“Oh you’re in a sorority? Which one?” This is a question I get a lot when people find out that I am involved in Greek Life at my university. However, I love this question because I have an answer that only a handful of people can say. I am involved in a sorority, but it is not a national organization that most schools have. The sorority that I am in is a local organization. Trinity University only has local sororities and fraternities. Our sororities include: Alpha Chi Lambda, Chi Beta Epsilon, Gamma Chi Delta, Phi Delta Kappa, Sigma Theta Tau, SPURS sorority and Zeta Chi. The fraternities are: Bengal Lancers, Chi Delta Tau, Iota Chi Rho, Kappa Kappa Delta, Omega Phi, Phi Sigma Chi and Triniteers.
So what is a local sorority and fraternity? All sororities and fraternities at Trinity were founded at Trinity by Trinity University students. The first fraternity was founded in 1945 while the most recent was founded in 1996. Our first sorority was founded in 1932, more than 10 years before the first fraternity, and the most recent one was established in 2005. What is great about local Greek Life is that, if you have a group of students who want to be a part of something greater that gives back to the community, they can. If there are students who do not feel as if they fit into an already established organization, they can work toward establishing their own. Since our Greek community is local, we have a self-governed Greek council that contains members of each Greek organization on campus. This Greek council is the governing body, but they see everything that happens firsthand.
Another reason our local sororities and fraternities are unique is that they all have their own philanthropies. Each organization has a philanthropy that they have either started or holds a very special place in the organizations. One sorority has created their own philanthropy, which, within the past 10 years, has raised over $100,000. This is unique to having local Greek Life where there is a little more free range in where the money that is raised over the year is going.
Something else that make our local sororities and fraternities different is our rush process. Many national organizations have their rush for one week each semester. For us, rush is from September to February with many events throughout these six months. I personally love this process because you really get to know the organization and the members before you make a decision on which one you want to receive a bid from. This process is perfect because it allows every type of student to get involved. If you are not able to attend one event for class or sports, it is OK and you are not punished for missing because there are many more opportunities during rush.
For me personally, I love that Trinity University has local Greek Life because I am not sure that I would have joined or been able to join if our organizations were not run in this manner. Even though our sororities and fraternities are structured differently than national organizations, we are just like them. We’re all Greek; we just have different letters. So if someone says that they are involved in a local sorority or fraternity, hear them out because their organization could be as cool as yours.
