A red Solo cup lies on the sticky ground as a beam of sunlight shines through the window. Twenty guys are passed out around the room, in various stages of sleep. The noise from last night’s party still echoes throughout the house. This is probably the very famous image that represents the words “Greek life” in many people’s minds.
When people talk about sororities and fraternities in college, they think about parties, weird Greek letters, obnoxious and fake people, or maybe even the dangerous hazing some houses do. However, the tradition of Greek life in colleges is a long and everlasting one that is misrepresented in the media. A lot of people would rule out the possibility of joining a sorority or fraternity before they get to see it just because of the preconceptions they’ve formed through many things they’ve heard. However, there are a lot of hidden opportunities in joining a Greek organization. Considering 75% of members in the United States Congress, 85% of the Fortune 500 executives, 48% of U.S. Presidents, 63% of the members in the U.S. Cabinet since 1900, and all of the Apollo 11 astronauts have been in fraternities and sororities, you could get a lot of career or internship opportunities out of your house.
For SAS seniors who are going off to college, or anyone interested in joining Greek life, you may need some background information on this system before going into college. Whether you totally hate the idea of Greek life or love it, it is worth learning the basics and getting a general foundation of what the system is like.
For those who don’t know what Greek life is, it is a type of organization usually for undergraduates in college, the most common being social organizations, “fraternities” for men, “sororities” for women. They usually have a national chapter that oversees regional “houses.” Besides these two types of Greek life, there are other types of organizations in the Greek life: service organizations for community service, or organizations specialized in one field of study such as business. The organizations primarily mentioned in this article will be social organizations. While individual fraternities and sororities have different structures and features, most share at least five common characteristics. One, these organizations are very secretive. Before you get freaked out about the word “secretive,” relax—the secrecy of Greek life is one of its main traditions. You need to be initiated and pass a series of “tests” that is essential to the house’s history before you are a member of that house. Second, social fraternities and sororities usually have single-sex membership, and the environment is different for these houses. Sororities are usually not allowed to host parties in their houses, while fraternities are sometimes notorious for their wild parties. Third, they select new members through a two-part vetting and probationary process called “rushing” and “pledging”. During rush week, students will sit through social events, interviews, and other events hosted by the chapters of fraternities and sororities in their school.
Another SAS alumna, who is a junior at the University of British Columbia majoring in media studies, says that her recruitment process allowed her to “meet all eight sororities on campus and get to know their values.” After rush, if a house likes the PNM (potential new member), then they’ll offer them a bid. If the student accepts the bid, they are officially a “pledge.” Many Greek organizations will prioritize a student whose family members were in the same organizations; these people are known as “legacies.”
One senior at SAS is a legacy as all the men in his family was in a fraternity in college. “Since everyone in my family was in one, I might as well join,” he says. Pledges are usually almost guaranteed to get a bid for a house their family was a part of. When the pledging period ends, the house will initiate the student and they’ll become an official member. Yes, it’s a fairly complicated process, but the end result could be very worth it.
The fourth common element Greek organizations have is a residence for their chapter. In some colleges there is even a Greek row, which is essentially a block that’s composed of the houses of different fraternities and sororities. Even though not all colleges have this, imagine living with fifty of your friends in a giant house. The last common characteristic is the adoption of a series of complex symbols such as Greek letters, hand signals, colors, badges, etc.
Now that we’ve gotten the basics covered, let’s move on to the deeper issues regarding Greek life. There are some things you have to consider before rushing a house. The UBC student told us the positives of rushing is that you get to “meet a lot of people”; however, “it’s a huge time commitment.” Going Greek could instantaneously offer you a group of friends, which is helpful especially if you’re a freshman who traveled from halfway across the world.
Kitty Liang, a sophomore at Emory University studying business administration and philosophy, rushed Alpha Delta Pi; she said, “I just rushed this semester. My favorite thing is getting to know people in my sorority right now. I just went down to New Orleans with a couple of them on a road trip and it was really fun!” However, all the events and activities you need to attend could be overwhelming and time-consuming. The SAS senior who is legacy said that he was hoping to mostly getting connections out of the Greek life experience: “My grandpa, dad, and uncle all used frat connections to get jobs out of college.” In fact, in 2013, Bloomberg reported that fraternity connections are very influential in the process of receiving a well-paid job at top Wall Street brokerages.
Besides connections, making a group of long lasting friends could help you through college. Although some people may judge you and have stereotypes against Greek life, your friends are there to help you. Hannah Smith, a junior at SAS, happens to be a triple legacy of Kappa Kappa Gamma, where her mother, aunt, and sister rushed the same sorority. She said she wants to rush when she goes to college because “my mother met some of her lifelong friends in her sorority, and my godmother and her best friend met through their sorority. My mom said it was some of her best times in her life, and made her adapt to college easier.”
