Recruitment is very different between frats and sororities. Fraternities seem to be more casual whereas sororities are more formal and have more rules.
Christian Brown, a junior at Kansas State University, was contacted by a recruiter to start an Alpha Sigma Phi chapter at the school. Last year was the beginning of this chapter at K-State so of course, it hasn't been an easy process.
"Our ideal chapter size is around 100 and we're at about 50-60 guys right now. Our pledge class this semester is around 10 so we are still growing," Brown says.
Holly Frakes, a member of Alpha Chi Omega says, "It is a mutual selection process of the potential new members and the 13 sororities involved in formal recruitment. Throughout that week we have three to four different outfits, and the first two days you have 30 minutes at each house and are talking to three to four different girls."
"In the spring during my senior year of high school, I went to a fake patty's day party and met a lot of the guys for the first time. When I left in the morning I was given a bid which is a formal invitation to join," says Adam Bourne who is a member of the Beta Sigma Psi fraternity.
Another great thing about greek life is that it helps you with your grades and your classes. For most frats and sororities, they have study groups or study times put in place to make sure you are putting in the time and effort needed to succeed in school.
"It's hands-on a lot. Many of the houses do study hours or if you're struggling AXO will personally put you with a tutor or someone in the house with the same major as you," says Frakes
Bourne says, "It has helped me get a hold of my life by providing structure as far as academics go. When you first join you have pretty strict study requirements as a pledge, making sure your grades are there. Everyone kind of uplifts each other by making sure that we're all going to class. If you're not at a 2.7 GPA you're not allowed to go to brotherhood events. If you're in a frat with 50-plus guys, there will be some of them in the same college as you so that's nice."
Meeting new people and making connections is also super important in not only the greek community but college as a whole. If you join the community, it is much easier to find people that are similar to you and make friends for life.
"What's cool about the size of our house is that we have a middle-sized house and you know everyone by their name, what they're studying and where they're from. You get a better sense of brotherhood. It gave me a lot of really close friends because we all live together," says Bourne.
Frakes says, "I didn't have great experiences in high school or just any school before college, to be honest. It gave me so many connections and opportunities. It definitely gave me a large support system."
College can be a scary and confusing adjustment in young peoples' lives, but joining greek life can be very helpful. You're able to make friends for life and be successful with your education at the same time. It is a great opportunity for many students and future students at any university.
For more information about greek life at Kansas State University, check out: https://www.k-state.edu/student-involvement/organizations/fraternity-sorority/
