Students outside of fraternity and sorority life at the University may fail to understand what it’s all about by just looking.
Sorority and fraternity members alike are often seen wearing T-shirts with their chapters’ Greek letters sprawled across their chests, bellowing different chants on their Bid Days as they run from Hayward Field or down Alder Street, and spending hours preparing to recruit the next wave of members whom they hope will continue to better their chapters.
These are some aspects of what goes on, but it’s not the only reason students choose to belong to a fraternity or sorority.
Some people don’t know the passion these members possess for their chapters and their community.
Students join for numerous reasons — to find life-long friends, to find a place to help them better themselves or just to find somewhere else to call home.
“I joined a fraternity because I wanted to be involved in an organization that offered me tools to become a better man,” Delta Tau Delta member Jeremiah Bual said. “I saw the potential to be academically successful while belonging to a great community of values-based organizations.”
Breanna Jones, a member of Alpha Chi Omega, had similar reasons for becoming a member of the fraternity and sorority community.
“I joined because I wanted to get more out of my college experience, to feel like I was a part of something, and for the opportunities that belonging to a chapter presents to you,” Jones said.
In addition to fraternity and sorority members belonging to their own chapters, they belong to a community of all the other chapters, the University, as well as the city of Eugene.
Members partner with other chapters for philanthropies, run for ASUO positions or volunteer at local organizations to keep these community ties strong.
Although fraternity and sorority members belong to different chapters, they’re still part of the same community.
“It’s always a pleasurable experience interacting with someone of a different chapter. Think seeing your extended family once every five years. You may barely be related by blood at that point, but nonetheless you are family,” Sigma Phi Epsilson member Neil Shetty said.
Besides belonging to their outer communities, the one within each of their chapters is one most cherished. Many members see it as their family away from home, especially students entering their first year looking for someone to turn if they entered any college without knowing anyone.
“I feel like the members of my sorority have become like family. The girls I’ve met have become my very best friends, and I cannot imagine what college would be like without them,” Kappa Kappa Gamma member Carsey Wolgast said.
Being a member of the fraternity and sorority community not only brings people closer, but it also can present a variety of opportunities career-wise to prepare people for the post-undergraduate world.
“I belong to a community of connections that has put my foot in the door for many opportunities. As a senior in my chapter, I feel confident to enter the professional world and know that I have connections that I wouldn’t have, had I not joined a fraternity,” Bual said.
For Wolgast, joining a sorority has given her a lot.
“It’s a great community because we all have common goals, responsibilities and interests,” Wolgast said. “I’ve never once regretted being a member of my sorority and am thankful it allowed me to find my niche on a large college campus.”
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