While most Panhellenic councils spend September arguing about recruitment compliance violations and whether a chapter's Instagram post technically counts as informal recruitment, the Divine Nine organizations are out here running food drives, hosting voter registration tables, and putting members through scholarship reviews. Every semester. Without pause. I've sat through enough IFC and Panhellenic governance meetings to know that for a lot of chapters, community service is a box you check before formal. For Alpha Kappa Alpha, Delta Sigma Theta, Zeta Phi Beta, and the rest of the National Pan-Hellenic Council organizations, it's apparently just... Tuesday. ... Read more

Every guy in a fraternity has heard some version of this pitch: join us, and you'll have brothers for life - brothers who will hire you, refer you, open doors for you. It sounds almost too good to be true. And honestly? Sometimes it is. But sometimes it genuinely isn't, and the difference matters a lot more than anyone in recruitment will admit. ... Read more

Nobody told me sophomore year was gonna hit like that. I had three philanthropy events, two formals, a brotherhood retreat, and intramural playoffs packed into about six weeks - and somehow I was still supposed to figure out whether I wanted to declare Economics or Communications. My advisor looked at me like I had two heads when I explained why I'd missed her office hours. She didn't get it. But if you're in a chapter right now, you do. ... 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

But really. There’s such a thing as the “fraternity to finance” pipeline that allegedly places certain frat members into financial positions in the Big Apple — that might be harder for any regular college graduate to obtain. No surprise there, since one of the main long-term reasons members rush is for the networking opportunities Greek life affords. ... 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

Greeks help others. Every chapter across the nation works hard to hold events to raise awareness and resources for their selected causes. These occasions also offer an opportunity for Greeks from different houses to come together to support each other’s efforts to make the world a better place. Here are some of the best philanthropy events of September 2016 from across the country.... Read more

There are a lot of great fraternity philanthropies. They all have worthy causes that aid brothers in living their noble creeds. Some philanthropic efforts, although, have recently been going above and beyond. Here’s a list of the top 5 fraternity philanthropies of 2015.... 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

Every year, thousands of students walk into recruitment week thinking they've done their research. They watched the videos, scrolled the Instagram accounts, maybe even stalked the chapter rankings. And then day one hits and it is nothing - absolutely nothing - like what they expected. I've sat on Panhellenic council. I've watched the process from both sides of the door. The gap between what recruitment looks like online and what it actually feels like in person is embarrassing, and somebody needs to say it plainly. ... Read more

Virginia Commonwealth University just suspended a fraternity over hazing and assault allegations, and if you've spent any time around Greek life, you already know the basic shape of this story. Another chapter, another investigation, another university forced to act publicly on something that was probably an open secret for a while. It's not surprising. That's kind of the problem. ... Read more

There's a type of alumni event guest who shows up before the actives do, knows where the good snacks are hidden, and somehow ends up in every group photo. She graduated four years ago. Maybe six. And she is always there. Not in a mentorship way. Not in a "I'm chaperoning this for liability reasons" way. Just... there. Camped out like she never left. ... Read more

When I was in school, the worst internal conflict my chapter ever had was a heated argument over whether to get a foosball table or fix the back porch railing. We voted on it. Someone's feelings got hurt. We moved on. Nobody called a lawyer. Alpha Phi Delta apparently did not have that luxury, because the fraternity just filed a lawsuit against Greek housing organizations - and that's a sentence I did not expect to read on a Tuesday. ... Read more

Junior year, I had a thermodynamics exam on a Tuesday and hadn't slept more than four hours in three days. I was ready to just grind it out alone in the library like I always did freshman year - before I joined. Then my brother Marcus, a mechanical engineering senior, sat down next to me at the chapter house kitchen table at 10 PM and said, "You're doing the energy balance wrong." Two hours later I actually understood it. Passed that exam. And I remember thinking - this is literally what the whole thing is supposed to be for.< ... Read more