For Parents & Families
What Fraternities and Sororities Offer
At the most basic level, fraternities and sororities offer your student a small group of friends amid a larger university environment — fellow students that your student can bond with and share experiences with. But the benefits of fraternity and sorority life are quite far-reaching.
Fraternities and sororities provide students with opportunities for personal and professional growth. They promote enhanced academic achievement, leadership development, and increased participation in community service through philanthropic activities. Fraternities and sororities instill values of cooperation, mutual respect, and selflessness that will help to establish a pattern of lifelong service and continued success.
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Leadership
The fraternity and sorority community offers a variety of leadership opportunities to prepare students for future careers. Members are eligible for elected or appointed positions and committee participation within the chapter. Each chapter is self-governing and relies on the special talents of its members for successful management. Members may choose to become involved in the leadership of one of the governing councils or the Order of Omega Greek Honor Society. Conferences are hosted on campus, regionally and nationally to provide members with further opportunities to explore the realm of leadership.
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Scholarship
Academic achievement is a value of the campus fraternity and sorority community. Members are encouraged to strive for scholarly excellence through incentive programs, study partners, workshops, study hours and national recognition. Members are rewarded for their academic achievements through chapter events and by membership in the Order of Omega Greek Honor Society. Each fraternity and sorority maintains internal academic standards that all members are expected to achieve. The Fraternity and Sorority Involvement Center assists with these initiatives by tracking scholastic achievement through the grade and membership reports.
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Service
The fraternity and sorority community is committed to participating in community service and philanthropic efforts. Many organizations have a specific service or philanthropy, such as domestic violence prevention, Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, the American Cancer Society, Habitat for Humanity, the American Red Cross and Adopt-a-Highway. As a fraternity or sorority member, students have the opportunity to support the local and campus community by being involved in volunteer activities such as reading to children, volunteering at a local senior care facility, serving in a soup kitchen, sponsoring a blood drive or doing a clean-up at a local park.
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Friendship
The result of fraternity and sorority membership is a bond that transcends time and space — a friendship that lasts a life time. A fundamental principle of every fraternity and sorority chapter is friendship: a brotherhood or sisterhood that one shares through the good times and provides support during the difficult challenges that come with being a college student. Each fraternity and sorority provides opportunities for members to periodically assemble and renew those bonds of friendship: Homecoming, alumni weekends, newsletters, a chapter web page and athletic events. Many national chapters have alumni chapters in major urban areas, where alumni/ae from various chapters can continue to create new bonds of friendship.
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Network/Support
It is important to find a network of friends and allies to provide the support needed to be successful. As an undergraduate, the fraternity/sorority experience provides opportunities to meet other students. Members are encouraged to participate in other campus life programs and to join other student organizations. Intramural sports and special campus events provide even more opportunities to meet students, faculty and staff from various departments. Chapters also provide opportunities for members to meet brothers and sisters from chapters at other campuses, usually through a regional or national leadership conference. The fraternity and sorority experience is not limited to the college years, as it continues through adulthood. Alumni/ae associations are available across the country and the potential for career connections are endless. Alumni/ae and national volunteers provide advice and guidance for chapters and their members as well as serve on house and alumni/ae corporations.
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University Involvement
Fraternity and sorority members may be found in all parts of campus life: Student Government Association, intramural sports, resident assistants, honor societies, student businesses, as student staff in many offices and departments, varsity sports and throughout the students organizations found on campus. Fraternity and sorority members play an important role in many of the events and initiatives on the campus, either through their chapter or through involvement with other associations.
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Lifelong Membership
Joining a fraternity or sorority is a lifelong dedication to the ideals and principals of fraternity/sorority life. Fraternity men and sorority women are successful in life because they continue to utilize and live the values learned during the undergraduate years of affiliation.