Hannah’s dad was in a fraternity as well, and he still talks to his brothers to this day, “my dad’s fraternity brother is actually coming to Shanghai in May to visit, and he’s going to stay with us.” Many lifelong friends can be made from Greek life, since you’ll be spending the better part of four years with these people. Senior Nilay Ghatlia, who is joining Davidson College’s Class of 2021, told us that “I guess I really want to join Greek life because when I got shown around, most of the people I met were in frats. It was a really cool experience just seeing what it’s actually like, meet new people, meet upperclassmen, meet people you can have a long term connection with.”
Besides having a close group of friends across all grades in your college, a lot of Greek organizations spend time doing philanthropy. They may host events that require certain dress codes and etiquette. This not only creates an opportunity to network but also helps a very worthy cause. The UBC student’s sorority engages in philanthropic activities like “kick ball and organizing events, bake sales,” she says “We also have formals and semi-formals which are really popular within Greek life.” Yet all the activities and the fees from your house could be an economic burden. Not including room fees, the average new sorority member average will need up to US$ 1,280 for each semester, and the average new fraternity member needs to pay US$ 605 for a semester. Fees can get more expensive or less expensive depending on the college and chapter. Kitty told us that “the first semester into a sorority is usually a lot more expensive, so I’m paying around 800+ USD right now, but it gets cheaper, I think to around 400 USD/semester.”
Greek life can also teach valuable life skills such as organization, time management, leadership, and public speaking. In fact, studies have concluded that graduation rates among students in Greek organizations are 20% higher than those who didn’t participate. It is really a great way to make an impact on campus and become more social. One of our seniors tells us that the social events and parties are “not all like the partying in movies, but there are still parties.”
At these parties, you may experience contact with alcohol that may make you uncomfortable. A Harvard University study discovered that “four out of five fraternity and sorority members are binge drinkers. In comparison, other research suggests 2 out of 5 college students overall are regular binge drinkers.” Some Greek organizations have even been criticized for hazing their pledges in events known as “Hell Week,” which is a week-long torment on pledges including “sleep deprivation, sensory deprivation, paddling and other types of spanking, use of stress positions, forced runs, busy work, and mind games.”
Nilay, after hearing the rumors of Greek life said that most rumors he hears about are “news story that come out about hazing”; however, “that’s not really every frat—it’s very much not the one at the college I’m going to. Also, you see that they just throw huge parties and it’s all just fun and drinking, but thats not really what it’s about. It’s mostly just about meeting new people and having a tightly-knit group of friends. The hazing process isn’t as brutal as they make it seem, at least from what I’ve heard.”
At the end of the day, it really depends on how comfortable you are with the whole culture of Greek life. There are advantages and disadvantages to joining Greek life, and you should weigh them carefully before coming to a decision.
Amy Liu
When people talk about sororities and fraternities in college, they think about parties, weird Greek letters, obnoxious and fake people, or maybe even the dangerous hazing some houses do. However, the tradition of Greek life in colleges is a long and everlasting one that is misrepresented in the media. A lot of people would rule out the possibility of joining a sorority or fraternity before they get to see it just because of the preconceptions they’ve formed through many things they’ve heard. However, there are a lot of hidden opportunities in joining a Greek organization. Considering 75% of members in the United States Congress, 85% of the Fortune 500 executives, 48% of U.S. Presidents, 63% of the members in the U.S. Cabinet since 1900, and all of the Apollo 11 astronauts have been in fraternities and sororities, you could get a lot of career or internship opportunities out of your house.
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| Source |
For those who don’t know what Greek life is, it is a type of organization usually for undergraduates in college, the most common being social organizations, “fraternities” for men, “sororities” for women. They usually have a national chapter that oversees regional “houses.” Besides these two types of Greek life, there are other types of organizations in the Greek life: service organizations for community service, or organizations specialized in one field of study such as business. The organizations primarily mentioned in this article will be social organizations. While individual fraternities and sororities have different structures and features, most share at least five common characteristics. One, these organizations are very secretive. Before you get freaked out about the word “secretive,” relax—the secrecy of Greek life is one of its main traditions. You need to be initiated and pass a series of “tests” that is essential to the house’s history before you are a member of that house. Second, social fraternities and sororities usually have single-sex membership, and the environment is different for these houses. Sororities are usually not allowed to host parties in their houses, while fraternities are sometimes notorious for their wild parties. Third, they select new members through a two-part vetting and probationary process called “rushing” and “pledging”. During rush week, students will sit through social events, interviews, and other events hosted by the chapters of fraternities and sororities in their school.
