Tell us about your campus
 

One thing that I've always been impressed about is how GC shows us the differences and similarities of our greek experiences. So with that in mind I thought I'd start a thread about that.

Tell us the following about your campus.


University:
Location:
Year Founded:
First Greek Chapter:
More commuter or more residential:
Total Enrollment:
% Greeks:
# of NIC Fraternities
# of NPC Sororities
# of Locals
# of NPHC groups
# of Multi cultural groups
Wet or Dry Campus?

What type of housing arrangements does your system have (BE SPECIFIC - none, dorm floors, chapter houses close to/on campus owned by chapters, chapter houses far off campus owned by chapters, normal houses rented by chapters off campus, etc.)

Are there plans for construction of Greek housing soon?

Do those with chapter houses have sleeping dorms, open airs, cold airs, porches, etc.?


Parties thrown in the fraternity houses?

Your city easy on underage drinking?

Are bars in your city easy to drink underage in?


Type of Fraternity Rush (Open, structured, summer, other)

When Sorority recruitment takes place for your system:


Do Greeks run things at your school?

Last Time Greek was Student Body President?

Last Time Greek was Homecoming King?
Last Time Greek was Homecoming Queen?


Describe your typical Greek social Semester?(Are they called mixers/parties/exchanges, must they be registered, how many do you have a semester, any other "greek" sponsored social outlets, is having a party with another house a common thing or a rare thing, describe as much as possible)


Good relationship with the University Administration?

Good relationship with Greek Affairs/Greek Life?

Is your director of Greek Affairs Greek? From your Campus?


Average dues associated with being in a chapter? More or less than living in Residence Halls?

Hazing, common or uncommon?


Describe the types of philanthropies chapters do?


Any notable traditions for the Greek System?

One thing that I've always been impressed about is how GC shows us the differences and similarities of our greek experiences. So with that in mind I thought I'd start a thread about that.

Tell us the following about your campus.


University: University of Nebraska
Location: Lincoln, Nebraska
Year Founded: 1869
First Greek Chapter: Phi Delta Theta (1875)
More commuter or more residential: Residential
Total Enrollment: About 22,000
% Greeks: ~15% of undergrad population or about 3000 students
# of NIC Fraternities 21
# of NPC Sororities 14
# of Locals 1 (founded 1952)
# of NPHC groups 8
# of Multi cultural groups 4
Wet or Dry Campus? DRY

What type of housing arrangements does your system have (BE SPECIFIC - none, dorm floors, chapter houses close to/on campus owned by chapters, chapter houses far off campus owned by chapters, normal houses rented by chapters off campus, etc.)

Most chapters (13 of 14 Sororities and 19 of 21 Fraternities) have large chapter houses, with room from any where from 45 to 120 members. These are located on campus, along 16th Street on the Eastern edge of the main part of City Campus, and R Street along the Southern edge of City Campus with what I would call the center of the greek system lieing at the Corner of 16th and R. There are 4 fraternity houses that historically were more agriculturally based (AGS, AGN, AGP and Farmhouse) that exist on East Campus, with in the residential neighborhood that is south of East Campus. All the chapter houses are owned by Alumni Housing Corporations and most were built pre WWII, and then expanded during the early '60s. For the Fraternities, most incoming freshmen men who join a house will live in that chapter house for their first two or three years, most from the very first day of class.

Plans for construction?

Newly announced campus master plan has proposed for the construction of 4-5 chapter houses at the Northeast corner of 17th and R Street. My guess is the timeline for that is probably +10 years before it happens.

Do those with chapter houses have sleeping dorms, open airs, cold airs, porches, etc.?

Most chapters have abandoned open air dorms, although a few still use them.

Parties thrown in the fraternity houses?

No. For the most part, the fraternity houses are "dry". Any drinking done in the houses is kept very low key. Official Parties take place at bars and social halls, rented out for the occasion, with primers (what we call pre-parties) taking place at off campus houses and duplexes of upper class fraternity members.

Your city easy on underage drinking?

I would say so, most big parties that get broken up result in no MIP's unless someone is just stupid and walks outside with a drink in hand

Are bars in your city easy to drink underage in?

Absolutely not. Very difficult to get into the bars even with a fake ID. Most people don't try it.

Type of Fraternity Rush (Open, structured, summer, other)

Summer rush, which begins on Friday afternoon of our finals week. Those HS seniors interested in going through rush fill out a rush application in order to be considered. 99% of incoming pledges, with the exception of those that rush Pike, bid during the summer months. Rush lasts until Friday of the first week of Fall Semester. Most pledges move into the fraternity houses in the fall of their freshmen year, the week before classes start.

When Sorority recruitment takes place for your system:

Takes place the week before Classes Start. Introduction day is Monday, First round of 8 on Tuesday, 5 on Wednesday, Pref on Thursday and Bid Day on Friday. Sorority girls are usually on Lockdown from the previous Saturday night or Sunday morning until Thursday. Incoming freshmen and others going through rush are allowed to move into the dorms on Sunday while everyone else must wait until Thursday.

Do Greeks run things at your school? Absolutely, nothing would get done if it weren't for greeks, with the exception of the campus newspaper which is decidely anti-greek.

Last Time Greek was Student Body President?
Currently a Pike is President. While I was an undergrad, a Kappa, a SigEp, and a member of Farmhouse were all Presidents of the Student Government.

Last Time Greek was Homecoming King? 2004, a SigEp
Last Time Greek was Homecoming Queen? 2004 a Gamma Phi Homecoming 2005 is this week, and I guarentee at least one of the royalty winners will be Greek

Describe your typical Greek social Semester?(Are they called mixers/parties/exchanges, must they be registered, how many do you have a semester, any other "greek" sponsored social outlets, is having a party with another house a common thing or a rare thing, describe as much as possible)

We call them parties, and we have 2 house parties (or simply all-house parties) in which a fraternity and sorority hang out, and 4 house parties. Supposed to be registered, but that rarely happens. 4 house parties tend to be bigger themes (or date parties) with a rented dance hall or bar, and usually vans with designated drivers to transport party goers from off campus primer to 3rd party vendor. 2 house parties are more low key, and may or may not have a theme. Usually don't have a dance afterwords for the primer.
Most chapters have a winter and a spring formal (though they're really semi-formals), and no one does weekend trips like I've heard of at other schools.
We're not limited to only a certain number of big events a semster. Usually there is at least one theme party or all-house party every two weeks, if not every week. If no events are planned, then most fraternities, at least early on in the year will have some sort of random house party every week. We also have "froshes" which have changed just this year, although the old style froshes continue illegally. Old style - the type I grew up with: Thursday night, fraternity and sorority pledge class get together for some sort of sober activity, then go to an off campus house and party. New style in response to risk management issues: 2 fraternities and 2 sororities (as assigned by Greek Affairs) go to some local establishment at around dinner time on Friday night, and hang out. Lasts until about 7pm, then everyone goes about their business for the rest of the night. Needless to say the friday night froshes are becoming less and less popular. Other "greek" social activities include the All-Greek Dance which I think was discontinued this year, and "The Frosh" which used to be organized by Jr. IFC and Jr. PanHel, in April as a freshman only party.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that on Monday nights we often have dinner exchanges. Every chapter has a formal dinner on Monday night with Chapter following afterwards. Dinner exchanges involve 1/2 a fraternity eating at a sorority house while 1/2 of the sorority eats at the fraternity house.

Good relationship with the University Administration?

For the most part I would say so. Our current head of Judicial Affairs is a SigEp I think, and he's trying to be very proactive in his decisions and work with making chapters better rather than kicking them off campus. Our Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs was also a member of SigEp I believe, but he's retiring this year.

Good relationship with Greek Affairs/Greek Life?

Yes most people like our head of Greek Affairs and EVERYONE loves her Secretary, a woman who underwent Alumni Initiation last fall into Gamma Phi.

Is your director of Greek Affairs Greek? From your Campus?

She is an UNL Alum and is a member of Alpha Chi Omega. Think she went to school in the mid 70's

Average dues associated with being in a chapter? More or less than living in Residence Halls?

Average Fraternity: ~$4600/yr for those living in the Chapter house
Average Sorority: ~$5200/yr for those living in the Chapter house.
Residence Hall Fees range from $5800 to $6800/yr
Much Cheaper to live in the Greek System, plus lots of other "hidden" savings, like many chapters have parking lots, dues include intramural and social fees, and so on.

Hazing, common or uncommon? For the most part uncommon. Most fraternity guys know which houses haze, and which don't. Sometimes there's a surprise and someone gets caught, but for the most part hazing is not that big of concern on campus.

Describe the types of philanthropies chapters do?
Almost all chapter have some sort of "food" philanthropy. Run on a Thursday night from 9pm to 2am, the chapter serves some type of food (each has their own "claimed", Tri Delt has Pancakes, Beta - Tacos, SigEp - Sausage, Gamma Phi- French Toast), and members sell tickets to raise money. Great when coming home from the Bars. Most sororities have some sort of sports tournament as well, with the entry fees from the fraternity teams going to the cause. Some fraternities do the same. Level of actual community service varies from chapter to chapter, while philanthropy involvement is pretty set. Competitions between the sororities (Derby Days, Paddy Murphy) have become less and less popular with the ladies over the four years I was in undergrad. Most chapters have a partnership with one of the Lincoln Elementary schools, but actual levels of mentoring vary widely. A lot of fraternities also do adopt-a-highway.

