What is a fraternity or a sorority?
A fraternity is a group of men or women bound together by friendship, brotherhood or sisterhood, and common goals and aspirations. Women’s fraternities are most often referred to as sororities. The members that form the fraternity or sorority share their friendship, efforts and knowledge. Together these members learn and grow and make the fraternity or sorority strong. Their common experience builds ties that last a lifetime. This forms a brotherhood or sisterhood amongst the members which helps to develop strong and creative leadership which leads to success.
Though there are many different fraternities and sororities, they all share common founding principles that are of interest to any college student. Fraternities endeavor to enhance your educational experience by emphasizing intellectual, interpersonal, and social development. The ideals of lifelong friendship, sound education, campus and community service, and social interaction are what fraternity and sorority members strive to live by every day.
You may also here the community members refer to their selves as “Greek Life,” due to when these organizations were started, many chose to select Greek Letters as an identifier. These letters usually have a significant and deeper meaning to initiated members. As the Fraternity and Sorority communities around the world have grown, not every organization is identified by Greek Letters so we use Fraternity & Sorority Life to better represent all organizations.
Aren’t fraternities and sororities just like ones in the movies and on TV?
Hollywood rarely portrays an accurate depiction of the world, especially when it comes to college social activities. Fraternity and sorority organizations do hold social events, but most of those do not include alcohol. Today's fraternity and sorority communities across the nation have adopted a stringent approach to socializing thereby creating a safer, more beneficial environment for its members. There are strict guidelines and procedures concerning the availability of alcohol at chapter events, and these rules are enforced by the inter/national organizations, the University, and by internal chapter standards.
Chapters also host events regularly where alcohol is never permitted. These include educational programs or workshops, community service events, intramural sports, brotherhood or sisterhood retreats and Greek Week. The chapters on campus pride themselves on being transparent with the community and truly exhibit the love that comes through every brotherhood or sisterhood.
Fraternity and sorority members are all a bunch of elitists, racists and cliquish, aren’t they?
No. Fraternity and sorority members come from a variety of ethnic and economic backgrounds. The fraternities and sororities across the NMSU campus welcome diversity. ANYONE CAN JOIN A FRATERNITY OR SORORITY!
Don’t fraternities and sororities take up a lot of time?
Fraternity and sorority membership requires anywhere from 2 to 8 hours a week, which is similar to the commitment of taking on an additional 3 credit hour course. Whether it be planning an event, a community service project, or regular weekly meetings, organization members have learned to manage their time wisely with other commitments such as homework and jobs.
Aren’t fraternities and sororities expensive?
Annual membership dues vary from approximately $200 to $4500. These costs are used to pay for the upkeep of a chapter house or lodge, philanthropy events, scholarships, intramurals, and the dozens of social events offered.
If I’m new to campus, shouldn’t I wait to get my “feet on the ground” before I join?
NMSU is a big place. One thing you might not know about involvement though is research shows that students who get involved in at least one thing their first semester do better – so even if you’re worried about your classes, it's still worth finding a group to get connected to outside of academics.
If you’re not sure which group to join or how to start thinking about getting involved, we usually recommend that during your time in school, you should try to get involved in at least 3 different types of groups:
1 that is academic or connected to your major or professional skills that will serve your future career ideas
1 that is service-based, we all benefit from serving those around us
And 1 that is purely for fun.
What is Rush and Recruitment?
Recruitment is the time for men and women to explore joining a fraternity or sorority. It is a time when students on campus have an opportunity to visit each fraternity or sorority and compare what each has to offer so that they may choose the best one for them to join. While you may still hear some groups refer to the period of seeking out new members as “rush,” we at NMSU prefer recruitment as the term has become outdated and associated with the stereotypes portrayed by Hollywood.
There is also a process known as Membership Intake for our culturally based organizations, such as Kappa Delta Chi Sorority, Inc., and is a formal process of attending events and informationals hosted by the chapter.
If I take part in Rush or Recruitment, do I have to join a chapter?
No. Recruitment is a time to see what fraternity or sorority life can offer you. Going to open events, recruitment functions, or registering for recruitment does not commit you to joining a fraternity or sorority.
What is Bid Day?
Bid Day is when you pick up your invitation to join a fraternity or sorority. For primary recruitment, the sororities utilize a mutual selection process where interested women indicate, in order, the organizations they are interested in joining and the organizations choose the women they are most interested in having as members. The selections are then matched together. Women receive their bid (invitation to join) on the last day of the recruitment process.
The men’s fraternities use an open bid process where an interested student may receive a bid from more than one fraternity. Bid Day comes at the conclusion of recruitment each semester. If you get more than one bid, this setting gives you a chance to make your informed choice with no pressure. There are also staff there to answer any questions you might have.
I’m interested, but I’m still not sure.
That is exactly what the recruitment process is for. It is a time for you to see if joining a fraternity or sorority is right for you. The Fraternity Open House (or Fraternity Fiesta) is a time to come by and meet fraternity men from each chapter, and learn a bit more about the chapters. There will also be men from the Interfraternity Council (IFC) who can answer questions about fraternities in general without trying to influence you to join any particular fraternity.
The Panhellenic Sisterhood day during primary recruitment is a day to explore all the women’s sororities on campus and meet women that could one day be your sisters. The Recruitment Staff and Recruitment Guides (Rho Gammas) will be there throughout the entire process to help answer any questions or guide you as you make one of the most special decisions of your college career.
The members of Kappa Delta Chi Sorority, Inc. also host several events during the start of the semester in order for you to meet the women in their organization and make a decision that is best for yourself.
