Most movies that involve fraternities and sororities portray the idea that their main goal is to drink, party, and do absolutely nothing. This leaves young audiences with a misconception of Greek Life.
For many students, the idea of joining a fraternity or sorority can be exciting but also overwhelming. With so many traditions, organizations, and different responsibilities it can be hard to know what to expect.
Typically in the fall, rush week begins and is known to be very hectic and, actually longer than one week. During this period students go through many interviews and meet a lot of new people to hopefully be accepted into their chosen fraternity or sorority.
Science teacher Josh Hoins was president of his fraternity Delta Tau Delta at the University of Nebraska Lincoln.
“There’s a lot going on, but for the most part, especially for the fraternities, it’s not one week, it’s the whole summer and even the spring before,” Hoins said. “You’re getting a lot of texts, and you’re going to events and you meet a bunch of people.”
The biggest misconception about Greek Life is the idea that all members do is party, and that it is the sole reason that they join.
“I think movies don’t do a horrible job of depicting some of the craziness of fraternities,” Hoins said. “When you’re in a fraternity or sorority, it’s just a group of people living together. So it’s mostly people getting up, going to class, there are communal areas, just people hanging out and talking. It’s not all crazy parties and bad decisions.”
Fraternities and Sororities have mandatory meetings and other activities that require all members to attend. This helps maintain order and reinforce the values of the fraternity or sorority. Attendance is mandatory for these meetings, and missing it will result in a fine or another penalty.
Cheyanne Zelei was president of her sorority Sigma Sigma Sigma at Missouri Western State University.
“Another misconception is that when you join a sorority, you don’t have to do anything, which is a total lie,” Zelei said. “You are required to go to meetings, you are required to go to philanthropy events, and if you don’t you can get fined or even kicked out at any point if you are not following whatever rules that they have.”
Lots of houses host events that are similar to prom or homecoming called formals. These are venues that fraternities or sorority houses rent out and then decorated by their social chair. Formals usually last 3 hours and have parties before and after.
“It’s kind of like homecoming or prom. You go there, you dance and have fun, and there is typically a DJ,” Hoins said. “Usually there are parties before and parties after.”
There are other events like tailgates where two or three fraternities join to create a huge party in the backyard of a house that lives off campus.
Fraternities and sororities host a wide variety of philanthropy events annually that benefit local and national organizations. Through these efforts, fraternities and sororities make a lasting impact while strengthening their bonds through shared service.
Dr. Dan Dishcler was a member of farmhouse at University of Nebraska Lincoln.
“Farmhouse did a couple philanthropic events that we did every year,” Dischler said. “There’s also just fun little traditions that we did too.”
These members are attending many events, and hanging out with each other in the same house, spending most of their time in college together. These friendships are carried on post-college.
“I have this huge group chat where we all keep track of each other, and I still talk to my big, who is like your mentor,” Zelei said. “I’ve pretty much made a lot of really good friendships with them.”
If members are interested, presidents usually are chosen from the most previous president. Most presidents are chosen as upperclassmen rather than underclassmen, but if no upperclassmen want to be president, then they move to underclassmen.
“The president before me pulled me aside and he was like, I don’t know if there’s another person in my class that wants to do it, and I think you have good leadership skills, so you should think about it,” Hoins said.
Greek Life has much more characteristics than what movies depict them as. It’s not only an organization that members party and do nothing. Long-lasting friendships can be formed, and members still have to participate in events and meetings