Any notable traditions for the Greek System?
Used to be many, now not so much. Homecoming is a big deal, with lots of work spent on huge lawn displays (though not as impressive as some other place). Greek Week struggles, though is improving. The system has really improved over the last 15 years, and many chapters win the top awards that their general/inter/national organizations hand out at conventions. The UNL Greek System is full of leaders and most chapters have recently had a member travel for their organization as some sort of consultant.

EDIT: Maybe not so much tradition as convention but every IFC and NPC group has formal dinner (suit and tie for the guys, dresses for girls) on Monday night with Chapter meetings afterwards.

University: University of Rio Grande
Location: Rio Grande, Ohio
Year Founded: 1876
First Greek Chapter:
More commuter or more residential: Commuter
Total Enrollment:
% Greeks:
# of NIC Fraternities - 2 (Tau Kappa Epsilon & Alpha Sigma Phi)
# of NPC Sororities - 0
# of Locals - 7 (5 sororities, 2 fraternities)
# of NPHC groups - 0
# of Multi cultural groups - 0
Wet or Dry Campus? - HAHAHAHAHA, supposedly "dry"

What type of housing arrangements does your system have (BE SPECIFIC - none, dorm floors, chapter houses close to/on campus owned by chapters, chapter houses far off campus owned by chapters, normal houses rented by chapters off campus, etc.)
None official. There are 2 "houses" that are rented out off campus.

Are there plans for construction of Greek housing soon?
Of course not.

Do those with chapter houses have sleeping dorms, open airs, cold airs, porches, etc.? NA


Parties thrown in the fraternity houses?
Every thursday night and weekend night.

Your city easy on underage drinking?
Yeah, they like to allow the "kids" off w/a warning and a drive home. But the school rats you out to your parents if you're caught underage.

Are bars in your city easy to drink underage in?
Yes, but only if you're paying and not obnoxious.


Type of Fraternity Rush (Open, structured, summer, other) Open I guess

When Sorority recruitment takes place for your system:
2nd week of classes Spring and Fall semester.

[b]Do Greeks run things at your school?[b]
They did in the 60-70's but now we're lucky to wear letters around.

Last Time Greek was Student Body President?
Currently holding office.

Last Time Greek was Homecoming King?
Last Time Greek was Homecoming Queen?
Greeks are the only participants in Homecoming.

Describe your typical Greek social Semester?(Are they called mixers/parties/exchanges, must they be registered, how many do you have a semester, any other "greek" sponsored social outlets, is having a party with another house a common thing or a rare thing, describe as much as possible) The term around here is "kegger" or a nicer name as a "party" :) No registration is off campus. If an event is held on campus anyone and everyone can come, they just have to sign their name off on an enrollment list. As long as a fight doesn't break out GLO's have parties together to save on the keg cost.


Good relationship with the University Administration?
HAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA

Good relationship with Greek Affairs/Greek Life?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Is your director of Greek Affairs Greek? From your Campus?
Yes and yes. However, the head honcho over student affairs is a pain in the arse for our Greek advisor.


Average dues associated with being in a chapter? More or less than living in Residence Halls?
Nat'l: $150 a semester
Local: $40 a semester
Much less.

Hazing, common or uncommon?
It's very common but we don't call it "hazing", it's pledging :) We don't abide by any rules that concide w/anything like what the NPC has. Heck, the school gives us "pledge packets" for our upcoming pledges :cool:


Describe the types of philanthropies chapters do?
MDA, Breast Cancer, Autism, Special Olympics, etc.


Any notable traditions for the Greek System?
None that I can mention here :p

Are you all getting paid to write these novels or is it pro bono?

-Rudey

Betarulz! - When I was in grad school at UNL (early '80s), there were Friday Afternoon Clubs (FAC). Did these Friday "froshes" take over for FACs?

ETA: I Googled 'FAC' & 'Nebraska' and see that FACs are still going strong with some campus groups. But do the GLOs still do 'em as well?

One thing that I've always been impressed about is how GC shows us the differences and similarities of our greek experiences. So with that in mind I thought I'd start a thread about that.

Tell us the following about your campus.

University: Baylor University
Location: Waco, Texas
Year Founded: 1845
First Greek Chapter: Alpha Omega (later Pi Beta Phi) in 1923
More commuter or more residential: residential
Total Enrollment: 26,000ish?
% Greeks: ? 30%, maybe?
# of NIC Fraternities: 15
# of NPC Sororities: 9
# of Locals: 6? (mostly Christian or service: KXA, Phi Lamb, BYX, Phi Kappa Chi, CHI'S, KOT)
# of NPHC groups: 7
# of Multi cultural groups: 9
Wet or Dry Campus?: dry

What type of housing arrangements does your system have (BE SPECIFIC - none, dorm floors, chapter houses close to/on campus owned by chapters, chapter houses far off campus owned by chapters, normal houses rented by chapters off campus, etc.)
None--Ruth Collins donated most of Baylor's land with a clause in her will for there never to be Greek housing built upon her land, and Baylor still goes by that. However, the Panhellenic sororities have a building of chapter meeting rooms, but most other organizations meet either off campus (there are unofficial houses) or on campus in more public meeting rooms.

Are there plans for construction of Greek housing soon?
No.

Do those with chapter houses have sleeping dorms, open airs, cold airs, porches, etc.?
N/A

Parties thrown in the fraternity houses?
Unofficially... ;o)
(Although I guess the dry parties could be official?)

Your city easy on underage drinking?
Nope. We're not called Jerusalem-On-The-Brazos for nothing...

Are bars in your city easy to drink underage in?
provided there's a fake ID? (not that I've tried--that's not my thing)

Type of Fraternity Rush (Open, structured, summer, other)
Structured?

When Sorority recruitment takes place for your system:
Deferred in January but with an introductory "Fall Parties" in November

Do Greeks run things at your school?
Yes, but not entirely.

Last Time Greek was Student Body President?
I don't remember.

Last Time Greek was Homecoming King? (We don't have homecoming kings.)
Last Time Greek was Homecoming Queen? Last year--a KKG.


Describe your typical Greek social Semester?(Are they called mixers/parties/exchanges, must they be registered, how many do you have a semester, any other "greek" sponsored social outlets, is having a party with another house a common thing or a rare thing, describe as much as possible)
Usually there's a couple mixers, a crush, a dance (either formal or casual but sometimes both), and all parties have to be registered/approved/etc.

Good relationship with the University Administration?
yes

Good relationship with Greek Affairs/Greek Life?
yes

Is your director of Greek Affairs Greek? From your Campus?
I think so...I don't know about the guy over frats, but the NPC director was a DG, though I don't know if she was from Baylor's now closed chapter or not.


Average dues associated with being in a chapter? More or less than living in Residence Halls?
Dues: about $800ish/semester for sororities including all the shirts and other fees? (Question #2's a moot point because we don't live in the chapter room, but that's a lot less than the $2200/semester I'm paying for a single room in the dorms.)

Hazing, common or uncommon?
Uncommon in sororities (they're pretty strict on us), and mostly harmless stuff in the frats.

Describe the types of philanthropies chapters do?
Lots of all-university events: Battle of the Bands, chili cook-offs, dances, etc. There's also a lot of competitive events between the sororities that frats host, like cooking competitions, volleyball tournaments, and field days like Pike's Pranks and Sigma Chi's Derby Days.

Any notable traditions for the Greek System?
Not a lot aside from Greek Week (I didn't even hear about last year's, though), All-University Sing (a big musical production with acts from most of the groups), and Homecoming floats and stuff like that.

Re: Tell us about your campus
 

University: Otterbein College
Location:Westerville Ohio
Year Founded:1847
First Greek Chapter: Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity (Country Club) (1908) and Sigma Alpha Tau Sorority (founded as the Owls Club in 1910)
More commuter or more residential: residential
Total Enrollment: around 3500
% Greeks: 28 percent
# of NIC Fraternities: 1
# of NPC Sororities: 0
# of Locals: 12
# of NPHC groups: 7
# of Multi cultural groups: 0
Wet or Dry Campus?: Dry campus, dry town

What type of housing arrangements does your system have (BE SPECIFIC - none, dorm floors, chapter houses close to/on campus owned by chapters, chapter houses far off campus owned by chapters, normal houses rented by chapters off campus, etc.)

+Chapter houses for all but 2 fraternities. Houses are Greek Designated and have been shuffled over the years. Some are owned by alumni and students pay rent to their alumn. Others are owned by the college and students pay rent to Otterbein.

Are there plans for construction of Greek housing soon? +No

Do those with chapter houses have sleeping dorms, open airs, cold airs, porches, etc.?

+Depends on the house. None have "sleeping porches", some have a porch, some of AC, all have basements.


Parties thrown in the fraternity houses?
+Yes.

Your city easy on underage drinking?
+No!! Super super tough on it due to the dry town policy.

Are bars in your city easy to drink underage in?
+No bars in westerville.


