Fraternities/Sororities

[disneyjunkie]

I have a question. I noticed you all are talking in the past tense. Once you pledge aren't you a member of life? Why isn't it possible for older students to pledge?

I attended St. Augustine's College which is a black college in NC. All of the black sororities and frats have chapters on our campus. Once you pledge are in for life.

You can also pledge Grad Chapters once you are out of school.
These organizations are very active in the community.

 

[wvjules]

I would love to join one except I don't drink or drug or party too much...

Hmmm, drinking and doing drugs wasn't a requirement of my sorority. Things must have changed.

 

[Patrick IL.]

I was never in one. Both my kids have joined them. DS is Vice Commander of his chapter of Sigma Nu. DD is in her first year and pledged Sigma Sigma Sigma.

I have seen many positive things come out of my sons membership over the four years, sense of commitment and leadership being just a few. They do a tremendious amount of service work and its quite time comsuming. FYI no drinking or drugs are allowed in the on campus houses, they are owned by the College and violation of the rule could cause loss of House and also of charter. It also keeps the Nationals insurance rates down so its not a big deal or an option to the kids. Most of the Frats also have an off campus house where they do host partys.

It is a financial commitment, with the dues..its up to my kids to pay thier dues since its over and above the expenses we will cover for them while at school. For the most part I have to agree its a positive experience for those who choose to be involved. Thier school is running at about 30% total membership "Greek" meaning kids who are involved in Frats or Sororities. Many schools are lower, it all depends on the schools I think.

 

[Amzey]

wvjules, I'm not sure if that was sarcastic or not and if I offended you I apologize - what I really meant is that I'm a big dork and I'm not comfortable around lots of parties and the things that may come along with them. I was in no way trying to imply that you are required to drink if you are in a sorority, again, I apologize.

 

[caitycaity]

disneyjunkie, i didn't say it in the past tense. i said " i am a member of phi sigma sigma."

one of our slogans is: "once a phi sigma sigma always a phi sigma sigma."

You registered for rush (with Pan-Hel I think) and there were formal rush parties. For the first two days you could go to whatever house you wanted and then for two or three days the parties were by invitation only. You (usually) received fewer invitations as the week went on. Then the sororities gave Pan-Hel a list of people they wanted to invite and the rushees submitted a list of their choices and they were matched up.

The parties were quite elaborate - involving costumes, skits, etc. Another time commitment.

that's the way it still is, at least on my campus which has a fairly large greek population. we used posters for informal recruitment and cob. i guess they didn't have that waaaaaaaaay back in your day.

amzey, i'm sending you a pm.

 

[paras4ri]

Sigma Delta Tau!!!

 

[honeywolf7]

Two of the ones that I saw the most posters for were Phi Mu and Sigma Sigma Sigma.....I had never heard of either one until this week. My mom is in Delta Gamma.

 

[BarryHom]

I did the fraternity thing with an Architecture fraternity Alpha Ro Chi, but I had to de-pledge at the end because of grades. I'm glad I did because it was one of the worst experiences of my life. Everyone seemed so fake and it was like buying your friends. I wouldn't do it again, but I grew personally after getting out of the fraternity that it changed my life tremendously.

 

[caitycaity]

tri sig is the one with the skull and cross bones, right? i always thought that was cool, but tri sig wasn't on my campus.

 

[honeywolf7]

I just found the answer to your question....the skull and crossbones are on their New Member Badge....I went to their website and looked again. I had posted that it looked like their symbol was a sailboat, but I'm fixing it now.

 

[katerkat]

I am a Pi Beta Phi.

my younger daughter pledged a "service fraternity." I can't remember the name, but they will no doubt be on your campus. They do a lot of charitable works, were really nice people and had a lot of fun. You might want to look into one of those. It does give you instant friendship and a place to go.

I was also a "brother" of Alpha Phi Omega (it's coed, but a frat). On my campus, you could be in both -- on other campuses, APO is as big as a tradition frat and you only can join it.
I was Service VP my junior year, and it was great. We did fun service projects, and we also had social events. It was a really good group... And also, you don't get stuck with all girls or all guys.

 

[kerrynic78]

A Delta Gamma here, I met so many people through my sorority, I don't regret it at all although the weekly meetings, pledge events, etc etc took their toll on my GPA!

 

[caitycaity]

i am also in omicron delta kappa (national leadership fraternity). at my school the service fraternities were seperate from the social ones.

 

[Jenzebelle]

The symbol of Tri Sigma is the sailboat- it symbolizes moving onward and forward.
It's also a huge part of the philanthropy - The Robbie Page Memorial.

The skull and crossbones on the badge represents our motto - Faithful Unto Death

 

[NCRedding]

Alpha Delta Pi (first and finest was the slogan--it was the first panhellenic sorority). Also, to be technical, it isn't the pledging that makes you a member for life--it's initiation. I know because I originally pledged another sorority and then backed out. They definitely don't consider me a member

 

[marlasmom]

What's cob? I guess what I was trying to say with my surprise at recruitment posters was that the posture the greeks adopted at my school was "you come to us and if you are attractive enough, have good enough grades, enough money, etc., etc., etc., we will consider you for membership." VERY SNOBBY. There was no informal rush. That was a big farce of course and by the time you became a sophomore you worried with everybody else about filling your pledge quota. We did not "recruit."

On the other hand, yes I am still a member and I made some very good friends who are still good friends.

Ironically my older daughter (who had a severe weight problem) joined Chi Omega which is a good national sorority. My younger daughter did not do well in rush. She was invited by only one house - Phi Mu. She is very attractive, an honor student and has, of course, acceptable parents (lol). One of the alums at my sorority said that at that campus my sorority was under some sort of review for lots of drinking and that sororities and fraternities were known for hard partying. UNH is a big party school and that wasn't for Sarah.

The service fraternity she joined was co-ed and she was called a brother so it might have been AOPi. BTW she joined at the suggestion of my older daughter who was also a member as well as being a Chi-O. I do know that she was given an award by the university president for outstanding community service. They traveled to other schools on occasion. She had a wonderful time there and the members I met (she had several parties at our house) were really nice people. I don't know where you have decided to go Amzey, but it might be something you would like to consider.

NU was about 70% greek and everybody worried about being asked to join. Their value system was somewhat skewed and I don't know if I would make that choice today.

Also Amzey, you don't have to join as a freshman. You might want to wait and get the lay of the land before you commit. Good luck in whatever you decide to do and keep us posted.

 

[TennVolTony]

I was Phi Kappa Psi at The University of Memphis....It was Memphis State when I was there. That chapter was kicked off campus 4 years after I left. Talk abot ANIMAL HOUSE!!!


We did have fun....

 

[mrsapalm]

Sis is Gamma Phi Beta, I'm Alpha Psi Omega (theatre fraternity), DH is Sigma Alpha Mu.
-MrsAPalm

 

[Micca]

DD is a Theta...same as the DD's of WD.

 

[SoonerKate]

Just bumping this up... I've already found one sister on the board, but maybe there are more!

I'm an Alpha Gamma Delta at the University of Oklahoma. I'll be going alum at the end of this year because I'm transferring to a school without a chapter. I'm sad to see my years as a collegiate end, because they've been a blast, but I'm excited to see what being an alumna will bring!

Through Alpha Gam, I've made friends who are more than just college friends -- some of these girls truly are my sisters. The ideals of the fraternity (because it is a Women's Fraternity, as are most sororities) are ones that I hold dear to my heart. Our purpose is beautiful, and one that I try to live up to every day of my life.

If any of you are interested in meeting other members of your sororities or fraternities (alums and collegiates!) you might want to check out GreekChat. It's a great community.