St. Louis, and it's framing fraternity expansion as some kind of red flag - a sign that the Abolish Greek Life movement is losing ground and that's somehow alarming. I've read it a few times now. And I get what the writers are going for. But I think they're reading the situation backwards. ... Read more

Nobody told me pledge semester would hit my transcript like a freight train. Between chapter meetings three nights a week, new member education, philanthropy events, and just trying to figure out who everyone was - I watched my GPA slip in a way I hadn't expected. And I wasn't some slacker. I'd gotten good grades in high school. Greek life just has a way of filling every hour you thought you had. ... Read more

Nobody warns you about Greek Sing when you're rushing. You show up thinking it's gonna be some cringe talent show in a gymnasium, and then you watch a chapter of 80 guys absolutely nail a full choreographed number to a medley they clearly rehearsed for six weeks straight. And you just sit there thinking - wait, this is kind of incredible? Greek Sing is one of those traditions that sounds embarrassing on paper and then completely wins you over in person. ... Read more

With so many undergraduates joining fraternities and sororities, one thing is for sure: that’s a lot of bodies. And, a lot of potential to do good. Hence, most chapters across campuses have their mission rooted in some kind of philanthropic effort. Each year, chapters devote time and attention to planning a fundraiser to raise money for their philanthropy.... Read more

Miss Greek pageants are happening this time of year at colleges across the country, and we’ve funnelled the list down to five of the most popular, highest-raising, oldest-running, largest pageants and more. ... Read more

Hundreds of men have moved on from collegiate Greek life into the glitzy and powerful ranks of society. It’s no surprise that many of the actors, billionaire CEOs, politicians and Grammy-winning musicians you know as famed celebrities are also Greek alumni. ... Read more

Spring is right around the corner. Most schools that conduct formal recruitment during the spring semester have recently welcomed their new babies. Just as we have for the last several years, we’ve assembled the data to determine what sororities/fraternities are on top of the Greek rankings. We’ve had some shakeups in our rankings from last semester. Here are GreekRank’s Spring 2017’s top sororities and fraternities in the categories of Sisterhood/Brotherhood, Involvement, Classiness, Popularity, Looks, Fun, And Overall Highest Ranked... Read more

Last week, I got coffee with one of my friends from home, who also went Greek. As we shared lattes and stories about what classes we miraculously passed and which fraternities we borrowed composites from, she flipped through the pages of a People magazine next to us and sighed, “Man, I wish fraternity guys at our schools looked more like celebs, you know?” Apparently, a solid amount of Hollywood A-listers are Greek and proud to wear their letters.... Read more

While there are plenty of excellent colleges without much of a Greek Life, it’s important to acknowledge the positive influence that having a strong Greek Life presence on campus offers students. From the percentage of undergraduate students involved in Greek Life to the number of chapters on each campus, the following schools have risen above the rest. Checkout the following list of colleges across the country that offer the best Greek Life experiences by the numbers:... Read more

You have made one of the biggest decisions of your life to go to college. Congratulations! However, that’s not the only decision that you’ll have to make when it comes to college life. Another important decision that you’ll probably make is the decision to go Greek in college. Greek life has lots of benefits to offer to its members – opportunities to build a network, social/community activities to participate in, a strong brotherhood bond to maintain, and many more!  However, one of the biggest challenges college guys face at the beginning of their Greek life is choosing the right fraternity for themselves.... Read more

The Blue Banner just dropped a photo gallery covering fraternity and sorority life this semester at their campus, and honestly, good for them. Documenting Greek life through photos is something more student newspapers should do. Philanthropy events, formals, recruitment weeks - it all looks great in a slideshow. But here's the thing about photo galleries: they show you the finished product and nothing else. They don't show you what it actually took to get there. ... Read more

Nobody warned me about formal season. I joined my fraternity as a sophomore, so I'd already watched friends stress about it from the outside and figured they were exaggerating. They weren't. Formal is not just a dance you show up to. It's a whole operation - logistics, planning, social maneuvering, wardrobe decisions - and if you're not ready for it, it will humble you fast. ... Read more

There is exactly one Greek tradition that can make a house full of grown men stand in formation at 11pm on a Tuesday, singing in harmony to a sorority, while wearing matching outfits they definitely didn't iron themselves. That tradition is the serenade. And depending on where you went to school, your reaction to that sentence was either "aww, that's actually sweet" or a full-body shudder. ... Read more

Molloy University just made history by establishing its first fraternity and sorority, and honestly, most people outside of Long Island probably scrolled past that headline without a second thought. That's a mistake. Because what's happening at Molloy isn't just a small private Catholic university checking a box - it's a reminder of something Greek life keeps proving over and over again: the demand for this kind of community doesn't go away just because a school hasn't gotten around to building it yet. ... Read more