Type of Fraternity Rush (Open, structured, summer, other)

+Fraternity men may rush AT ANY TIME during the year (fall, winter, or spring). If they rush in Fall, they must be upperclassmen only. No one has done that lately. Rush is typically done in winter quarter, starting about the third week of winter quarter, and it is basically an open process (dry though). Some take classes in spring, but that is up to individual chapters to schedule and advertise.

When Sorority recruitment takes place for your system:

+Begins first week of winter quarter (first week of january) and goes for 3 weekends.


Do Greeks run things at your school?

+ I don't know about "run things" in terms of control what happens, but 99 percent of leadership positions are held by someone who is greek...but I think that is just due to the high percentage of students who are greek here.

Last Time Greek was Student Body President? Last year

Last Time Greek was Homecoming King? Last Year (Pi kappa phi)
Last Time Greek was Homecoming Queen? Last Year (Owl)


Describe your typical Greek social Semester?(Are they called mixers/parties/exchanges, must they be registered, how many do you have a semester, any other "greek" sponsored social outlets, is having a party with another house a common thing or a rare thing, describe as much as possible)

+Basically, what we call "mixers" are get togethers between chapters that are organized by social chairs and must be dry. They include things like bowling, pumpkin carving etc.

During pledging, most chapters attempt to mix with every other chapter in some way. Some fraternities and sororities have "switch days" where pledges are given big brothers/sisters of the other organization for a day to aquaint pledges with the other organizations on campus/ generally be goofy and have a good time. Switch days also usually involve some sort of mixer too.

Off campus parties (wet) were banned at the beginning of last year due to uncontrolled underage drinking. The risk management policy is being reworked to provide better guidelines for hosting these parties successfully.

All chapters have formals, typically in spring.

Good relationship with the University Administration?

+basically, yes. Some are very anti-greek, but others are extremely vocal alumns of our groups.

Good relationship with Greek Affairs/Greek Life?

+We got a new GL director this year...she's fresh out of grad school at BGSU, and I think she's still getting used to the local thing, being an NPC girl herself. But she's really young and very energetic and seems to be more in touch with what the chapters are feeling/needing/about. So far, I give her the thumbs up. You AOII's should be proud, she's one of yours.

Is your director of Greek Affairs Greek? From your Campus?
+Yes, she's greek, but not from Otterbein. She's an AOII. Our previous one was a DG. Several administrators and staff are members of our organizations though.


Average dues associated with being in a chapter? More or less than living in Residence Halls?

+Highest I believe is 70, lowest is 50 (or 45 depending on your GPA). I didn't factor Alpha Sigma Phi into this...they of course do their own thing and I don't have a clue what their dues are like.

Living in a house...depends on the house, but in general, it's slightly less than living in a dorm.

Hazing, common or uncommon?

+...Well, hazing in the NPC sense, yes. Hazing as in the abuse of people or alcohol? no.We use "pledges", not "new members". They may not wear letters until initiation. There are pledge "duties", both individual and class. We do scavenger hunts. We still exchange paddles shaped like paddles. There are mandatory study hours in the library.


Describe the types of philanthropies chapters do?

+Each chapter has its own personal philanthropy, ranging from Keep Franklin County Beautiful to Breast Cancer to Cystic Fibrosis, and then Greeks basically run the Blood Drive every quarter and have a competition to see which chapter can donate the most. There are "Greek wide" philanthropy events such as America Reads! and Adopt-A-School which are set up by panhel and IFC.


Any notable traditions for the Greek System?

+For being locals, all chapters are extremely old. Almost every chapter is close to or above 90. One is fast aproaching 100.

The fraternities and sororities are constitutionally bound to one another (brother/sister), often based on a historical link/event.

No NPC sorority has ever existed at Otterbein. Two NIC fraternities have been here...ATO in the 80's and early 90's, and Alpha Sigma Phi, which maintains a chapter here.

The current letters used are not the original founding names of each group. All were known by different club names before adopting greek letters, based on a greek ban that was instituted at OC's founding and remained until the 20's. Every group maintains their name in some way shape/form.

Kappa Phi Omega- Onyx
Theta Nu-Greenwhich
Sigma Alpha Tau-Owls
Tau Delta- Tomo Dachi
Tau Epsilon Mu- Talisman
(Rho Kappa Delta- Arkady) *disbanded for about a decade or so now, but making an attempt to reorganize!
Lambda Gamma Epsilon- Kings
Sigma Delta Phi (orig. Delta Sigma Phi, changed due to national fraternity name conflict)- Sphinx
Pi Beta Sigma- Bulls
Zeta Phi- Rats (originally Stars, I believe)
Eta Phi Mu- Jonda
Pi Kappa Phi (not the national)- Country Club

One of my chapter's original 10 founders is, at 103 (104?), our oldest living member.

University: George Mason University
Location: Fairfax, Va (Prince William, Va; Arlington, Va; Dulles, Va; Reston, Va; Ras-Al-Khaimah, United Arab Emirates)
Year Founded: 1957 (1972-Independent from UVa)
First Greek Chapter: Chi Omega, Kappa Sigma, Tau Kappa Epsilon (all in 1970)
More commuter or more residential: Commuter
Total Enrollment: About 30,000
% Greeks: ~6% (very rough estimate)
# of NIC Fraternities 11
# of NPC Sororities 6
# of Locals 0
# of NPHC groups 8
# of Multi cultural groups 2
Wet or Dry Campus? Alcohol is allowed to those 21-and over in many dorms, campus police force is roughly equivelant to Nazis in tracking down drunks though

What type of housing arrangements does your system have (BE SPECIFIC - none, dorm floors, chapter houses close to/on campus owned by chapters, chapter houses far off campus owned by chapters, normal houses rented by chapters off campus, etc.)

Most faternities and several sororities have unofficial off-campus houses (generally just several members happen to own a townhouse or apartment--rent around here is considered a deal if it's under $550/mo per person). AOII has a floor in one of our older dorms housing around 24 sisters--it's decent.

Plans for construction?

Plans are currently underway to use University Townhouses (upper classman dorms close to but not really on campus) to set up a trial Greek Row. Possible true Greek Row (in the form of a circle or horseshoe of townhouses) might be built into current North East Sector Development Plan on campus.

Do those with chapter houses have sleeping dorms, open airs, cold airs, porches, etc.?

N/A

Parties thrown in the fraternity houses?

No comment.

Your city easy on underage drinking?

Not at all. Police don't really feel the need to have probable cause to breathalize someone just walking through town and the courts don't feel the need to question it. Fairfax County cops are paid very well to enforce the laws.

Are bars in your city easy to drink underage in?

No--a good fake might work at a few places though. ABC keeps a pretty close watch on the bars and there are often a few bar employees whose job it is to find underage drinkers and kick them out, permanently.

Type of Fraternity Rush (Open, structured, summer, other)

Rush is traditionally the third week of the semester. It lasts officially for one week. It is dry. Fraternities hold whatever events they want (pool, broomball, laser tag, dodgeball, BBQs...) Monday-Wednesday, Thursday is usually bid night, Friday is invite-only, and Saturday at noon formal rush is over. Spring is not terribly different.

When Sorority recruitment takes place for your system:

Whenever PanHellenic schedules it--this year, during fraternity rush which was more than awful for everyone. It seems to vary--but it is extremely formal and structured...unless a downgraded hurricane wanders up to the nation's capital and closes school in the middle of it and everything gets very messed up.

Do Greeks run things at your school?
We like to think so, but not really. We certainly have a lot of Greeks in positions of student govt and other power-centers, but the administration does what it wants for the most part (the Dean of Students is decidedly anti-Greek, and probably for good reasons).

Last Time Greek was Student Body President?
I believe a Gamma Phi Beta was it last term, and this time the Vice President is Alpha Omicron Pi

Last Time Greek was Homecoming King? Couldn't tell ya
Last Time Greek was Homecoming Queen? this past year--Gamma Phi Beta

Describe your typical Greek social Semester?(Are they called mixers/parties/exchanges, must they be registered, how many do you have a semester, any other "greek" sponsored social outlets, is having a party with another house a common thing or a rare thing, describe as much as possible)

In the past, we had Mixers. Rules were fairly lax, and incidents were kept to a minimum. Of course, the rules were always there, but recently they've been enforced. It is difficult for us to follow exact procedures at a heavily-commuter campus with no real Greek Housing, poor public transportation, a small downtown community with a large police force, and space rental at extremely high prices.

Good relationship with the University Administration?

Not currently, no.

Good relationship with Greek Affairs/Greek Life?

We have a brand new Greek Advisor who is having one hell of a semester.

Is your director of Greek Affairs Greek? From your Campus?

NPHC Sorority member, not from campus

Average dues associated with being in a chapter? More or less than living in Residence Halls?

Average Fraternity: ~$350/semester
Average Sorority: ~$350/semester
(No real Greek Housing yet)
Residence Hall Fees range from $3000-$8800/yr


Hazing, common or uncommon? Hazing in the sense of "hey, wear this pin"--common, hazing in the sense of "hey, drink a gallon of rum in an hour and then we'll beat you"--uncommon

Describe the types of philanthropies chapters do?
Almost everything you could imagine, one of our chapters is probably doing it

Any notable traditions for the Greek System?
Well, most people in Greek Orgs like GMU. Many others consider it an impersonal commuter school. It is growing incredibly fast and getting very high-tech and extremely competitive. Traditionally, IFC doesn't much like expansion (there are 11 (plus two that have charters but aren't recognized by us) of us and only 6 PHC sororities and they're not even close to having enough for expansion).

