Why YOU should "Go Greek"!

Leadership - “Going Greek gives you so many connections for any type of career you are planning on going into. You not only have all of the women in your chapter as resources, but also alumni and members of other Greek chapters. There are also many opportunities to get involved in leadership positions, activities, and programs within your chapter as well as outside of Greek life. My experience with serving on my chapter’s council has really helped me develop my leadership skills and given me the opportunity to be much more involved with both my chapter and the community.” Members of the Greek community pride themselves on being involved, becoming leaders, and taking opportunities to become their best. Just take a look inside an individual chapter: chapters have dozens of positions that are filled by members of the sorority. You can run for anything - from executive council positions to a committee member! Positions have a wide range of amount of responsibility and time commitment, such as President or Vice President of anything from Standards to Recruitment, to Social Chair, to Alumni Relations, to being a member of a committee for Homecoming or Greek Week! Taking on a leadership position within your chapter is a great way to get involved, an awesome addition to your resume, and a perfect way to learn the skills and attitude it takes to problem solve, contribute, and work as a member of a team. One woman describes her experience with a position in her chapter as follows: “The leadership opportunities are endless. I really became a strong leader and gained skills that are necessary for the real world (communication, organization, listening, etc.). You learn how to better yourself with the help of your sisters.” Many of the 50 Panhellenic women we spoke with also cited their sorority, sisters, or other members of the Greek community with getting them involved on campus outside of Greek life as well! We can bet that once you join your chapter, you will find sisters in student groups you would never have dreamed existed or thought to join, but with their encouragement and involvement, you may find yourself joining in or learning more about something new! Plenty of sorority women balance campus leadership and chapter leadership – our panel of Panhellenic women includes a club lacrosse player, sports team interns, women doing medical research, a University Homecoming Queen, financial officers for student government associations, and much more. Being a part of the Greek community is also great for networking – you have a chapter full of women who can help you discover and get involved with opportunities, as well as the entire Greek community and alumni! We can’t even count how many women told us that they had received an internship or job opportunity through their sorority or through past or present members of the Greek community. Bottom line, your sisters will motivate, help, and support you in whatever you decide to pursue!

Scholarship - Joining a sorority has academic benefits as well! From requiring a minimum GPA to hosting study tables to being an awesome resource for you to connect with women (or men!) who have already been there and aced that class, Greek life has you covered academically. Chapters have academic plans that are carefully constructed to best fit all women in the chapter, and constantly make new resources available to help you succeed academically! Many individual chapters host study tables, which is a set time where sisters and friends can get together and focus together in an environment that is conducive to studying. In addition, most Greek communities host community study tables around campus, making it simple to meet up with classmates or friends to be productive and get studious! Your sisters and all the members of the community will push you to do your best and strive for excellence academically.

Service - Each NPC sorority has a specific philanthropy they support – wait, what’s a philanthropy, you ask? Philanthropy is essentially community service! Sororities each have a non-profit agency or cause that they support locally or nationally. These philanthropies range anywhere from women’s cardiac care to promoting literacy to assisting victims of domestic abuse, and everything in-between! Check out the NPC organizations at your school and look up what their philanthropies are. You’ll be surprised at the wide variety of causes you will find! Sororities support their philanthropies by hosting fundraising events, volunteering, raising awareness, or getting out in their community and supporting others’ events. You will find that the Greek community is extremely supportive of one another – at events throughout the year, you will find women and men from every chapter attending philanthropy events and volunteering alongside each other to make their community a better place and to make a difference in the world. You will also find sorority women and fraternity men volunteering in their community or getting involved with causes that may not be their chapter’s philanthropy, but that they are passionate about. All over the country, chapters participate in events such as Relay for Life, dance marathons… you name it! Service is an integral and extremely rewarding part of joining the Greek community. One woman describes her service experience as “gaining a sense of social responsibility.”

Support -Sometimes, being Greek is great just because you have a shoulder (or a hundred!) to lean on when you most need it. Here’s what one of our Panhellenic women had to say: “When first coming to college, I was a shy and insecure girl who had a bad group of friends in high school and I wanted to change that all around. By joining a sorority, I found girl friends who truly cared about me and who were always there when I needed them. I struggled with lyme disease my freshman and sophomore year and my sisters were right there beside me and supported me through those tough times, including my academic probation from low grades that resulted from my treatments. Without my sorority sisters being there for me, I probably would have dropped out of school because of my health problems seeming so unbearable. They also made me feel like I finally belonged somewhere and I can truthfully say that I found my future bridesmaids.”

You’ll find stories like this in every chapter at every University. Life can sometimes bring the unexpected, and the just plain bad days – your sisters and the community will be there to help you up when you’re down!

“Whenever something goes terribly wrong or I’ve just had a bad day, I have a house full of sisters willing to help make me feel better.”

There are hundreds of reasons why we think you should GO GREEK!

We don’t have time to list them all, but the benefits are endless. We’ll leave you with one woman’s response that we felt really resonated with us:

“Going Greek was without a doubt one of the best decisions of my college career. Greek life has enabled me to better myself through leadership & life experiences and I know for a fact that had I not joined my sorority, I would not have been pushed or encouraged to do all that I’ve had the opportunity to do in my college career. I have studied abroad as the result of a sister’s previous experience, traveled across the US on unforgettable road trips, and I’ve been challenged to go after my dreams and to always pursue happiness. My sisters were there and continue to be there every step of the way.”

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