What do students think of Greek life at colleges and universities?
Many films that center around a college campus feature the existence of Greek life. Sororities and fraternities, painted in a way to appear coveted and highly exclusive. Delta Nu in “Legally Blonde,” Kappa Kappa Tau in “Scream” and even an assortment of fraternities in the animated film “Monsters University.” But the reality Greek life is a much larger force of nature off the screen, spanning generations and carrying on long executed traditions.
North American Greek life can be traced back to 1776, where at the College of William and Mary, Phi Beta Kappa was founded. Originally a secret society focused on academics, it allowed students to discuss and learn topics not mentioned in class following the signing of the Declaration of Independence. But the tradition evolved to our modern understanding of Greek life in 1825 at Union College, where the founding of Kappa Alpha introduced the existence of societies that focused on academic discussion along with participation in social events.
These societies started as all-male fraternities, but as more women were given access to obtain higher education, they began to found their own groups, originally referred to as women fraternities before later changing to sororities. In the first 50 years following the founding of Kappa Alpha, fraternities were poorly organized across different campuses. Meetings within chapters, local groups of a fraternity, were disorganized as well, with few chapters having a designated space. This eventually led to the formation of houses to host the chapters and serve as a meeting space for members.
Historically, Greek life has been white dominated because of the high initiation fees and prejudices. Today, Greek life is still white dominated, leading to the formation of all African American fraternities to open the opportunity to a more diverse pool of students.
Over the years, the values of fraternities and sororities have strayed from their original purpose. Instead of being groups established for further learning and philanthropy, they’ve reached a status where some students see them as groups of party seeking college students as opposed to elite organizations built off generations of driven academics.
Noelia Bonilla ‘27 said, “I don’t think frats hold the same values as they once did, they seem more focused on partying than learning.”
