Can you be Greek, and a RA?

[josh8o]

I was wondering what everyone opinion is on being Greek, and being a RA in a dorm at the same time? There are a few openings at my school for RA's for the spring semester, and I was thinking about applying. Here are the pros:
1. Free housing
2. Free food
3. $100 a month
4. My own room
5. My own bathroom
6. The experience
7. It will look great on applications and resumes
On the down side, I don't know how it will effect my free time, as well as being in a fraternity. Do you think it is a conflict of interest? Any advice, opinions, or thoughts are wanted!!!

[DeltaGirly]

Well.....two of my sisters are RA's and here's what I can see:
They like it because they get to be close with people other than the ones in the house, but they aren't around here much. So it's pretty much just what you were saying, it is a good experience, but it takes away a lot of free time you might have otherwise spent with your fraternity.

[SH80er]

Sure, the majority of the RA's I know ARE greek!

[DukeBlue]

A couple of girls in my sorority are RAs...it's not a problem at all.

[SSS1365]

We had a sister who was president and an RA at the same time. It didn't seem to be a problem for her.

[Betarulz!]

It would all depend on the type of greek culture at your campus. At schools where there are no greek living units and greeks have sections or floors of a dorm, then beign an RA probably wouldn't be difficult or have any adverse consequences, but at campuses where the greeks have house where the majority of members live then you are going to have to work extra hard to do both. It's the same situation that anyone who lives out has to deal with, although you are going to have a lot of commitments to your floor that could interfere.

Basically, look at whether you think that you could do both at levels you deem acceptable. If you don't think that you can do all the fraternity events (parties, chapter meetings, commitee meetings, formal dinner and the like) without your RA duties suffering (being a resource for your residents, making door decorations, RA meetings, and whatever else RA's do) then don't do it. Both are big time commitments that if you don't fill people will be angry at you. And if you can't even fulfill one groups obligations then there is absolutely no reason to do it. You have huge responsibilities to your brothers and your residents.

[fuzzie]

One of our sisters was an RA and the Membership VP at the same time. She handled it very well and even recruited a few girls to go through rush. She was a very organized person, and I think that's pretty important. I think some of my other sisters were thinking about becoming RA's when I graduated, but I don't know what happened with them.

[tridgirl]

It works at my school because all greeks live in a greek dorm, except a few frats, and so most greek RA's are in the same dorm as their house so its no big deal. On the other hand my friend who is an ra who goes to USC said that there is no way you could be greek and in a glo there so it definately depends on the school.

[DGPhoney]

Well it really depends on your time management skills, we have a few sisters who are RA's. But being an RA is very very time consuming, especially around finals week and all that. And it does get to be very hectic, plus there are a lot of Rules that tell RA's what they can and can not do. I mean it has it's perks and also it's major disadvantages.
So if you can jungle a bunch of stuff and be able to fit everything in and work it out, go for it then and I wish you lots of luck
DGPhoney~

[antidrama]

Several of our brothers are RA's, but its really tough for them to be at a lot of our scheduled events because of time conflicts. But its perfectly okay and works as a good recruitment tool for us.

[dzsaigirl]

Lots of greeks are RA's here and sometimes it helps with recruitment. The only thing is the time issue. They have hardly any time at all!

[GiantsChic]

Hey Josh, if I'm not mistaken, isn't someone from your house an RA? you might wanna ask him how it is and how much free time you'll have... the housing office may also let you know how much time you'd have to put in... and you could end up w/ guys from your house on your floor, so that'd be cool :-)

[AlphaChiGirl]

YES, YOU CAN! I'M LIVING PROOF!


I was an RC (PC-term for RA) last year, while I was still very active in my sorority. I know I was virtually let off the hook during finals, I had no real responsibilities other than damage control and making sure I was prepared for finals. The only real concern was with Recruitment. As a counselor, I could not pursue serious friendships with residents of my building, so it made knowing girls really well before recruitment somewhat difficult. There was some resentment on the part of other sisters because of this, and add that to the fact that I wasn't able to devote 100% of my free time to the house (try 90-95%). Either way, I don't regret doing it, living out of house can be hard, but if you're willing to make the effort, you can be just as involved as, if not more than, some of the members who live in-house.

For time...I probably had about 5 hrs/week (outside of Rush) to devote fully to RC time, which is considerably less than the amount of time I would have worked if I had a campus job.

[penguintpa_lady]

i have sisters who are RAs & it does not seem to cause them much of a problem. but RAs have lots of rules, for ex. a couple wks ago one of the fraternities had a party (their house is off campus) & the 3 on duty RAs got other RAs to cover for them so they could go for a little while. well thier boss found out & now all the RAs are on probasion, if any of them do anything wrong they maybe fired. if u decide to do this good luck!!!!!

[mmcat]

but make sure you have seen all the rules first so there are no surprises.
mmcat