UTEP Greek Life
 

Out in the west Texas town of El Paso. . .

Greek life here in the Sun City is very different from most campuses (at least I'd argue that). We are a commuter school, there is no greek housing, and most students/administration/etc. either 1. don't know about UTEP greek life or 2. don't care/see it as productive.

If you go to UTEP or are an alumi, how do you perceive greek life in El Paso?

GO MINERS!!

And this warrants its own thread......why?


Greek life at UTEP is no different than at many schools across the country....especially commuter schools.

A place for UTEP greeks/non greeks to post their feelings about Greek Life on this campus.

No two greek systems are the same, no matter where you go.

If you say so "obiwan" :rolleyes:


And again I say, UTEP Greek Life is not that different than other schools. And yes, I would know :)

Then honestly you might be disappointed. There aren't many El Pasoans on this forum, at least not many that post.

That sounds like most commuter schools I am familiar with actually.

I am from El Paso and I understand were you are coming from. I did not attend UTEP but I did go to NMSU. I know that Greeks were not recognized at UTEP as much as other campuses, even ones with out Greek housing, because of its atmosphere. Many of my high school friends went to UTEP and all of them that went there did not join a single Greek Organization because of the lack of attention. I now live in CA and at my current school there is a big Greek Life. I think one way that UTEP might gain more Greek life is talking to High school seniors in the area before they start UTEP. I think that this would bring more students to Greek life. But if you ever want to talk go ahead and send me a message because I understand what you are saying.

It doesn't. Because the only high school seniors (well i'm only speaking about girls) that ever seem show interest are the ones who are not attending UTEP.

I dont know about that because when I was in High School there they never even did a talk like that. I guess it depends on how EP has changed. I havent been around there since I left NMSU in 2006. I just wish when I was in high school someone had come to talk to me. I would have know alot more going into college which probably would have made my decision easier at the time. Even though I know I would have been an Alpha Xi either way.

It seems like people in El Paso who want a good education will stay away from UTEP and go to NMSU. I don't know too much about the school other than what's in the news, but ALL the friends that I've made here look down on that school. I have also heard that a large number of UTEP students commute from Mexico, so that may be a reason why there isn't an interest in greek life.

Thats actually a good point. Most of my high school class went to NMSU over UTEP because they felt NMSU was the better school and did not have to pay any more. However a good chunk of my school did go to UTEP and I know a couple of girls that went NPHC not NPC. I think that might have a lot to do with the culture in El Paso. But I would not know for sure since I never really got to know the UTEP campus.

The people that claim they are going to NMSU over UTEP because NMSU is a "better" school are usually just feeding you a line. They want to justify to themselves and others why they are chosing a school that isn't as economical as UTEP (in regards to room&board vs commuting).

Most people will choose NMSU so they can claim they have that "out-of-state" experience while still being close to home.

In high school, we were kind of trained to dislike UTEP, and really unless you've gone to school outside of the area (not NMSU) then you really don't know how pretty great UTEP academics are. People want to slam UTEP because they think they can, and because they haven't experienced anything else. From what I understand (from speaking to my NMSU alumni friends) NMSU and UTEP can range from being pretty even academically to UTEP being a little more academically rigorous.

Greek Life was dwindling at UTEP because there wasn't much marketing about it. At one time UTEP was a very good place for Greek Life. The only way I knew about UTEP Greek Life was through my HS friend who found out via a girl in her class. Now it's starting to pick up and they are getting out there more.

Why?

Apparently my teachers thought that UTEP would just screw us of an education. One of my HS teachers loved calling UTEP---ScrewTEP just for that reason. Honestly though, I really enjoyed my time at UTEP, and would highly recommend it to other students.

[crash] i hate when teachers do that. i think it can rob a student of having the best experience at a place they'd fit into best
[/crash]

Right? I still love that teacher to death, but I'm glad that I didn't follow in some of my classmates footsteps and have such animosity towards that school.

Some people would apply and go ANYWHERE just so they wouldn't have to be stuck at UTEP. Really? :rolleyes:

Like I said I have never been to UTEP and I was not trying to make it sound like NMSU was better because I honestly dont think it is. My friends that went to UTEP loved it my friends at NMSU loved it... I didn't so I moved to a different school. But I agree Epchick that teachers say stuff like that in classes. I think some teachers dont even realize they are saying it. Which makes it even worse I think. I miss el paso though. Which a lot of people think is weird. But I didnt think it was that bad. One of the better places I have lived in my military brat life. :-)

I go to a commuter school, and we have a lot of the same issues as you. For one, greek life goes largely unnoticed. I sought out greek life after transferring here my soph year, but so many people don't realize that we have greek life at all. I think that's changing as the campus atmosphere itself changes because the administration is actively fostering campus involvement from all students.

Make sure your org is doing letter days at least twice a month, if not more often. I'm a senior and I still have people in my classes asking me about greek life like they didnt know it existed. I am more than happy to educate them :)

I also sympathize with the "bad education" stigma that commuter schools can get... I transferred here from a large, more respected state school and people still give me looks when I tell them where I go, or when I tell old high school classmates that I transferred. Only you will know the true value of your education and your college experience, so put all you have into it and the rest will fall into place!

They might have made a good decision because somethings going on over there. It was in the EP Times last week that UTEP only has a 28% graduation rate. I hope it might have more to do with the students than the school itself, but I'm NOT gonna go there right now. I'm thinking about going back to school myself and naturally I'm considering UTEP. I've had some pple suggest NMSU but I do not feel like commuting to Cruces twice a week. Also, why do people call it JUTEP?

It's because of the students. I can't imagine it's really THAT low (the EP Times isn't always very credible) but a lot of students do end up leaving, getting married, have kids and then come back later. Or many students go for a year or so and then transfer. We have a lot of non-traditional students.

They only calculate graduation rates for the "first time" college students. The ones that come straight out of HS, start at UTEP and then graduate in 4/5 years.

You haven't figured it out yet? lol. Cause of the Mexican accent, people end up adding that j sound at the beginning. So "EL UTEP" becomes "El JUTEP" lol

I haven't heard the EL UTEP but I've actually heard La Austin ,La Franklin, La Bowie. I'm waiting on hearing La ITT Tech, or would it be El ITT Tech?

Thats so funny Pika2001 and epchick I have never heard these before. I think La Franklin is the best ... lol

No one calls it LA Franklin, the only schools that are usually "La's" are the ghetto schools like bowie and jeff. I would agree with EPChick that UTEP has a higher graduation that 28%, UTEP has around 21000 students and graduates about <2,500 every semester. As an alum and former Greek at UTEP I would say the issue is that most students just don't know about Greek life because a majority of UTEP students are first time college students in their families, some ever first time high school grads. Its just not part of the hispanic culture, and about 80% of UTEP students are either hispanics or mexicans. But as I tell everyone, UTEP is what you make of it, you can get involved and its great, or you can go to school then go home and complain.

There are plenty of LGLOs and MCGLOs at UTEP...in other words, it's not that there isn't an active greek life. It may be that there isn't a very active NPC/IFC greek life.

Some of our alumni tailgaters at Houston refer to it as "UT-Mexico" because of its location... *facepalm*

The funny thing is that the parking lot used for visiting tailgaters gives you a look at the poorest part Juarez, Mexico which is just a mile and a border fence away. It's not a pleasant view, and in the winter you can smell the tires burning for heat.

Uuuugggghhh...i hate people like that.