Another SAS alumna, who is a junior at the University of British Columbia majoring in media studies, says that her recruitment process allowed her to “meet all eight sororities on campus and get to know their values.” After rush, if a house likes the PNM (potential new member), then they’ll offer them a bid. If the student accepts the bid, they are officially a “pledge.” Many Greek organizations will prioritize a student whose family members were in the same organizations; these people are known as “legacies.”
One senior at SAS is a legacy as all the men in his family was in a fraternity in college. “Since everyone in my family was in one, I might as well join,” he says. Pledges are usually almost guaranteed to get a bid for a house their family was a part of. When the pledging period ends, the house will initiate the student and they’ll become an official member. Yes, it’s a fairly complicated process, but the end result could be very worth it.
 |
| Source |
Now that we’ve gotten the basics covered, let’s move on to the deeper issues regarding Greek life. There are some things you have to consider before rushing a house. The UBC student told us the positives of rushing is that you get to “meet a lot of people”; however, “it’s a huge time commitment.” Going Greek could instantaneously offer you a group of friends, which is helpful especially if you’re a freshman who traveled from halfway across the world.
Kitty Liang, a sophomore at Emory University studying business administration and philosophy, rushed Alpha Delta Pi; she said, “I just rushed this semester. My favorite thing is getting to know people in my sorority right now. I just went down to New Orleans with a couple of them on a road trip and it was really fun!” However, all the events and activities you need to attend could be overwhelming and time-consuming. The SAS senior who is legacy said that he was hoping to mostly getting connections out of the Greek life experience: “My grandpa, dad, and uncle all used frat connections to get jobs out of college.” In fact, in 2013, Bloomberg reported that fraternity connections are very influential in the process of receiving a well-paid job at top Wall Street brokerages.
 |
| Kitty Liang's sorority "Alpha Delta Pi" at Emory University. Photo courtesy of Kitty Liang |
Hannah’s dad was in a fraternity as well, and he still talks to his brothers to this day, “my dad’s fraternity brother is actually coming to Shanghai in May to visit, and he’s going to stay with us.” Many lifelong friends can be made from Greek life, since you’ll be spending the better part of four years with these people. Senior Nilay Ghatlia, who is joining Davidson College’s Class of 2021, told us that “I guess I really want to join Greek life because when I got shown around, most of the people I met were in frats. It was a really cool experience just seeing what it’s actually like, meet new people, meet upperclassmen, meet people you can have a long term connection with.”
Besides having a close group of friends across all grades in your college, a lot of Greek organizations spend time doing philanthropy. They may host events that require certain dress codes and etiquette. This not only creates an opportunity to network but also helps a very worthy cause. The UBC student’s sorority engages in philanthropic activities like “kick ball and organizing events, bake sales,” she says “We also have formals and semi-formals which are really popular within Greek life.” Yet all the activities and the fees from your house could be an economic burden. Not including room fees, the average new sorority member average will need up to US$ 1,280 for each semester, and the average new fraternity member needs to pay US$ 605 for a semester. Fees can get more expensive or less expensive depending on the college and chapter. Kitty told us that “the first semester into a sorority is usually a lot more expensive, so I’m paying around 800+ USD right now, but it gets cheaper, I think to around 400 USD/semester.”
Greek life can also teach valuable life skills such as organization, time management, leadership, and public speaking. In fact, studies have concluded that graduation rates among students in Greek organizations are 20% higher than those who didn’t participate. It is really a great way to make an impact on campus and become more social. One of our seniors tells us that the social events and parties are “not all like the partying in movies, but there are still parties.”
At these parties, you may experience contact with alcohol that may make you uncomfortable. A Harvard University study discovered that “four out of five fraternity and sorority members are binge drinkers. In comparison, other research suggests 2 out of 5 college students overall are regular binge drinkers.” Some Greek organizations have even been criticized for hazing their pledges in events known as “Hell Week,” which is a week-long torment on pledges including “sleep deprivation, sensory deprivation, paddling and other types of spanking, use of stress positions, forced runs, busy work, and mind games.”
Nilay, after hearing the rumors of Greek life said that most rumors he hears about are “news story that come out about hazing”; however, “that’s not really every frat—it’s very much not the one at the college I’m going to. Also, you see that they just throw huge parties and it’s all just fun and drinking, but thats not really what it’s about. It’s mostly just about meeting new people and having a tightly-knit group of friends. The hazing process isn’t as brutal as they make it seem, at least from what I’ve heard.”
At the end of the day, it really depends on how comfortable you are with the whole culture of Greek life. There are advantages and disadvantages to joining Greek life, and you should weigh them carefully before coming to a decision.
Amy Liu
