“So what sorority are you in?” I get this question a lot when I’m wearing my letters around campus, and it’s always fun to see the reactions when I answer, “I’m not in a sorority, I’m in a fraternity.” I’m usually met with a blank stare or something along the lines of “Uh…but you’re a girl.”
Fraternities can definitely be co-ed, everyone! I know, it’s not something too common in the Greek community, but I’m a proud female sister of a co-ed social fraternity. The perks of being a girl frat star are endless. Your sisters will always stay that extra hour with you at Joe’s, but your brothers will always eat that Fat Sandwich with you afterwards. Sure you can complain to your brothers about your boyfriend, but only your sisters will understand what you’re saying. I’ve gotten the best crafts from my sisters but my brothers know how much I love free pizza. The list could go on and on, but my love for my brothers and sisters goes much deeper.
I didn’t just decide to pledge because I wanted a group of friends—I joined because I wanted a family. When I went away to college as a freshman, I had a really hard time adjusting without my family. I had plenty of friends, sure, but there just wasn’t that deeper bond that I was looking for. I transferred to UIUC last fall as a junior and went to Quad Day like a freshman, trying to find some way to get involved on campus. I wandered past table after table, signing up for this club or that club. I passed a table with guys and girls wearing the same Greek letters and stopped to introduce myself. It was just as weird to me as it probably is to you that there were girls in the fraternity along with guys, but I went with it. They had something to offer me that other Greeks couldn’t—a family away from my own.
I would have never joined Greek life if it weren’t for my fraternity. Growing up in a family with only brothers, I never believed that I would be able to be really comfortable in a sorority. In my fraternity, it’s not just about sisterhood or brotherhood, it’s about family. Sure, both sides have their own perks when it comes to campus life—I could go with my brothers when I want to get swole on the bottom floor of the ARC or I could stay in with my sisters and watch Mean Girls for the millionth time; but it goes even beyond that. I can truly be unafraid to be myself around my fraternity just as I would feel around my blood family. I can depend on them and they can ask for anything from me, just like I know I can with my own blood family. Together, my brothers and sisters give me that real family bond that I missed my first two years of college.
