Most chapter events don't fall apart because of bad ideas. They fall apart because nobody figured out who was actually in charge. I learned this the hard way during my first semester as an active, when what should have been a straightforward mixer with a sorority turned into two weeks of group chat chaos, three people who thought they were in charge, and a venue that got double-booked. The event still happened. It was fine. But fine isn't what anyone was going for. ... Read more

There's a specific kind of chaos that hits Greek row the week before homecoming. Float builds happening at midnight. Someone's little sister from three towns over showing up unannounced. A chapter president stress-eating dining hall waffles at 2am because the banner isn't drying fast enough. I lived that chaos for four years, and I'm not even a little bit sorry about it. Homecoming week is the thing I describe to people who ask me if Greek life was worth it - and it shuts them up every time. ... Read more

Every few years, something happens at Cornell and the whole country acts like Greek life just invented itself. The New York Times is back on the beat, the op-eds are flying, and university administrators everywhere are dusting off their "embrace or ban" talking points like it's a policy debate and not a conversation about actual students. I've seen this cycle. I lived through a version of it. And honestly, the framing is what frustrates me most. ... Read more

Every Panhellenic president I've ever met has had the same reaction to Greek rank sites: eye roll, dismissal, maybe a comment about how "those sites don't reflect our values." I used to say the same thing. Then I spent two years on council watching chapters with glowing reputations internally get absolutely torched in public forums - and I started paying closer attention to what was actually being said. ... Read more

Recruitment chairs are great at a lot of things. Giving you a realistic budget breakdown before you sign your bid card is not one of them. I found out what my fraternity actually cost me around three weeks into pledging, when I opened my member portal for the first time and sat with my jaw on the floor staring at a number I had not mentally prepared for. Nobody lied to me exactly. They just... didn't volunteer the full picture. ... Read more

Every recruitment chair I've ever worked with on council has some version of the same complaint going into formal: actives go on autopilot. You spend months training your chapter on values-based recruitment, you write the talking points, you do the mock conversations in chapter meeting, and then the moment a potential new member walks through the door, someone asks where she's from and what she's studying and whether she's looked at any clubs yet. Same rotation. Every round. Every house. ... Read more

I graduated in 2023. I have student loans. I have a rent payment that makes me want to cry every month. And yet, twice a year, I send money back to my chapter. People think I'm being sentimental. I'm not. I'm being deliberate - and I think more alumni should be, too, but with way more scrutiny about where that money actually lands. ... Read more

I showed up to my first fraternity social as a sophomore pledge not knowing basically anything. I'd spent my freshman year as a GDI, going to whatever events I heard about through the dorm group chat, showing up with whoever was free. It was fine. But Greek socials are a different thing entirely, and nobody hands you a manual. You're just supposed to know. ... Read more

Every few semesters, some op-ed drops claiming Greek life is on its last legs. Universities are pulling recognition, national organizations are merging chapters, enrollment is supposedly tanking. And people share it like it's breaking news. But I've spent years watching how Panhellenic councils actually operate - the bylaws debates, the recruitment numbers, the chapter reviews - and I'm here to tell you that the obituary being written for Greek life is wrong. Not slightly off. Wrong. ... Read more

A story crossed my feed this week that made me stop scrolling. Thirty college students at an unidentified school were reportedly splattered with condiments and liquids as part of a hazing ritual, according to The New York Times. Police got involved. Thirty kids. And somewhere in a chapter house, someone probably thought this was a tradition worth protecting. ... 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

Most chapter events don't fall apart because of bad ideas. They fall apart because nobody figured out who was actually in charge. I learned this the hard way during my first semester as an active, when what should have been a straightforward mixer with a sorority turned into two weeks of group chat chaos, three people who thought they were in charge, and a venue that got double-booked. The event still happened. It was fine. But fine isn't what anyone was going for. ... Read more

Every few years, a wave of high-profile assault cases hits the news cycle and suddenly everyone's got an opinion about whether fraternities should exist at all. The ABC News story making rounds right now is the latest version of that conversation - calls to shut down frat houses entirely as public anger over rape cases grows louder. I've heard this argument before. I've sat in Panhellenic council meetings where the exact same pressure was bleeding over into how we handled our own policies, our own relationships with IFC chapters, our own event approval processes. And I'll say what I said then: closing houses doesn't close the problem. ... Read more

There's a specific kind of chaos that hits Greek row the week before homecoming. Float builds happening at midnight. Someone's little sister from three towns over showing up unannounced. A chapter president stress-eating dining hall waffles at 2am because the banner isn't drying fast enough. I lived that chaos for four years, and I'm not even a little bit sorry about it. Homecoming week is the thing I describe to people who ask me if Greek life was worth it - and it shuts them up every time. ... Read more

Every few years, something happens at Cornell and the whole country acts like Greek life just invented itself. The New York Times is back on the beat, the op-eds are flying, and university administrators everywhere are dusting off their "embrace or ban" talking points like it's a policy debate and not a conversation about actual students. I've seen this cycle. I lived through a version of it. And honestly, the framing is what frustrates me most. ... Read more