University: Indiana University
Location: Bloomington, IN
First Greek Chapter: not sure
More commuter or more residential: residential
Total Enrollment: 32,000ish
% Greeks: 20%
# of NIC Fraternities: 25
# of NPC Sororities: 19
Wet or Dry Campus? "Dry" campus

What type of housing arrangements does your system have: Chapter houses ON campus. some owned by IU, others by the fraternity

Are there plans for construction of Greek housing soon?: Kappa Sigma is building the largest Fraternity house in the nation right now.

Do those with chapter houses have sleeping dorms, open airs, cold airs, porches, etc.?: all of the above


Parties thrown in the fraternity houses? Yes

Your city easy on underage drinking? Sort of

Are bars in your city easy to drink underage in? Yes


Type of Fraternity Rush (Open, structured, summer, other): Very Structured

When Sorority recruitment takes place for your system: Early January


Do Greeks run things at your school?: Not really

Describe your typical Greek social Semester?: We have "functions."


Good relationship with the University Administration?: We're kinda on the backburner

Good relationship with Greek Affairs/Greek Life?


Hazing, common or uncommon?: Depends on the house. some bad some not.


Describe the types of philanthropies chapters do?: ALOT


Any notable traditions for the Greek System?: Little 500 Race, IU sing

Links or pics? I'd love to see this house. Also, what's the update on the Beta housing situation? In know they were considering selling their old mansion on campus to build a big new house?? Updates would be appreciated.

Re: Tell us about your campus
 

I thought Beta sold their old house to the University. I could be wrong though.

That's kinda what I was thinking too....just wondering if anyone from IU (Indiana U.) know any of what is going on with them - I know they're back on campus and strong again, so a house can't be too far away.

University: Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
Location: suburban St. Louis
Year Founded: 1957
First Greek Chapter: Sigma Gamma Rho 1965, Alpha Kappa Alpha 1969, Sigma Phi Epsilon, Alpha Sigma Tau 1972
More commuter or more residential: just under 30% residential, but our Chancellor wants to bring that up to nearer 50%
Total Enrollment: 13,500
% Greeks: 4%
# of NIC Fraternities 4
# of NPC Sororities 3
# of Locals 0
# of NPHC groups 8
+ a chapter of Delta Lambda Phi
Wet or Dry Campus?
Res Halls are dry, campus apartments allow alcohol only if everyone who lives in the apartment is over 21.

What type of housing arrangements does your system have (BE SPECIFIC - none, dorm floors, chapter houses close to/on campus owned by chapters, chapter houses far off campus owned by chapters, normal houses rented by chapters off campus, etc.)

Alpha Phi Alpha has a house on campus; Sig Ep did have a house in town, but House Corp. is forced to sell. No one else has any housing to speak of.

Are there plans for construction of Greek housing soon?

There is supposed to be some inclusion (still very preliminary stages of planning) for organization housing in a new building with some wings designed for group living.

Do those with chapter houses have sleeping dorms, open airs, cold airs, porches, etc.?

N/A

Parties thrown in the fraternity houses?

Sig Eps used to. Now everyone throws parties at the American Legion Hall in town.


Your city easy on underage drinking?

Not especially, though the city is easier than the county sheriff.

Are bars in your city easy to drink underage in?

Most of them seem to be, depending on the night.

Type of Fraternity Rush (Open, structured, summer, other)

Pretty open, there is a "Rush Week" each semester, but it's more for exposure/publicity. There isn't much restriction on recruitment.

When Sorority recruitment takes place for your system:

Third or fourth week of Fall semester.

Do Greeks run things at your school?

Not entirely, but actively involved.

Last Time Greek was Student Body President?

Three years ago.

Last Time Greek was Homecoming King?
2004 (Alpha Phi Alpha)

Last Time Greek was Homecoming Queen?
2003 (Alpha Phi)


Describe your typical Greek social Semester?(Are they called mixers/parties/exchanges, must they be registered, how many do you have a semester, any other "greek" sponsored social outlets, is having a party with another house a common thing or a rare thing, describe as much as possible)

Most chapters hold 1-2 parties a semester at the Legion, IFC/NPC have mixers, sometimes with Pre/Post gathering at someone's apartment. All IFC/NPC have Informal and Formal, NPHC all have Neophytes and Legion Parties. Some chapters will have functions with their counterparts in St. Louis.

Good relationship with the University Administration?

Pretty good compared with many places. It could be stronger, but it isn't adversarial.

Good relationship with Greek Affairs/Greek Life?

I sure hope so! (since I am the Greek Advisor) I have a good relationship with my students (some have offered to Alumni initiate me, but of course I can't since I'm already Greek!) It's also really easy to know just about everyone by name by the time they graduate from here.

Is your director of Greek Affairs Greek? From your Campus?

Phi Sigma Kappa. Undergrad from Ball State, but Grad at SIUE (was friends with lots of Greeks from here in Grad school)

Average dues associated with being in a chapter? More or less than living in Residence Halls?

Dues: Approx $200-250 per semester. The only group with campus housing pays considerably more for it than the Halls.

Hazing, common or uncommon?

Look at the GreekChat Archives!


Describe the types of philanthropies chapters do?

Blood drives, food & clothing drives, Greek Goddess, Phi-esta Bowl (football tournament), Bucket Brigade (painting houses for the elderly/disabled) , Cardboard Boat Regatta, Pig Roast, free concerts, World Youth Day, Adopt A Highway, Habitat for Humanity, Glen-Ed Food Pantry,
Big Bros/Sis, and a bunch I can't think of right now

Any notable traditions for the Greek System?

Marchdown (NPHC Stepshow), Ebony & Ivory Stepshow,
Phi-Esta Bowl, Powder Puff & Sig Ep/Sig Pi Toilet Bowl (annual football game where the trophy is a toilet),
Painting "The Rock" on the Quad

University: University of Illinois (back in the late 1980s!)
Location: Champaign-Urbana, IL
Year Founded: 1867?
First Greek Chapter: Sigma Chi 1881. Pi Beta Phi 1895.
More commuter or more residential: Almost totally residential
Total Enrollment: 35,000-40,000
% Greeks: A whole lot
# of NIC Fraternities: 53 as far as I can figure
# of NPC Sororities 19
# of Locals 3 plus 4-H is housed as a sorority
# of NPHC groups 9 + 2 that may be locals?
# of Multi cultural groups ?
Wet or Dry Campus? Wet

What type of housing arrangements does your system have (BE SPECIFIC - none, dorm floors, chapter houses close to/on campus owned by chapters, chapter houses far off campus owned by chapters, normal houses rented by chapters off campus, etc.)
As far as I know, all NIC and NPC groups are housed in traditional Greek mansions. Many use warm dorms and cold dorms, but not all. 4-H also has a house, so does Evans Scholars.

Are there plans for construction of Greek housing soon? I don't know

Do those with chapter houses have sleeping dorms, open airs, cold airs, porches, etc.? Some, not all


Parties thrown in the fraternity houses? Yes, but never in sorority houses

Your city easy on underage drinking? Pretty much.

Are bars in your city easy to drink underage in? The legal drinking age is 21, but the age to get into bars is 19. Once you are in, you are never carded. So, the drinking age may as well be 19. (This may have changed since I was there.)


Type of Fraternity Rush (Open, structured, summer, other) There are a zillion fraternities at U of I, and when I was there, they didn't all follow the same rush. Most had a structured rush in the Fall, and another rush later as well.

When Sorority recruitment takes place for your system: Fall. When I was there, it was the week before classes, and I had never heard of COB. Now, formal is a few weeks after classes start, and some chapters do COB.


Do Greeks run things at your school? Most definitely

Last Time Greek was Student Body President? Last time one wasn't would be a better question.

Last Time Greek was Homecoming King? Always
Last Time Greek was Homecoming Queen? Always


Describe your typical Greek social Semester?(Are they called mixers/parties/exchanges, must they be registered, how many do you have a semester, any other "greek" sponsored social outlets, is having a party with another house a common thing or a rare thing, describe as much as possible)

We had 4 exchanges with fraternities each semester. We also had football block with a fraternity in Fall, and Atius with a fraternity in Spring. Homecoming was also a match up with a sorority and a few fraternities.

ETA: Back in the day, sorority Bid Night was also a social function with a fraternity. The fraternity would roll out the red carpet for the sorority members and pledges. For many people, this is their single best memory of Greek life. Of course it is gone now because there is no "Bid Night" to speak of, but rather a sisterhood night at the sorority house.

Good relationship with the University Administration? Don't know, but my guess is yes

Average dues associated with being in a chapter? More or less than living in Residence Halls? About the same when I was there, and chances are you would live WAY closer to your classes, because the Greek houses are older than most of the dorms, and therefore closer to the quad.

Hazing, common or uncommon? Uncommon for girls, not uncommon in some chapters for guys.



