The beginning of a new school year, the leaves are turning brilliant shades of yellow and orange and once again it is time for Greek Recruitment.
All of the houses are preparing to meet a new class of potential members. Organizing events, planning what to wear, what to do, what their philanthropies will be this year, and what their parties will be this year.
This is also a time when mostly first and second years who are not in Greek Life decide if they will explore this aspect of student life and organization on campus.
Lots of first year students are trying to decide if this is a community on campus they wish join. Admittedly the process is not easy, and from my own personal experience the guys have it much easier than the ladies do.
Fraternity recruitment is a much less formal and structured process than Sorority recruitment is. As I am not male and therefore ineligible to join a social fraternity, I cannot speak about the details. For the ladies; however, I do know what the process is like.
Despite what you may hear about the difficulties of dressing up and trying to impress a bunch of strangers, the recruitment parties are not only a fun experience, it is a great chance to meet new people on campus. Some of the friends I have on campus I met when we were going through recruitment together.
To many, the idea of being in a fraternity or a sorority is a laughable idea. Often the Greek System is written off as being superficial, excessive, and ‘paying for your friends.’ Not to mention the less that desirable, and often false, reputation that fraternities and sororities have acquired across the nation.
Considering DU’s proximity to CU and CSU, both of which have lost students in Greek Organizations due to excessive alcohol consumption, we are also included in the negative image of fraternities and sororities that followed these events. But we must take into account how frequently a small number of people who send a bad image can ruin the reputation for the entire group.
How often have you as a college student been assumed a poor mooch who does nothing but sleep in late, party all the time, and to excessive amounts? It is obvious to us that this image of college students is false.
To skeptics, fraternities and sororities are far too expensive and time consuming for positive benefits. I know this to be true because I must confess that once I felt the same way.
At the beginning of my sophomore year I decided to go through recruitment mostly for laughs, and to quietly amuse myself with the silly sorority process.
But as recruitment approached, I realized that I had never really given the system a fair chance. I had never stopped to really learn what Greek Life, specifically at DU, was all about.
Then, I decided to go into the process much more open minded, and I was completely blown away. I was floored by the amazing philanthropy of each and every house on campus.
The system at DU is focused on positive good, and the level of philanthropic support between the houses never ceases to amaze me, even two years later.
Greek Life is not for everyone. It is a serious time commitment, it is a financial commitment, and the structure of the system does not fit everyone.
Those who do find the system to their liking have found a great social community, and a great group of friends in one of the many opportunities for involvement at DU.
The thing I like best about the Greek System at DU is that they cannot limit open events to Greek only. This allows those who are not Greek to participate in Greek events with their friends who are.
