Due to recent news headlines, a few students whom I’m coaching have amended their college lists to reduce the number of schools with “spirited” fraternity/sorority life.
Here are a few questions to ask when on college tours/at information sessions:
Percentage of Students Involved in Greek Life
Greek Life can seem larger than Real Life, so it’s important to get the facts before axing a school from your college list. When visiting campuses, I was shocked to discover that only 20-25% of undergraduates at many of the big state research universities, University of Michigan and University of Indiana, for example, join the fraternity/sorority system and at the University of Wisconsin, that number is lower. Sometimes the Sturm and Drang of Frat Row weekend festivities can appear louder than the overall tenor of a school’s many options for socializing.
Number of Co-Ed Chapters
I urge my students to ask for the number of co-educational fraternities and sororities on campus. Many colleges and universities, such as Wesleyan University, Middlebury College, Syracuse University and Chapman University among others, have changed the social dynamic at their schools by urging or requiring fraternities to invite women to join their chapters.
College Oversight
Fraternities and sororities are subject to oversight by a variety of on-campus offices and committees including Dean of Students, Office of Student Affairs, Office of Student Conduct and Community Affairs, Fraternity and Sorority Life Chapters (FSL) as well as national organizing bodies such as North American Interfraternity Conference, National Pan-Hellenic Council and the National Multicultural Council. My advice is to explore how active and involved the colleges on your list are in making sure their fraternities and sororities are governed in a safe and ethical manner.
Spirit Schools, as I call them, are very popular with many students, both those who want to participate in Greek Life and those who say that while they don’t intend to attend frat parties or football games during their four years of college, they like knowing the option exists! Whatever ecosystem a student chooses to be a member of on a college campus should be done so with eyes-wide-open, being responsible for their own self-care as well as that of their peers.
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