Any notable traditions for the Greek System? Football block, Greek Week, Atius (mom's day sing show) is huge. Also, Halloween at U of I is huge. It wasn't necessarily Greek though. I am sure that this has changed. It was way too fun to have survived. A block party with 50,000 drunk people wearing costumes was too good to last. The notable tradition at U of I is being Greek. It is a Greek school. Period.

University: Iowa State University
Location: Ames, Iowa
Year Founded: 1858
First Greek Chapter: Fraternity: Delta Tau Delta - 1875; Sorority: Pi Beta Phi (then still I.C. Sorosis) - 1877
More commuter or more residential: Residential
Total Enrollment: around 22,000
% Greeks: 11%
# of NIC Fraternities: 27
# of NPC Sororities: 13
# of Locals: 2 (Adelante Fraternity-est. 1907, Phi Beta Chi (which I know is not technically a local, but it's not NPC, either)
# of NPHC groups: 5 (4 fraternities, 1 sorority)
# of Multi cultural groups: 2
Wet or Dry Campus? Wet

What type of housing arrangements does your system have (BE SPECIFIC - none, dorm floors, chapter houses close to/on campus owned by chapters, chapter houses far off campus owned by chapters, normal houses rented by chapters off campus, etc.)
All NIC/NPC chapters have houses that hold 40-70 members. Most houses were built in the 1910s-1940s, with additions in the 70s-80s. A few (AOII, Alpha Chi, Lambda Chi, Pi Kapp) have newer houses built within the last 30-40 years. With the exception of AKL, Pi Kapp and Triangle, the majority of the houses are in "Greekland"-- 5 or so streets a few blocks from campus.

Are there plans for construction of Greek housing soon?
No.

Do those with chapter houses have sleeping dorms, open airs, cold airs, porches, etc.?
Chapters either have cold airs or members sleep in their rooms. A few have a mix of both.

Parties thrown in the fraternity houses?
Yes. Weekly parties are usually in the chapter houses. Date parties and formals are held at third-party vendors. Usually it's only freshman/sophomore girls who attend the weekly fraternity parties.

Your city easy on underage drinking?
Somewhat.

Are bars in your city easy to drink underage in?
If you have a good fake or know the bouncer/bartender it's not too hard.

Type of Fraternity Rush (Open, structured, summer, other):
Most of them do summer rush though there is a formal recruitment option the week before classes begin.

When Sorority recruitment takes place for your system:
The week before classes begin. It's fairly structred and attempts to be no-frills.

Do Greeks run things at your school?
For the most part--Homecoming, Family Weekend, SALC, VEISHEA, Varieties all usually have at least one Greek as a co-chair.

Last Time Greek was Student Body President?
I know the previous President was a member of Alpha Gamma Delta, I belive the current one is as well, but I'm not positive on that.

Last Time Greek was Homecoming King?
Last Time Greek was Homecoming Queen?
We haven't had Homecoming King/Queen for many years.

Describe your typical Greek social Semester?(Are they called mixers/parties/exchanges, must they be registered, how many do you have a semester, any other "greek" sponsored social outlets, is having a party with another house a common thing or a rare thing, describe as much as possible)
Each chapter usually has some sort of date party and/or formal at a third-party vendor. Sororities may also have a crush party or similar party at a local bar on a weeknight. When I was in school we'd have an exchange/event with a fraternity maybe 1-2x/month. This could be a non-alc event such as a dinner exchange, bowling or movie night or a theme party at the fraternity where drinking was involved. Fraternities sometimes co-hosted weekly parties (especially if one chapter was dry), sororities occasionally co-hosted crush parties. All events must be registered with CPC/IFC in advance.

Good relationship with the University Administration?
Somewhat. I would say the administration is more pro Greek life, but unless you get the right strings pulled, it can be difficult to meet with some of the higher-ups. Both our previous and current University Presidents were/are fraternity men, but that doesn't seem to have an effect on their dealings with GLOs (neither good nor bad).

Good relationship with Greek Affairs/Greek Life?
I think yes. I know they've had some issues with Greek Advisers not really understanding campus atmosphere, but I think the one that's in place now is good.

Is your director of Greek Affairs Greek? From your Campus?
Yes, Pi Beta Phi

Average dues associated with being in a chapter? More or less than living in Residence Halls?
$2800 average/semester. Depends on the individual chapter, but generally less expensive than residence halls and/or apartments.

Hazing, common or uncommon?
I never experienced it, but I know it happens. To what degree, I couldn't say.

Describe the types of philanthropies chapters do?
Most have a philanthropy each semester. Many are food (pancakes, tacos, spaghetti) and many are sports events (softball, kickball, powder-puff football, mud volleyball, etc...) Derby Days and Dolphin Days (held by Tri-Delta) used to be really big, I don't know how big they are any more.

Any notable traditions for the Greek System?
Lawn displays for Homecoming and floats for VEISHEA; Greek Week; Varieites (which is open to all campus organizations, but usually only GLOs participate). Serenading is big at Iowa State as well.

This is all from my experience as an undergrad from 1997-2001.

University: Saint Louis University
Location: St. Louis, MO
Year Founded: 1818
First Greek Chapter:
More commuter or more residential: There are a lot of commuters, but a lot of residential, and many of the commuters are near-campus (as in across the street) however I can’t find the numbers anywhere
Total Enrollment: 11,145 (This includes our Madrid, Spain campus; most students are only there for a semester or two before returning to St. Louis)
% Greeks: Not sure, can’t find the numbers for this either.
# of NIC Fraternities 13
# of NPC Sororities 5
# of Locals 0
# of NPHC groups Unsure: SLU doesn’t recognize them, but citywide chapters exist. I’ve seen on campus, AKA, SGRho for women, and perhaps APhiA for men, Another SLU student may know, I’m basing this off of the totebags/jackets I’ve seen and any posters for events in the area.
# of Multi cultural groups- Greek? None, but we do have ASIA and HALO and several other multicultural “chartered student organizations”
Wet or Dry Campus? Wet

What type of housing arrangements does your system have (BE SPECIFIC - none, dorm floors, chapter houses close to/on campus owned by chapters, chapter houses far off campus owned by chapters, normal houses rented by chapters off campus, etc.) One Greek dorm (Demattias Hall) with a chapter room for each fraternity/sorority and the GLOs share the floors(except Sigma Chi they have their own house that is off campus property and owned by the alumni) for example, ADPi, SK, and DG on one floor, Pikes, TKEs, Betas, and Delta Sigs on another.

Are there plans for construction of Greek housing soon? Nope

Do those with chapter houses have sleeping dorms, open airs, cold airs, porches, etc.? Sigma Chis have a patio and fenced in “yard”

Parties thrown in the fraternity houses? Yes, and for the non-Sigma Chi guys they often have at least one apartment where they’re all brothers, that becomes their “party apartment”

Your city easy on underage drinking? No. St. Louis is really cracking down on it. Especially in the bars around campus

Are bars in your city easy to drink underage in? Not really, especially around campus, although a good fake may make it for a while.

Type of Fraternity Rush (Open, structured, summer, other) Open I believe. The only rule is no drinking with the rushees and no summer parties when the incoming freshmen have orientation. It gave the Sigma Chi house an unfair advantage because they have a house.


When Sorority recruitment takes place for your system: Fall, about the second week of school


Do Greeks run things at your school? Run things, no. Very active, yes

Last Time Greek was Student Body President? Current President and at least the past few have been greek.

Last Time Greek was Homecoming King? Current king is Greek
Last Time Greek was Homecoming Queen? Current queen is Greek


Describe your typical Greek social Semester?(Are they called mixers/parties/exchanges, must they be registered, how many do you have a semester, any other "greek" sponsored social outlets, is having a party with another house a common thing or a rare thing, describe as much as possible) Several switches-fraternity and a sorority a semester, guys usually have their overnight formal once or twice a year, girls typically have a semiformal and a formal each semester, as well as a date dash (only find out a short time ahead of time, can invite up to 4 guys) and the crush party (invitations sent to guys that “someone” has a crush on them so come to our party, can still invite up to 4 guys) All social events for sororities must be approved. The guys tend to have more informal parties at their apartments and such, as well as their bid day parties each semester.


Good relationship with the University Administration? Yes, now that one of the more anti-greek VPs is gone.

Good relationship with Greek Affairs/Greek Life? I think so.

Is your director of Greek Affairs Greek? From your Campus? Actually, not certain. The woman in charge of the Greek dorm is a KKG from elsewhere (we don’t have KKG on campus)


Average dues associated with being in a chapter? More or less than living in Residence Halls?
My dues chapter’s active dues are $700 this year. I think this about average for sororities, though perhaps another SLU student could comment on this. Unsure about guys dues, I would assume they vary quite a bit, and we have one fraternity that is in quite a bit of debt to do failure to actually collect their dues last year. Oops!

Hazing, common or uncommon? In the sororities, if it even happens, it is extremely rare. I’ve never seen it, nor heard anything substantiated about it. For fraternities, probably about half of them do something that would be considered hazing.


Describe the types of philanthropies chapters do? Each chapter has a “week” where they run various philanthropies. Sigma Kappa will have start off with a homerun derby, sell lollypops all week, and have a pageant for the guys followed by an event. The pageant winner, whose fraternity must support him by raising money or doing favors for the sisters, will get free drinks at the event afterwards. Some chapters have one main event. For example. Pikes have Pike Spike, a day of volleyball competition where the money for the T-shirts and entrance to the “wet” event goes to their national philanthropy. The charities range quite a bit, though many of us have donated our money to Hurricane Katrina instead of the normal charity. Not sure if I’m for or against that.


