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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).
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