Sep 11
12
Why are they so special? How do you become a member?
Greek Life Organizations provide an excellent complement to the academic experience at a college or university. They provide members with the following:
1. A social support network, gr
oup of friends and a means of "fitting in", for students away from home.
2. A social calendar, possibly including some events in the community that members have never tried before, and date parties and formals for significant others to attend.
3. Academic support, whether that is friendly academic competition within the chapter, homework help and tutoring by other members, incentives for academic success, disincentives for poor academic performance, mandatory study hours, opportunities to meet faculty at chapter events, textbook swapping, etc.
4. A lifetime network of friends. Alumni from my chapter and many others have remained friends, even decades after graduation.
5. Leadership and organizational experience through holding chapter officerships.
6. Athletic opportunities through fraternity/sorority intramural sports teams.
7. Social skills. Recruitment is a great way for fraternity members to learn how to talk to people, answers questions effectively, and practice their salesmanship, essential skills for future careers.
8. Networking. Alumni can help you find jobs in their organizations, or give strong recommendations to other who may be looking to hire.
9. Meeting other people from around the country. Through going to Greek leadership conferences and retreats, I have met hundreds of members of my fraternity, and other fraternities and sororities, from all over the U.S. and Canada. There’s no other way I could have done this in college.
10. Leaving a legacy. College affords you few ways to leave a real mark on your campus. Implementing positive changes or a program in your fraternity/sorority can last decades after you graduate. Last year, my chapter held its annual Walkathon, 25 years after a group of brothers started it.
11. Abundant community service opportunities.
12. Fun, and some of the best friends you’ll ever make.
Becoming a member involves going through recruitment. This is a period of time at the beginning of each semester (usually 1-4 weeks), where GLOs will try to actively recruit new members. This is usually tightly scripted for women, and a little looser for the men. You will have a chance to meet the members of each fraternity and sorority at their events. You will get to know them, and they will get to know you. If they want you to become a member, they will give you a bid at the end of recruitment. You can accept or decline it. If you accept, you become a "new member" or "pledge", and go through a "new member" or "pledging" program, which lasts anywhere from one day to a whole semester, depending on the GLO. After that, you become a brother or sister of the fraternity.
This is an extremely simplified view of recruitment. Please talk to your school’s Greek Life Office if you are interested.