Any notable traditions for the Greek System? Greek week is big, but not much else that I can think of. You’ll notice that Greeks are usually SGA president and Homecoming Queen/King. It seems that the most active people on campus are always, also, Greek. But I don’t think they win because they are Greek. (Though having that group of 100 people who’ll vote for you is nice, there’s always at least one other Greek candidate, so you’re really only guaranteed your chapter’s votes)


Hope that was enough to sate your curiosity.

hey, sorry i looked for pics on Kappa Sigs website but it's down right now. It's HUGE. AOPi's house is right next to it and is one of the largest greek houses on campus. Kappa Sigs new house absolutely dwarfs it. It's costing them close to 6 million dollars. Alot of the funding is coming from Todd Wagner, a Kappa Sig alum and a business partner of Mark Cubans.

as for Beta, their president told me the other day they "exchanged" houses. Their old house is now owned by the university and the university gave them a different one. They will be starting major renovations on it soon. Their president said they probably wont be moving into it untill Fall 2007. So they have a while until it's done.

University: West Virginia University
Location: Morgantown, WV
Year Founded:
First Greek Chapter: I'm prettysure Phi Kappa Psi in the 1870s.
More commuter or more residential: Residential
Total Enrollment: 24,000
% Greeks: Not big- I'm going to guess only about 3%
# of NIC Fraternities: I'm pretty sure it's 16
# of NPC Sororities: 8
# of Locals: 1
Wet or Dry Campus? Wet

What type of housing arrangements does your system have (BE SPECIFIC - every Greek chapter has a house. The larger fraternity houses hold around 50 guys, the smallest one holds maybe 15. AOPi has the largest sorority house, which I think sleeps 40 girls. Not sure which chapter has the smallest sorority house.


Do those with chapter houses have sleeping dorms, open airs, cold airs, porches, etc.? Sleeping dorms.. after reading about Ole Miss I realized what these were! Sisters and brothers live in our houses!

Parties thrown in the fraternity houses? Yes, each fraternity is allowed to have three "open" parties a semester at their houses. They must be approved by the administration first, but I've never heard of anyone being turned down.

Your city easy on underage drinking? Extremely.

Are bars in your city easy to drink underage in? Extremely.

Type of Fraternity Rush (Open, structured, summer, other) Open rush. Occurs a week before sorority rush, usually third week of school. The fraternities invite the most "popular" sororities up to their houses to attract guys going through rush. No alcohol is served, rush usually lasts 4-5 days. Fall rush is more popular than spring.


When Sorority recruitment takes place for your system: Formal recruitment is the third of fourth week of school. Some chapters COB in the spring if they are not at total (5 chapters did this last year).


Do Greeks run things at your school? They're present in a lot of activities, but I don't know if I'd go as far to say we "run things"

Last Time Greek was Student Body President? Current President is a Pike, VP is in Zeta Delta Phi (local- but has about 60 members), last year's President was a Phi Sigma Kappa. Almost everyone on our student government is Greek.

Last Time Greek was Homecoming King? Current king is a FIJI
Last Time Greek was Homecoming Queen? Current queen is an Alpha Phi (yay!!)


Describe your typical Greek social Semester?(Are they called mixers/parties/exchanges, must they be registered, how many do you have a semester, any other "greek" sponsored social outlets, is having a party with another house a common thing or a rare thing, describe as much as possible) My chapter calls them parties, but I've heard them be called mixers too. Several sororities on campus have a "third party vendor" rule so often parties are held at the bar, and the fraternity usually foots the bill. The more "popular" sororties have parties with fraternities once a week, the girls that are considered more studious have them maybe twice a month. I don't think parties with other houses are common, but we are having an "Alpha" party the end of this month- Alpha Phi, Alpha Xi Delta, Pi Kappa Alpha, and Kappa Alpha.


Good relationship with the University Administration? Not really.

Good relationship with Greek Affairs/Greek Life? Yes, there are some troublesome chapters, but overall there is a good relationship.

Is your director of Greek Affairs Greek? From your Campus? Yes, he was a Phi Sigma Kappa here.


Average dues associated with being in a chapter? More or less than living in Residence Halls?
New member dues first semester for a sorority are usually around $600-700, it drops to about $450 second semester. I'm a junior and I think my parents pay $360 a semester, but I live in the house so dues are cheaper. Including dues, it costs $6200 a year to live in the sorority house. I think the fraternities may pay a little less than that, but not much. Living in the residence hall (may be wrong- haven't lived there for 2 years) was about $5000, living in my apartment last year was $400 monthly not including utilities.

Hazing, common or uncommon? Extremely common for fraternities, common for several sororities.


Describe the types of philanthropies chapters do? I'm not sure about everyone's chapters, I'll list what I know..
ALPHA PHI- King of Hearts (male beauty pageant)
ALPHA XI DELTA- Ultimate Frisbee
DELTA GAMMA- Anchor Bowl (football game)
PI BETA PHI- Not sure of the official name, but it includes a scavenger hunt
..not sure about AOPi, Sigma Kappa, Kappa Kappa Gamma, and Chi Omega.
PHI SIGMA KAPPA- Phantasia (basketball, scavenger hunt, other things)
PIKE- Dream Girl (beauty pageant)
DELTA TAU DELTA- Delt Bowl (sororities playing football)
PHI KAPPA PSI- beach volleyball
BETA THETA PI- bull riding (mechanical bull at a bar)
TAU KAPPA EPSILON- Family Feud
KA- Karoake
PHI DELTA THETA- wiffleball
..not sure about any of the other fraternities, sorry!


Any notable traditions for the Greek System? Homecoming and Greek Week are always pretty big. Homecoming royalty are usually Greek. That's pretty much all I can think of.

*edited to change response about sleeping dorms

University: The University of Mississippi (Ole Miss)
Location: Oxford, MS
Year Founded: 1848
First Greek Chapter: Chi Chapter of Delta Kappa Epsilon in 1850, Tau Chapter of Chi Omega in 1899.
More commuter or more residential: residential
Total Enrollment: 16,900
% Greeks: 27% (Just a guess)
# of NIC Fraternities:15
# of NPC Sororities: 9
# of Locals: None
# of NPHC groups: 7
# of Multi cultural groups: None
Wet or Dry Campus? Dry and you can only buy hot beer in Lafayette county (they do not sell cold beer in Oxford!)

What type of housing arrangements does your system have (BE SPECIFIC - none, dorm floors, chapter houses close to/on campus owned by chapters, chapter houses far off campus owned by chapters, normal houses rented by chapters off campus, etc.): On Campus owned houses by the chapters

Are there plans for construction of Greek housing soon? n/a

Do those with chapter houses have sleeping dorms, open airs, cold airs, porches, etc.? Yes all houses have rooms for sleeping ranging from 3 to sleep in the house to 68 to sleep in the house.


Parties thrown in the fraternity houses? Yes but they are suppose to not have alcohol. Although, Phi Delta Theta and a few other fraternities do not have parties anymore in their houses, they bus their guests and brothers off-campus to a bar.

Your city easy on underage drinking? They do not tolerate drinking and driving and therefore many students find themselves in the slammer because of a DUI.

Are bars in your city easy to drink underage in? It just depends on the bar. Some are easier than others.


Type of Fraternity Rush (Open, structured, summer, other): Formal Recruitment deferred about 6 weeks into the fall semesters (Same time as sorority recruitment) with Bid Day on a Sunday now. The fraternity men have to pick up their bids in a coat and tie and the actives have to be dressed up as well and no alcohol or parties at all.

When Sorority recruitment takes place for your system: Deferred about 6 weeks into the fall semester

Do Greeks run things at your school? Pretty much except for the school newspaper but everything else Greeks are all over!

Last Time Greek was Student Body President? Currently, she is a member of my sorority, Alpha Omicron Pi. The past ASB President was a Sigma Nu.

Last Time Greek was Homecoming King? We do not have a Homecoming King but rather a Col. Reb and last year he was Greek and this year he is Greek.

Last Time Greek was Homecoming Queen? Yes this year’s is a member of Chi Omega, just about every year the HCQ is in a sorority.


Describe your typical Greek social Semester?(Are they called mixers/parties/exchanges, must they be registered, how many do you have a semester, any other "greek" sponsored social outlets, is having a party with another house a common thing or a rare thing, describe as much as possible) A typical social semester is having “swaps” with fraternities, a date party, a formal or semi-formal, a crush party in February, a crawfish party, and a parent’s weekend social. They are closed to the member of the sorority only and they do not have to register with Greek Life. The fraternities do have to register I’m pretty sure though.

Good relationship with the University Administration? Yes very good.

Good relationship with Greek Affairs/Greek Life? Yes, excellent relations.

Is your director of Greek Affairs Greek? From your Campus? Our Dean of Greek Life is from LSU and he was a member of Pi Kappa Phi fraternity which Ole Miss does not have a chapter of anymore here.

