When a sorority comes back to a campus, most people treat it like a footnote. A line in the student newspaper, maybe a mention at Panhellenic council. But Gamma Phi Beta returning to Northwestern for winter recruitment isn't a footnote - it's actually a story worth paying attention to, especially if you care about what Greek life is supposed to be doing on a campus in the first place.
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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....
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When Greek life goes bonkers, and chapters from campuses in Arkansas to Syracuse start to make national and even international headlines for hazing allegations, sexual misconduct, racial slurs, and crimes against humanity, it’s time to look for the positive. Here’s our roundup of sorority and fraternity headlines that don’t make you wonder what happened to morality at some chapters, that remind you about the importance of philanthropy in Greek life, and now more than ever, appreciate Queen Bey. ...
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The Big Ten consists of 14 schools that compete with one another in a large conference and all have impressive backgrounds. Each school has something they excel in or what they are most known for. It’s the first thing that pops into your head when you hear the school’s name....
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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....
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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....
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The Wall Street Journal ran a piece this week that a lot of people in Greek life governance have been quietly dreading. A rape case at Cornell. A university that had recently softened its stance toward fraternities. And a story that asks, out loud, whether colleges made a mistake by pulling back from the harder line on Greek organizations. If you've sat on a Panhellenic council or watched an IFC try to self-govern, you already know where this is headed.
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Nobody told me that the GPA you earn in your first semester follows you around like a shadow for the next four years. I mean, people say stuff like "work hard" and "don't fall behind" during orientation week, but that's not the same thing as actually understanding what a 2.6 in your first semester costs you two years later. I found out the hard way, and then I found out again when I joined a chapter as a sophomore and watched the same thing play out for a bunch of new members who had no idea what they were walking into.
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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.
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There's an opinion piece running in USA Today right now about Cornell University and a student identified only as Jane Doe, and it's the kind of article that should make every Greek life member uncomfortable - not because it's unfair, but because it isn't. The argument is straightforward: Cornell failed her, and Greek life needs to change from within. I'm not here to pick apart the editorial. I'm here to say that the from within part is where most chapters are quietly failing, and they don't even realize it.
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