Greek Life is an Easy Yes
Greek life might have a bad reputation, but the morals they instill and personal growth have been the foundation of our countries leaders
February 25, 2018
You never know who you are going to meet in college, but the next president of the United States could be sitting next to you in your stats class.
According to the New Jersey Institute of Technology, nearly every U.S. president were in fraternities, 76 percent of all congressmen and senators belonged to a fraternity and 40 of 47 Supreme Court justices since 1910 were fraternity men.
This is a powerful message that speaks volumes to how Greek life can be a great foundation for America’s leaders. Not only does it breed leaders, but sets its members up for a lifetime of success.
Greek life welcomes anyone and everyone to go through the recruitment process. Basically, you attend events and learn about each organization. At the end of the week, each organization chooses their best fits. The participants are told which organizations want their membership. From there it is your choice.
Greek life organizations are known to be ran like a business. Each has a President, VP Finance, VP Public Relations, and six others. The nature of this structure instills ownership, responsibility, and develops leadership. This makes up a council. Each Greek life organization has a national council that oversees each of their chapters.
I spoke with Amanda Felton, associate director of campus life, who is also the fraternity and sorority advisor. She was Greek in college and she has a lot of insight on greek life operations.
“Every chapter has different officers that have just a myriad of responsibilities and Greek life is a great way to both gain and improve already existing leadership skills,” Amanda Felten, associate director of Campus Life and fraternity and sorority advisor, said.
Greek leadership hovers over the growth of each campus. The UWgreek.com says over 85 percent of the student leaders on some 730 campuses are involved in the Greek community.
Power of Greek life
The power of Greek life does not come from friendships or the events attended, it comes from how it changes each member. A huge factor in who you become, how much you grow and how much you are challenged in college relies on what you are involved in. Greek life can do all of those things, and more.
Greek life is also a distinguishing part of a resume because it is ran like a business.
“There’s a lot of business connections that you can make with alumni,” Felten said.
Greek life does not need to be defined by a few horror stories. Each organization has a national council which sets standards and holds the chapter accountable. Hazing is prohibited within sororities and fraternities.
Since it is a rising issue, it is immediately addressed to new members at chapter meetings for each fraternity and sorority. At these meetings, they discuss how they can reach out to the community, better themselves as a whole, and have better relationships with other Greek life organizations.
Greek life instills drive and success within its members. The New Jersey Institute of Technology states the first female Senator was Greek, the first female astronaut was Greek, all of the Apollo 11 astronauts were Greek. The Greek system is the largest network of volunteers in the U.S., with members donating over 10 million hours of volunteer service each year.
Academics
Academics are a major part of Greek life. Members have to keep a certain GPA or they are expelled from the organization.
Felten focuses on Greek life at IU Southeast. Her passion is to develop each organization and help them reach their full potential.
“Academics are held very highly in each chapter … they each have a support system that helps each member do as well as they possibly can,” Felton said.
Philanthropy
Each Greek organization has a philanthropy they work with multiple times in a semester. There is a required amount of volunteer hours for their local philanthropies.
“Some people connect with the philanthropies, some people connect with the people they talk to,” Senior Caley Thomas, Sigma Kappa. “For me it was the organization as a whole, the mission, the message is kind of what stood out to me.”
The New Jersey Institute of Technology also states, 850,000 hours are volunteered by Greeks annually. The reward from volunteering with brothers and sisters leads to new perspectives. Not only do these hours grow the chapters, but grow communities around the country that change lives forever.
As a whole, Greek life is a good thing. The growth, connections, and leadership that it provides its members is priceless. It has its ups and downs, but ultimately it is forever improving the lives of young adults.
