How much do you know about Greek Life?

When you ask many students at Brock if they know about fraternities or sororities, many will give you generic answers based off of movies such as Animal House or House Bunny. According to many people, Greeks are students who lack morals, love partying, all look the same, buy their friends and are horrible students, but that is definitely not the case.


In many Canadian Universities, Greek Life is an amazing opportunity to get involved in around campus. Although some may see Greek Life in a negative way, it has done nothing but enrich its member’s lives not only socially, but academically and mainly philanthropically. Being a part of Greek Life gives people the chance to participate in philanthropic activities as a group, making them more fun. Some sororities and fraternities have monthly study hours that are mandatory, which helps in furthering their academic endeavours. A lot of our sisters would not be as involved in the community or around Brock if it wasn’t for Greek Life. It’s amazing to know that you have a group of sisters, who are essentially a second family, which you can count on to be there for you at anytime for anything.


Currently at Brock University there is one Fraternity, Zeta Psi, and two sororities, Alpha Pi Phi and Omega Sigma Chi and Greek Life is continuing to grow!


An important aspect of Greek life is Philanthropy. Volunteerism and fundraising are intrinsic to Greek life! Greek Life at Brock supports various Philanthropies such as Big Brothers Big Sisters, CIBC Run for the Cure, Alzheimer Society of Canada and many, many more!



An important thing to keep in mind is that Alpha Pi Phi (and other sororities and fraternities) have a strict policy on anti-hazing. Hazing is what we believe to be anything that would put an individual in an uncomfortable or harmful situation. Alpha Pi Phi is very strong in our stance against hazing, as we believe all it does is create division among the pledge class and the active members instead of fostering friendships. Our pledge period involves activities, otherwise known as pledge tasks, which are designed to create a stronger bond among the pledges and to the sorority. These tasks have since been described as fun, and help each new member in their pledging period to adjust to Greek life.


Some of the positive outcomes of Greek Life include (but are not limited to); community and school involvement, study buddies, academic help, leadership, social skills, support network, business connections, philanthropy, lifelong friends and people who are there for you when you need them. Through many positions within a sorority or fraternity, one also can build on skills such as event planning, budgeting, networking and more!


Some fun facts about the GREEK communities:

• College graduates who belong to a sorority or fraternity tend to be more successful financially than other college graduates.
• Student members tend to participate more often in co-curricular campus activities. Nationally, $7 million is raised for charity by Greek organizations.
• Fraternities and sororities provide a viable option for leadership development and extracurricular involvement.
• Forty-three of fifty of the largest North American companies are headed by fraternity men and sorority women.
• 85% of Fortune 500 executives (past and present) belonged to a fraternity or sorority.
• Greeks volunteer 850,000 hours yearly across North America.
• All the Apollo 11 astronauts were fraternity members.
• More than 7 million men and women in the United States and Canada are Greek, which is only a fraction of the population.

GREEK TERMS

(INFORMATION TAKEN FROM http://www.valdosta.edu/stulife/greek/GreekTermsandFunFacts.shtml)

Many sororities and fraternities are different, some use different terms and processes for recruitment.

Types of Members- 

Potential New Member: A non-member who is eligible to participate in the recruitment process, visiting Greek organizations with an interest in possibility affiliating with one organization.
New Member: A new member of a fraternity or sorority aspiring to become an initiated member.
Active: An initiated collegiate member who is currently paying dues to an undergraduate chapter.
Alumna: The graduate members of a Sorority. Plural: Alumnae.
Alumnus: The graduate members of a Fraternity. Plural: Alumni.

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Bid: A membership invitation extended to a prospective member.

Bid Day: The last day of recruitment where a potential new member accepts the bid to become a new member.

Big Brother/Big Sister: An active member chosen to assist and advise a new member.

Chapter: The local group of undergraduate students on a particular campus recognized by the university and/or the (inter)national organization.

Initiation: A ritual based ceremony that marks the acceptance of a lifetime commitment to the fraternity or sorority.

Legacy: Someone who’s mother, father, sister or brother is a member of a particular Greek-letter organization. Being a legacy does not guarantee membership.

Mixer: A themed party between a fraternity and sorority.

New Member Educator (Pledge Educator): A sister or brother responsible for overseeing the development of new members and their preparation for initiation. This individual serves as a liaison between the new members and the chapter.
Philanthropy: An effort to promote human welfare. Philanthropic activity is one of the foundations of Greek-letter organizations.
Pinning: See Pledging.
Pledging: The ceremony in which an individual begins to become a member of a Greek organization. 
Recruitment: The organized period of selecting prospective new members. It is a mutual selection process. 
Rush: See Recruitment.