Tell us about your campus

[Betarulz!]

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?

[Betarulz!]

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.

[Rio_Kohitsuji]

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


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

[Rudey]

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

-Rudey

[TSteven]

Originally posted by Betarulz!
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.

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?

[Stef the Pef]

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.

[KSUViolet06]

Here goes!

University: Kent State (main campus)
Founded: 1910
First Greek Chapter: We were the first sorority (1925), but I have no clue about the fraternities. I know they were here before we were.
Commuter
Total enrollment: approx. 25, 000
% Greek: about 8-10%
NIC Fraternities: 21
NPC sororities: 6
Locals: 1 sorority
NPHC: 8
Multicultural: 1 co-ed latino fraternity
Wet or dry campus: The upperclassmen dorms allow alcohol if you are 21, but everywhere else is dry.
Greek Housing Arrangements: All 6 NPC are housed, as are all but 2 NIC fraternities.
Greek Housing plans: Yes, there are plans to build more
Cold airs, open airs, sleeping porches: No
When are fraternity parties: Thursday nights
City easy on underaged drinking: No
Bars easy to get into underage: There's only one 21+ bar in the city that will let underage people in, so no.
Type of fraternity rush: Open
When is sorority recruitment: 2nd week of Sept.
Do Greeks run things: Yep. We're the only people who really participate or care.
Last time a greek was student body pres: We have a Student Senate (not just one person) who is head of the student body. 7 of the 9 senators are Greeks.
Last time a Greek was Homecoming King: This year.
Last time a Greek was Homecoming Queen: 2 years ago.
Greek social types: We have socials, mixers, and date parties. Most chapterrs have 2 or 3 per semester. We also have formal and semi-formal.
Administration relationship: It's better than what it was.
Good relationship with Greek Life: Most of us do.
Greek Life director from your campus?: No
Is Greek Life Director Greek?: Yes, she's a DZ and her 2 assistants are Phi Sigma Sigma & Tri Sigma.
Dues:
New members: anywhere from $900-1200/first yr.
House costs: approx. $2500/yr
Depending on the dorm, it's less.
Hazing: None.
Philanthropies: Play therapy, Komen breat cancer, Choose Children, Service for Sight, deafness, some others....
Traditions: Painting the Rock for big events like intiations, Songfest, Community Service Week

[CarolinaDG]

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 South Carolina, Columbia
Location: Columbia, SC
Year Founded: 1801
First Greek Chapter: I'm not sure about this, but I believe it was Chi Psi.. If nothing else, they are the oldest continuous fraternity (i.e. others have closed and returned)
More commuter or more residential: Residential
Total Enrollment: Undergrad, 17,000
% Greeks: 16
# of NIC Fraternities: 13
# of NPC Sororities: 9
# of Locals: 0
# of NPHC groups: 6
# of Multi cultural groups: 2 (not including NPHC)
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.)
Chapter Houses on campus and dorm floors
Are there plans for construction of Greek housing soon?
Already there
Do those with chapter houses have sleeping dorms, open airs, cold airs, porches, etc.?
I'm not sure what open and cold airs are, but they have sleeping dorms and porches

Parties thrown in the fraternity houses?
Not technically
Your city easy on underage drinking?
NO! Last I checked, there were rumors going around about SLED (South Carolina Law Enforcement Division... notoriously known as the ones who are the underage drinking Nazis) starting to carry around scanners for ID's in 5 points (our "strip")
Are bars in your city easy to drink underage in?
Some, yes, some no

Type of Fraternity Rush (Open, structured, summer, other)
Fall formal, spring informal (still pretty formal for fraternties), illegal summer parties often go on
When Sorority recruitment takes place for your system:
Fall

Do Greeks run things at your school?
Yes
Last Time Greek was Student Body President?
Currently (Kappa Alpha Psi)
Last Time Greek was Homecoming King?
Traditionally always are
Last Time Greek was Homecoming Queen?
Traditionally always are (Chi O had a long winning streak while I was in college... I don't know who last year's was, though)

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)
Called mixers and they must be registered (but they look away if they are not). Um... It's hard to say how many a semester because it's been so long, but I think we used to have 3/semester. There are two large parties... Southern Triad (KA, ATO, SAE) and Southern Belles (DDD, KD, ZTA) and other multi-group mixers (in other words, multiple sororities/fraternities).