Average dues associated with being in a chapter? More or less than living in Residence Halls? It is more than living in the dorm.

Hazing, common or uncommon? Uncommon with NPC groups and they can be common with NIC groups.

Describe the types of philanthropies chapters do? Sigma Nu Charity Bowl which raises at least $50,000 a year, KD Shamrock Golf Tournament which raises about $40,000 a year, food sales which raise a good amount of money, Sigma Chi Derby Day which raises about $60,000 a year…lots of big philanthropic events at Ole Miss, that is very important on this campus.

Any notable traditions for the Greek System? Well, I don’t know if it is a tradition but the girls literally running to their new sorority house on Bid Day, it is quite a site to see all of these girls running! I guess also being dropped (lavaliered or pinned) is a big deal here as well.

University: University of Toronto
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Year Founded: King George IV grants royal charter back in 1827
First Greek Chapter: Men’s – Zeta Psi 1879; Women’s – Kappa Alpha Theta 1887 (inactive after 1941)/ still active chapter Alpha Phi 1906
More commuter or more residential: commuter (85%+)
Total Enrollment: 68,000
% Greeks: roughly 1%
# of NIC Fraternities 15
# of NPC Sororities 7
# of Locals 1 Canadian National Fraternity – Phi Kappa Pi
# of NPHC groups 1 (Alpha Phi Alpha back after a 90 year absence)
# of Multi cultural groups 0 (as far as I know, there have been a couple Asian societies that have been started but folded of a year or two)
Wet or Dry Campus? Wet

What type of housing arrangements does your system have (BE SPECIFIC - none, dorm floors, chapter houses close to/on campus owned by chapters, chapter houses far off campus owned by chapters, normal houses rented by chapters off campus, etc.)
Most GLOs have houses, more specifically those GLOs that survived the 60s. Old Victorian homes owned either by alumni or by housing corps. that house a dozen to twenty members. Other GLOs without “houses” normally designated one member(s) rented house or apartment as their un-official house for the year.

Are there plans for construction of Greek housing soon? Nope, nor in the foreseeable future as the school doesn’t recognize the GLOs.

Do those with chapter houses have sleeping dorms, open airs, cold airs, porches, etc.? Well I guess that all depends either on if the heater is working or not ;) There aren’t any real common sleeping rooms, just couches or floor space to grab on a need driven basis.


Parties thrown in the fraternity houses? Some. It all depends on the property and housing rules of the different GLOs – property wise some can’t afford to host a party (no space really); rule wise some are dry houses.

Your city easy on underage drinking? Depends if it’s your night or not… and where and when the underager is nabbed – but it’s really not that much of an issue for GLOs here given the drink age and all.

Are bars in your city easy to drink underage in? Some yes, most no… so if you know were to go (or how much skin to flash for some) it can be done.


Type of Fraternity Rush (Open, structured, summer, other) Open – except of course for the sororities and some particular requirements for individual GLOs

When Sorority recruitment takes place for your system: In September, usually the second week back to school.


Do Greeks run things at your school? Not really – but then again I don’t think anyone runs things at the school.

Last Time Greek was Student Body President? the Student Body - a DKE in 2003; other colleges have their own student government and usually have 1 or 2 Greeks in the government.

Last Time Greek was Homecoming King?
Last Time Greek was Homecoming Queen? What is this homecoming you speak of?:p But seriously UofT barely has a Homecoming (about 95% of students couldn’t even tell you when it is) and as far as I know hasn’t had a King or Queen since the 60s.


Describe your typical Greek social Semester?(Are they called mixers/parties/exchanges, must they be registered, how many do you have a semester, any other "greek" sponsored social outlets, is having a party with another house a common thing or a rare thing, describe as much as possible) Mixers/Socials are the primary social events between houses, with Sororities visiting either the Fraternity house or meeting at another location for specific events (bowling, skating, billiards, sporting event, etc). As for parties with another house… well any Fraternity throwing a party always invites the others (and in some cases keeps it closed to non-greeks) and the odd co-hosting events aren’t unheard of.


Good relationship with the University Administration? The term “acceptance but not recognition” pretty much sums it up – they have nothing to do with us, we have nothing to do with them… ie. You stay out of our business and we’ll stay out of yours. This has been the case since about 1960 when the school withdrew recognition of all GLOs.

Good relationship with Greek Affairs/Greek Life? N/A as there is no Greek Affairs.

Is your director of Greek Affairs Greek? From your Campus? see the previous


Average dues associated with being in a chapter? More or less than living in Residence Halls? Dues average anywhere between 200 – 1000 per semester, with rent of course being on top of that if you live in the house.

Hazing, common or uncommon? Harmful/Stupid Hazing - Pretty much non-existent… or so far from the light of day that it exists only in rumours and conjecture. I’ll admit that I have seen some stuff still around here and there that IHQs would label hazing… but I can’t say I’ve heard of anything hurtful/harmful taking place in years.


Describe the types of philanthropies chapters do? Mainly just the standard fundraisers/collections for each GLO’s specific philanthropic endeavour – other ones include participating in community/city charity events like marathons and such.


Any notable traditions for the Greek System? You mean besides a high proportion of members that take an extra year? ;) I think the only real surviving one has been going to the Madison Avenue Pub after Monday night meetings/socials – the place is pretty much reserved only for Greeks and more business gets done there than at any formal meeting between GLOs… with such a small/select Greek community it is easy for everyone to really mingle there.

You're right, she is Greek. The current president of the GSB is also a Alpha Gamma Delta. She's also one of Glamour magazine's Top 10 College Women to Watch (in their Oct. 2005 issue).

University: Mississippi State University

Location: Starkville, MS

Year Founded: The University? 1858? As Mississippi A&M

First Greek Chapter: SAE and Chi Omega (I have no idea on dates, though)

More commuter or more residential: Residential

Total Enrollment: 16,000

% Greeks: 18%

# of NIC Fraternities: 13 (Kappa Sig, KA, Pike, SAE, Sigma Chi, Lambda Chi Alpha, FIJI, ATO, AGR, Sig Ep, Farmhouse, Phi Delt, and Delta Chi)

# of NPC Sororities: 6 (DG, KD, Chi-O, ZTA, Tri-Delta, Phi Mu)

# of Locals: Ladies' Social Circle....originally started as an interest group after A O Pi decided not to colonize...I think they're still around.

# of NPHC groups: 9 (All the "Divine 9")

# of Multi cultural groups: 1 (Delta Xi Phi)

Wet or Dry Campus? It's WET now!! (After I graduate, of course)

What type of housing arrangements does your system have (BE SPECIFIC - none, dorm floors, chapter houses close to/on campus owned by chapters, chapter houses far off campus owned by chapters, normal houses rented by chapters off campus, etc.)

Houses...all on campus except for Delta Chi (a few blocks away). Really large houses situated into a fraternity row and sorority row (although Phi Delt, Sig Ep, and Farmhouse are on "sorority row"). Several chapters also arrange to have floors in one of the upperclass dorms because they don't have as many rooms in their houses, and they have 2-year housing commitments.

Are there plans for construction of Greek housing soon? Um...I don't think so...

Do those with chapter houses have sleeping dorms, open airs, cold airs, porches, etc.? No. Most houses have double, some 3-man, some 4-man rooms.

Parties thrown in the fraternity houses? Yes

Your city easy on underage drinking? Fairly...you always hear of people getting MIP's, but most people still manange to get away with it. STARKVILLE HAS COLD BEER NOW. TAKE THAT OLE MISS!!!

Are bars in your city easy to drink underage in? Some bars, yes, very easy. Others...No way. There's one bar that I swear I saw a 12-year-old drinking at the other night.


Type of Fraternity Rush (Open, structured, summer, other): Structured, about three weeks after class starts. Summer rush parties are held, though, and I think most guys know what they're gonna go before rush starts.

When Sorority recruitment takes place for your system: The week before classes start


Do Greeks run things at your school? (Looks around and says quietly..."Yes")

Last Time Greek was Student Body President? Right now a Phi Delt is President, Just about the rest of the Executive Cabinet is Greek, too.

Last Time Greek was Homecoming King? (Mr. MSU, not HC King)-Every year

Last Time Greek was Homecoming Queen? (Queen-Every year, NPC or NPHC); (Miss MSU-Every year)


Describe your typical Greek social Semester?(Are they called mixers/parties/exchanges, must they be registered, how many do you have a semester, any other "greek" sponsored social outlets, is having a party with another house a common thing or a rare thing, describe as much as possible) Sororites: I will use my chapter as an example...it is pretty standard. Each semester: 2-3 parties. usually each sorority has a semi-formal or formal, and another party and maybe a grab-a-date. Usually 2-3 swaps, one of which would be a "super-swap" with two fraternities and two sororities. In the spring, every chapter has a crawfish boil, usually with another chapter. Fraternities: parties after home football games, each has a christmas semi-formal, a formal, swaps, and on Super Bulldog Weekend, a huge party. (more below)


Good relationship with the University Administration? Yes, groups get in trouble now and then, but I would say generally they are pretty well liked.

Good relationship with Greek Affairs/Greek Life? Sororites-wonderful, fraternities have a few more problems...

Is your director of Greek Affairs Greek? From your Campus?
Yes, she's a DG, but not from State.

