"Best" Colleges and their Greek Systems

[Miriverite]

Harvard University doesn't officially recognize fraternities and sororities, so any organizations on its campus does not get funding or a house, etc. However, there are three sororities (if I remember corrently, they are Kappa Alpha Theta, Delta Gamma, and Kappa Kappa Gamma). They function pretty much the same as any sorority anywhere else; all recruitment, parties, etc. are done in the dorms or on other common areas on campus. I also know some Harvard girls who participate in city-wide sororities, like our Boston chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha or the community-based sorority Delta Psi Sigma.

Greek life at MIT is surprisingly huge for a technology-heavy and northern school. We have 6 sororities and 26 (last I checked) fraternities. According to statistics, about 50% of men and 40% of women will pledge a GLO during their time here. We only have NIC/NPC organizations here, along with a service fraternity (APO) and a professional fraternity (AKPsi). There are no Christian, music, or MCGO's... nor do I ever recall an interest being present for any of them. I think most of our frats/sororities are diverse enough to begin with. Everyone is super loyal to their GLO, and while we don't host a ton of Greek events (think Cyprus-Rhodes Greek life), we do have many opportunities to show our support. Most of the GLOs on campus, in fact, are known for two things: 1) their parties, and 2) their annual philanthropic events. I definitely know that the sororities (aside from very blatant stereotypes that are tossed around) are best known for their annual events - AXO has Lipsync; APhi has the King of Hearts male beauty pageant; AEPhi has their Spaghetti Dinner; Theta has their KATwalk fashion show (clever); Sigma Kappa (which is NEVER called SigKap up here) has Late Night; and Pi Phi has their Pie Sale and Read-a-thon. As for frats, they are mainly known for their parties There are definitely a lot of trends and "stereotypes" within each GLO, but I think that everyone accepts that and ignores it.

[Senusret I]

Originally Posted by Miriverite

Harvard University doesn't officially recognize fraternities and sororities, so any organizations on its campus does not get funding or a house, etc. However, there are three sororities (if I remember corrently, they are Kappa Alpha Theta, Delta Gamma, and Kappa Kappa Gamma). They function pretty much the same as any sorority anywhere else; all recruitment, parties, etc. are done in the dorms or on other common areas on campus. I also know some Harvard girls who participate in city-wide sororities, like our Boston chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha or the community-based sorority Delta Psi Sigma.

Greek life at MIT is surprisingly huge for a technology-heavy and northern school. We have 6 sororities and 26 (last I checked) fraternities. According to statistics, about 50% of men and 40% of women will pledge a GLO during their time here. We only have NIC/NPC organizations here, along with a service fraternity (APO) and a professional fraternity (AKPsi). There are no Christian, music, or MCGO's... nor do I ever recall an interest being present for any of them. I think most of our frats/sororities are diverse enough to begin with. Everyone is super loyal to their GLO, and while we don't host a ton of Greek events (think Cyprus-Rhodes Greek life), we do have many opportunities to show our support. Most of the GLOs on campus, in fact, are known for two things: 1) their parties, and 2) their annual philanthropic events. I definitely know that the sororities (aside from very blatant stereotypes that are tossed around) are best known for their annual events - AXO has Lipsync; APhi has the King of Hearts male beauty pageant; AEPhi has their Spaghetti Dinner; Theta has their KATwalk fashion show (clever); Sigma Kappa (which is NEVER called SigKap up here) has Late Night; and Pi Phi has their Pie Sale and Read-a-thon. As for frats, they are mainly known for their parties There are definitely a lot of trends and "stereotypes" within each GLO, but I think that everyone accepts that and ignores it.

Thank you for responding!

Although I am not sure if there are any members currently on campus, I know for sure that the Alphas (MIT, Tufts, Harvard) and AKAs (MIT, Harvard, Wellesley) have had members from there in recent memory.

[aephi alum]

Originally Posted by Miriverite

Greek life at MIT is surprisingly huge for a technology-heavy and northern school. We have 6 sororities and 26 (last I checked) fraternities. According to statistics, about 50% of men and 40% of women will pledge a GLO during their time here. We only have NIC/NPC organizations here, along with a service fraternity (APO) and a professional fraternity (AKPsi). There are no Christian, music, or MCGO's... nor do I ever recall an interest being present for any of them.

Slight correction from a crusty old alum...

There are two local fraternities at MIT: Nu Delta and Phi Beta Epsilon. I'm not sure exactly how old they are (their web sites both appear to be down) but they were both well-established when I was at MIT (mid 90s). PBE has been around for at least 100 years, if memory serves. There are 24 national fraternities with active chapters, and Pike is recolonizing.

There are six NPC sororities.

There are also five Independent Living Groups: WILG (Women's Independent Living Group), Student House, Fenway, pika, and Epsilon Theta. Epsilon Theta used to be a chapter of Sigma Nu, but the chapter wanted to initiate women, Sigma Nu's nationals said no, so they went local and took their chapter designation as their new name. pika (note lowercase) similarly was a chapter of Pi Kappa Alpha, and went local because their nationals wouldn't let them go coed. All the ILGs except WILG are coed.

The groups are collectively referred to by the acronym FSILG. Back in my day, all FSILG groups were members of IFC - in addition to Panhel or the Living Group Council where applicable. Now IFC governs just the fraternities.

As for NPHC, there was a pretty big Alpha Phi Alpha and Alpha Kappa Alpha presence in my day. Alpha is still a recognized student organization, but AKA is not (but I'd be surprised if they're not still around).

Greeks are highly visible around campus, particularly during recruitment (naturally) but also throughout the year. Each NPC sorority chapter is known for its major annual fundraiser.

Balancing your course load with your GLO obligations and the rest of your life was made easier, I think, by the fact that everyone has a killer course load, so if you had to punt something because you had a problem set due the next day, your sisters/brothers tended to be understanding.