College Fraternities And Sororities Serve As Exclusive

At the start of the new school year, Millicent Arnold, a typical teenage girl, receives an invitation to join the elite and exclusive girls’ sorority at Lansing High School. Before she becomes an official member however, Millicent must demonstrate she is fit to join the sorority by finishing the initiation process: a series of ridiculous and rigorous tasks that pushes her to her limits. During a mission, Millicent discovers the nasty truth and reality of the “prefect” sorority at her high school, and ultimately decides that being herself is most important and rejects entering the sorority altogether.

Viral videos of fraternity and sorority members partying and getting drunk off of beer might be the first images of Greek Life that pop into your mind, but that’s only a stereotype. There are nine historically black Greek letter organizations across the country that present an entirely different image of Greek life. Focusing on their multiple involvement on campus, National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) members are proactive in the community and on USCA’s campus.

By participating in Greek life, the students’ social circles are expanded. Because sororities and fraternities are specific to gender, religions, races, and even majors, those who participate in Greek life create lifelong relationships with people they choose to associate with by

The first Greek organization to assemble was in 1776 at the College of William and Mary. Fraternities were built to provide friendship and recreation. It has been 239 years since the first fraternity was established and now in 2015, there are 123 fraternities and sororities. There are nine million college students involved in Greek organizations (Glass, Nicole). These members are looking to make friends, to build their resumes, to go to social events, or to learn leadership skills. Each member when joining has the incentive to change some aspect of his or her life (Glass, Nicole). If one has the opportunity to join a Greek life organization he or she should for the reasons of giving back to the community, the higher academic standards, the

sororities they make a point of telling their pledges that they will tear them down

Between family legacies, traditions, and an abundance of college themed movies, books, and television shows, it would be difficult to find a prospective college student who is not familiar with the idea of “Greek life.” For the purpose of this essay, “Greek life” refers to the system employed by many colleges and universities to establish and maintain fraternities and sororities (primarily dominated by caucasian and economically advantages students). It is important to note the existence of fraternities and organizations outside of this stereotypical “Greek” realm, such as coeducational honor and service based fraternities, though even these are not fully exempt from detrimental practices. Fraternities and sororities are often looked down upon with a negative light for a number of reasons, some of which include dangerous hazing habits and unsavory social scenes. While there certainly are undeniable benefits and negatives within these systems, the biggest effect they have is on gender. “Greek life” in college is unhealthy due to its impact on post-college gender expectations by promoting party culture, encouraging misogyny through ingrained tradition, and indoctrinating women into subservience at an impressionable age.

What these sororities have in common is the commitment to public service. All African American sororities, as well as fraternities, begins at undergraduate level to commitment. Active members of their chapters have maintain their financial cost and inactive members still have to provide membership time for the common good. Each sorority has a major history and a set of achievements and public service they provide to their community.

When one first thinks of Greek life or a sorority the only thing that comes to mind is the social aspect. Most people don’t think of sororities as social institutions that envelop their own culture, with mannerisms, languages and customs that are unique to each individual organization. However, these institutions promote a common set of values that enable members to become connected in a way that has a more profound meaning than just social interaction. Greek organizations are good examples of how institutions can affect and be affected by social status and roles within the collegiate community. They are also a prime example of how race, class and gender can affect a social setting in both positive and negative manners.

The total population of students in University of Miami is 10,615 undergraduate students, with a diversity of 55% (https://welcome.miami.edu/about-um/fast-facts/student-enrollment/index.html). 2,500 students are a part of Greek with 29 Greek Letter Organization (http://doso.studentaffairs.miami.edu/units/greek-life/index.html). There are nine sororities at University of Miami, which potential new member can rush sororities starting in spring of first year (http://doso.studentaffairs.miami.edu/units/greek-life/councils-chapters/index.html). Results:

This definition Ross provides and informs one with the true and deep meanings of what the “sisterhood” may define sorority. A sister may tell one that a sorority may appear as a partying thing, but in reality a sorority is a group that gives back to the community while having fun at the same time. Many resources do not talk about sororities in general. The resources mentioned a special group called the Divine Nine. Together these nine societies make up what is known as the National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) (Barker 17). The NPHC contributes abundantly to the community from: improving health care, raising scholarship funds, and promoting literacy to working for women’s rights, aiding the NAACP, and organizing social justice and civil rights, … (Fine 2). There are only four societies in the Divine Nine that are sororities. These were the first sororities formed on college campuses and have successfully made a massive impact in every community.

All around the world sororities are a subculture or “a segment of society’s population” on most college campuses (Macionis 64). These sororities have their own language, norms, beliefs, and values. Most college campuses have many charters or different sororities to choose from when a student wants to pledge a sorority. On the Saint Francis University campus, there are seven sororities that a female student can belong to. Each sorority has a different philanthropy which is a foundation that the sorority stands behind. For example Delta Phi Epsilon stands behind the Educational Foundation, this foundation helps women get the education that they deserve. Sororities are known for creating a bond between girls that last a life time.

Fraternities and sororities have created a very “strenuous and selective screening processes utilizing rush events and other tools to determine who they want to become a new member.” Many people are not chosen for the organization they want. He also says that spending a lot of time with a certain group of people could make it harder for someone to branch out and meet people outside of that organization. People get so used to just being with their organization that they often forget there are other people to become friends with. In Kokemuller’s article he also says that being in “tightly knit houses” can limit the ability to branch out. If someone is in an organization that is not very diverse it can affect the ability to interact with different types of people making it less likely. Most college students do not like to break away from their group because they are just simply afraid of rejection. This may be seen as a negative because college is about branching out, but it can also be a positive because you will always have those people to back you up.

The Greek communities that have risen across the country have created huge impacts on every university that they have established themselves on. Historically, fraternities were designed for students to discreetly meet to discuss issues and host debates that their members believed would be deemed inappropriate by their collegiate faculties. Since their founding, fraternities and sororities have completely revamped their focuses. They are used as social, professional, and honorary organizations that promote many different combinations of community service, leadership, and academic success. The ideas of brotherhood and sisterhood have also transcended the college experience,

July 12th, 2005 is a day that holds a special imprint on our lives, Sigma Rho Phi Multicultural Sorority, Incorporated was established. Our sorority was established on the campus of City College of New York- CUNY. Seven amazing young women have allowed each one of us to take apart of a journey of sisterhood and lifetime friendships. The seven women who formed Sigma Rho Phi, were Crystal Beckford, Cassandra Holly, Daniela Costarelo, Katryna Rene, Angelina Miller, Maria Hassen, and Emily Ferrari. These seven women are known as the founding mothers of Sigma Rho Phi. The founding mothers created this sorority to focus on the pursuit of self-confidence and the achievement of academic and lifelong success in the female community.

This excerpt shows how more emphasis is put on women’s appearance and its keep up, and also shows the negative connotation of this prettiness; it is associated with shallowness. Not only is there an assumption that women spend much of their time on their appearance, but also there is the connected fact that others pay more attention to their appearance than their other character traits. This is still a reality of today as can be seen on the red carpet. Female celebrities have a whole industry devoted to making them look fashionable and pretty for events. The focus of these events becomes what they’re wearing rather than their work as actresses and singers.