Involvement In Greek Organizations

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Introduction
Involvement in Greek organizations has been a part of college students’ undergraduate experiences for over a hundred years. Fraternities and sororities were originally assembled for the furthering of social and academic aspects of college, as well as for developing professional skills and making connections for life beyond graduation. There are different types of Greek organizations, including social organizations and honor societies. Social fraternities or sororities are the organizations which first come to the minds of people when greek life is mentioned. The first social fraternity that still exists is the Kappa Alpha Society, which was founded in 1825, and the first sorority that still exists today is Alpha Delta Pi, …show more content…

There are also assets to schools that host Greek communities, primarily in finances. Students who decide to participate in a Greek organization can develop and mature into fine people of society, going on to become leaders and successful people in their respective career fields. Entrance into these career fields can be aided due to the network of connections that is constructed during the years at the university, especially in a sorority or fraternity. Only 2% of the male population is or has been involved with a Greek organization. This means that the number of people in prestigious positions or career fields around the country who are in a fraternity is highly disproportionate to those who are not. Past all of the benefits brought by membership in a fraternity is a gray area which includes the theory that Greek organizations don’t have effect on the student, as Beth McMurtrie says here:
“One of the largest studies… concluded that Greek life may have less influence on behavior than previously thought. But that’s largely because Greek organizations draw students who already drank more heavily and were more socially engaged than their peers in high school. In other words, fraternities may not produce socially active, hard-partying members so much …show more content…

The three main factors which the members of the chapters included in the study were whether or not the fraternity had a house, how large the fraternity is, how old the fraternity is or how long it has been on campus, and the amount of resources available to the fraternities. Having a house is often a deciding factor when potential new members are considering the different fraternities. According to the members in the study, it is also associated with the heavy alcohol consumption, because the house offers a place for this consumption to happen. Pressures on the fraternities to complete fill their house to comply with campus policies can also cause the active members to “lower the standards” during new member selection, strictly to reach the numbers required by the school, letting in people who are joining the fraternity for the wrong reasons. The next characteristic associated with the stereotypes is the size of the fraternity. “If you have more people, a [larger] percentage would drink and party,” said an individual in the study. The relationship between the active members and the pledges would also assumed to be lessened, because of the size of the group, and this would be when the pledges are less likely to be treated well. The last characteristic mentioned in the study that is associated with negative stereotypes on fraternities is the age

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