Average dues associated with being in a chapter? More or less than living in Residence Halls? A lot....most chapters have kitchens and chapter meal plans, though. Once you pay everything, it is the same cost as living in the cheap dorm, buying a campus meal plan, and then adding dues.

Hazing, common or uncommon? Sororities: VERY uncommon; fraternities: I think its "kinda" common. Most are very mum about it.


Describe the types of philanthropies chapters do? Geesh...it seems like every weekend there is a philanthropy event. Every chapter has a signature event, and all the other chapters are very supportive!

Any notable traditions for the Greek System? On Super Bulldog Weekend, every fraternity has their "theme weekend" like Pike has Pike's Peak, Kappa Sigma South Seas, KA Old South, ATO Gator Bash, FIJI Island, and such. It's a really huge time! Also, sororities are notoriously competitive at Derby Days, Kappa Sigma Charity Bowl, and Lambda Chi Watermelon Fest. It's kinda tradition. Guys Bid Day is also traditionally a HUGE party, with lots of mud fights, drinking, and general hullaballoo.

University: Denison
Location: Granville, Ohio
Year Founded: 1831
First Greek Chapter: Beta Theta Pi
More commuter or more residential: 99% Residential
Total Enrollment: 2,300
% Greeks: 30%
# of NIC Fraternities- 6
# of NPC Sororities - 5
# of Locals- 0
# of NPHC groups - 5
# of Multi cultural groups - 0
Wet or Dry Campus? Wet

What type of housing arrangements does your system have (BE SPECIFIC - none, dorm floors, chapter houses close to/on campus owned by chapters, chapter houses far off campus owned by chapters, normal houses rented by chapters off campus, etc.)

ALL dorms on campus, no residential chapter houses

Are there plans for construction of Greek housing soon?
nope, or anytime soon


Do those with chapter houses have sleeping dorms, open airs, cold airs, porches, etc.?
lodges and some have basketball courts

Parties thrown in the fraternity houses?
nope, none

Your city easy on underage drinking?
nope

Are bars in your city easy to drink underage in?
nope


Type of Fraternity Rush (Open, structured, summer, other)
Defferred- Spring Rush, rather open, NPC is very structured

When Sorority recruitment takes place for your system:
Spring

Do Greeks run things at your school?
not really

Last Time Greek was Student Body President?
This year- LXA

Last Time Greek was Homecoming King? no King
Last Time Greek was Homecoming Queen? no Queen


Describe your typical Greek social Semester?(Are they called mixers/parties/exchanges, must they be registered, how many do you have a semester, any other "greek" sponsored social outlets, is having a party with another house a common thing or a rare thing, describe as much as possible)
Bar parties, dorm theme parties

Good relationship with the University Administration?
nope, they dont like us, and for no good reason except what happen 10 years ago

Good relationship with Greek Affairs/Greek Life?
Def.

Is your director of Greek Affairs Greek? From your Campus?
Nope, dont know where, but not here... grad school from miami

Average dues associated with being in a chapter? More or less than living in Residence Halls?
300-400 semester

Hazing, common or uncommon?
common, but not in my chapter

Describe the types of philanthropies chapters do?
Anchor Splash, Derby Days, alot of tourneys, and bake sales

Any notable traditions for the Greek System?
NOPE, none, its sad

University: Case Western Reserve University
Location: Cleveland, OH
Year Founded: 1826
First Greek Chapter: Delta Upsilon (1851)
More commuter or more residential: Residential
Total Enrollment: Undergrad - 3600
% Greeks: 30%
# of NIC Fraternities: 16, plus 1 colony
# of NPC Sororities: 4
# of Locals: 1 (Sigma Psi)
# of Non-Local/Non-NPC Sororities: 1 (Phi Sigma Rho)
# of NPHC groups: 4 (I think)
# of Multi cultural groups: 0
Wet or Dry Campus? Wet


What type of housing arrangements does your system have?
Housing varies widely on campus. There are chapters which own their houses and the land on which they are built, houses that are own by the chapter but not the land, houses owned and run by the university, houses that are owned by the university and leased to chapter housing corps, and well as dorm floors.

Are there plans for construction of Greek housing soon?

There are plans for a Greek Village. In theory they are breaking ground in the spring . . . But I have doubts.

Do those with chapter houses have sleeping dorms, open airs, cold airs, porches, etc.? Nope.

Parties thrown in the fraternity houses? That’s a big YES.

Your city easy on underage drinking? Typically, if a party is broken up everyone just gets let go.


Are bars in your city easy to drink underage in? Depends on the bar really. Generally, no.


Type of Fraternity Rush (Open, structured, summer, other) - Open in Fall and Spring

When Sorority recruitment takes place for your system: Deferred Formal Recruitment and COB


Do Greeks run things at your school? More or less, more more than anything. Here are some stats.

79% of Student Turning Point
75% of Orientation Leaders
80% of Undergraduate Student Government
67% of Class Officers
41% of Student Leadership Award Winners
57% of Academic Integrity Board
41% of Mortar Board


Last Time Greek was Student Body President? Greek currently serving

Last Time Greek was Homecoming King? 2004

Last Time Greek was Homecoming Queen? 2004 The Homecoming Queen is *always* Greek.


Describe your typical Greek social Semester?

As long a mixer is not wet, it does not have to be registered. If there is alcohol at the event, an alcohol permit has to be obtained from Greek Life. My chapter has 3 mixers a semester with fraternities and at least 2 with other sororities. My chapter tries to throw a party with a fraternity once a semester, co-programming is fairly common.

Good relationship with the University Administration?

Greeks have definitely ingratiated themselves ….

Good relationship with Greek Affairs/Greek Life?

Depends on the chapter. There are a few chapters who like to push the envelope (intentionally). Most fraternities have an ambivalent attitude towards Greek life (in my experience), Sororities have a closer connection to the Greek Life Office.

Is your director of Greek Affairs Greek? From your Campus? The director of Greek life is Greek, but not from our campus.


Average dues associated with being in a chapter? More or less than living in Residence Halls?

Greek Housing is generally cheaper than living in the Res Halls, but with dues it averages out.

[B]Hazing, common or uncommon? I would say it is uncommon, but I do not know the inner workings of all of the chapters. But to my knowledge, it is not a problem on campus.


Describe the types of philanthropies chapters do?
There are food/clothing drives, umpteen -thons (flag football, dodge ball, softball), Jello Wrestling, pageants (male & female), parties to raise money, 5K Runs, sponsoring Girl Scout troops, Domestic Violence Awareness Week, Carnation Sales, and so on and so forth.

University: New Mexico State University
Location: Las Cruces, NM
Year Founded: 1888
First Greek Chapter: TKE
More commuter or more residential: half/half
Total Enrollment: 20,000 or so
% Greeks: 9%
# of NIC Fraternities 13
# of NPC Sororities 6
# of Locals 0
# of NPHC groups 2
# of Multi cultural groups 2
Wet or Dry Campus? Dry

What type of housing arrangements does your system have (BE SPECIFIC - none, dorm floors, chapter houses close to/on campus owned by chapters, chapter houses far off campus owned by chapters, normal houses rented by chapters off campus, etc.)

At NMSU the housing varies. We have 3 sororities that own their house on campus, 3 sororities that are renting from housing on campus, 5 fraternities are renting on campus, 1 is buying it from the college on campus, 4 fraternities own a house offcampus, 1 is renting on campus and others are unhoused.

Are there plans for construction of Greek housing soon?
Yeah there has been but the likelyhood of that happening is slim to none. They've been planning it since the 60s

Do those with chapter houses have sleeping dorms, open airs, cold airs, porches, etc.?
they have rooms either single or double

Parties thrown in the fraternity houses?
Yes
Your city easy on underage drinking?
NO
Are bars in your city easy to drink underage in?
NO

Type of Fraternity Rush (Open, structured, summer, other)
Open
When Sorority recruitment takes place for your system:
Structured Formal Recruitment

Do Greeks run things at your school?
Yes
Last Time Greek was Student Body President?
Right now
Last Time Greek was Homecoming King? dont know
Last Time Greek was Homecoming Queen? dont know


Describe your typical Greek social Semester?(Are they called mixers/parties/exchanges, must they be registered, how many do you have a semester, any other "greek" sponsored social outlets, is having a party with another house a common thing or a rare thing, describe as much as possible)
They are called socials, we have to register them with the Campus Activies office, it is common for parties with other houses. It depend on the group how many socials we have. We usally have around 3 or 4 each semester

Good relationship with the University Administration?
Somewhat
Good relationship with Greek Affairs/Greek Life?
Yes
Is your director of Greek Affairs Greek? From your Campus?
Yes, Alpha Chi Rho not sure from where.

Average dues associated with being in a chapter? More or less than living in Residence Halls? Active out of house - 400, Active out of house - 1800, New Member - 600, New Member in house - 2000

Hazing, common or uncommon?
Very uncommon with sororities
Fraternities somewhat common

Describe the types of philanthropies chapters do?
Lambda Chi Watermelon Bust
Pike Powderpuff Football
DZ Turtle Tug
AXiD Xi League (Home Run Derby)
PiKapp Couch a Thon

Any notable traditions for the Greek System?
Homecoming - Greek are the biggest participants