Good relationship with the University Administration?
Yes (President is a Pi Kappa Phi)
Good relationship with Greek Affairs/Greek Life?
Yes
Is your director of Greek Affairs Greek? From your Campus?
Yes, not from campus

Average dues associated with being in a chapter? More or less than living in Residence Halls?
Um... Mine were 800/year, and that was among the lowest (Chi O was as low as us). I'm assuming that most everyone now is in the $1500-$2000 range because of houses.
Hazing, common or uncommon?
Uncommon with sororities, common with fraternities

Describe the types of philanthropies chapters do?
Dance Marathon and Clemson/Carolina Blood Drives are the two biggest all-greek philanthropies... other than that, there's Sigma Nu Gameball run, Sigma Chi Derby Days, Pi Kappa Phi PUSH America, DDD Golf Tournament, ZTA Golf Tournament, KD Shamrock Project, Chi O War of the Wings, Alpha Chi Volleyball Brawl, Kappa Kickoff, DZ Turtle Tug, Gamma Phi Flamingo Bingo, ADPi's I Spy an ADPi... Sorry if I left stuff off.. it's been a while since I graduated

Any notable traditions for the Greek System?
Homecoming's huge and competitive... Other than that, bid day on the horseshoe (though maybe they don't do it there anymore... but it used to be a huge tradition)

[PhoenixAzul]

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.

[Corsulian]

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).

[HoosierPhiSig]

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

[ZZ-kai-]

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.

Originally posted by HoosierPhiSig
University: Indiana University
Location: Bloomington, IN
Are there plans for construction of Greek housing soon?: Kappa Sigma is building the largest Fraternity house in the nation right now.

[sigtau305]

University: Cleveland State University
Location: Cleveland, Ohio
Year Founded: 1964
First Greek Chapter: Iota Eta Local Fraternity ( Later became Beta Upsilon Chapter of Sigma Tau Gamma Fraternity)
More commuter or more residential: Right now, it's commuter but there is another dorm being built / renovated.
Total Enrollment: 10,000 +
% Greeks: 7
# of NIC Fraternities: 3
# of NPC Sororities : 2
# of Locals : 1
# of NPHC groups : 9
# of Multi cultural groups : 0
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.)

Currently, We have one Dorm. Two fraternity houses ( Ours and TKE) are off campus but within a 3-10 walking / driving distance.

Are there plans for construction of Greek housing soon?
As previously stated, CSU is working on renovating a former classroom building ( Rhodes Tower) into a dorm. this will be completed by fall 2006/07. As for Greek Housing: TBA.

Do those with chapter houses have sleeping dorms, open airs, cold airs, porches, etc.? Our House have 9 rooms ( 7 double, 2 single), indoor porch, steam heat, no air condition ( only two rooms have it.), basement, etc. the house is small but it always being renovated.

TKE has three buildings: A main house, annex house ( both have maybe close to 20 rooms), and a garage-like building where they have their events.


Parties thrown in the fraternity houses? YES

Your city easy on underage drinking? No

Are bars in your city easy to drink underage in? at one point, every bar in the East bank of the Flats was easy for the underage drinker, but now all but one bar is closed because of it.


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

When Sorority recruitment takes place for your system: None


Do Greeks run things at your school? No

Last Time Greek was Student Body President? Currently, a good friend of mine is Vice-President of SGA ( Tau Kappa Epsilon)

Last Time Greek was Homecoming King? none
Last Time Greek was Homecoming Queen? none


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 fall and spring semester, Sig-Tau & TKE both average about three parties. We don't have to worry about having it register because our events is off campus ( Risk Management policies is enforced). Greek Council has a few but it's done mainly during both Greek Week and Greek Fest.

Good relationship with the University Administration? yes, but it's still a work in progress.

Good relationship with Greek Affairs/Greek Life? yes

Is your director of Greek Affairs Greek? yes, He's a member of Delta Sigma Phi Fraternity. From your Campus? yes. he graduated from the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law.


Average dues associated with being in a chapter? More or less than living in Residence Halls? I'd say about maybe $300+, give or take. Living in dorms is right now $700 +.

Hazing, common or uncommon? right now, uncommon


Describe the types of philanthropies chapters do? Ours is Books for Kids, Delta Sigma Phi has one but I don't know the name as well as TKE's.


Any notable traditions for the Greek System? Greek Games in the spring.

[Sister Havana]

Originally posted by ZZ-kai-
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.

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

[ZZ-kai-]

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.