Mello, 1

Greek Life

Everyone has heard of Greek life, whether they have seen movies about it or have

been apart of it. People have their own views on it and a lot of people who arent

involved in Greek life usually think poorly about it. They think that the movies that talk

about sororities and fraternities are true and that it is just a way to party. Sometimes

people refer to others who are in Greek life as wanting buy friends. These negative

stereotypes have caused a bad reputation concerning the way people think of Greek life.

It is more about just joining an organization because you are helping out a community

while making long lasting friends. This is more than an organization for four years of

college it is a lifetime commitment. Whether you have already graduated college you are

still apart of the Greek life system and always will be.

Greek life is comprised of different sororities and fraternities at college

universities in the United States for undergraduate students. Greek life is gender based;

where fraternities are made up of males and sororities are made up of females. I am a new

member of Delta Zeta at UNC Charlotte. Delta Zeta is spread throughout the United

States at many universities. Each sorority and fraternity has their own philanthropy,

through which they do community service work and hold events to give money to their

philanthropy. Their philanthropy is a charity that they donate to and raise awareness for.

It is a volunteer-based organization and relies on the members to manage events and

fundraisers to raise money towards their philanthropy. Delta Zetas philanthropy is

speech, hearing, and the Painted Turtle Camp. They have a lot of fundraisers and events

to raise awareness about their philanthropy. Each sorority and fraternity is different and

has different values. They have their own rituals, handshakes, and events that they put on.
 Mello, 2

The goals of Greek life are to form longtime friendship and community service to make

the world a better place. Greeks also have their own language that others who are not

apart of Greek life would not understand. Some of this vocabulary includes big, little,

philanthropy, SRCs, creed, and other vocabulary. These vocabulary words are used

everyday in this discourse community whether it is in meetings or talking to people in the

discourse community. Chants are also used; every sorority and fraternity has different

chants to help get new members to join Greek life and join their organization.

Greeks use a lot of social media to get their events and charities heard of. Without

people donating money towards the sororities and fraternities philanthropy; there would

be no Greek system. Sororities and fraternities rely a lot on peoples donations and

volunteering. They use different techniques on getting their word out, such as chalking

sidewalks, using social media, flyers, and emails.

Methodology

In my research process I decided to attend a meeting and then interview two

people. For my observation I observed our new member meetings for Delta Zeta. In these

meetings I am like a student and the older sisters are the teachers. We have new member

meetings every Tuesday where we have to dress up and wear our new member pins.

These meetings get us introduced on how chapter meetings will be run. Chapter meetings

are required for all sororities and fraternities nation wide. They are held every Sunday

and members must be wearing proper attire and know the handshake and password.

Having inappropriate clothing will result in getting you kicked out of the meeting and

therefor getting fined. In these chapter meetings sororities and fraternities discus

upcoming events and new information. Until new members are initiated we are not
 Mello, 3

allowed to go to these. In our meetings we have our new member president discus with

us the values of Delta Zeta. In these meeting I am a participant along with the sixty other

girls that are new members. We listen and take notes on the facts of Delta Zeta and events

that are happening. Recently we learned that the new members have to plan an event for

Delta Zeta for our philanthropy.

Ana, the president of new members, is the speaker at Delta Zetas new chapter

meetings. Through her I observed how she conducts the meetings. She presents us with

important information about Delta Zeta and asks our opinions on upcoming events. Ana

was the first person that I interviewed for this assignment. I found a lot of information

about her that I would not know if I did not interview her. I decided to interview Ana to

get an older sisters experience in a sorority. Ana wants the new members to feel included

and to not just go along with what the older members are saying. While interviewing her,

I found a lot about why she joined Greek life and why others should too.

The second person I interviewed was my roommate Addie. Addie is also part of

Greek life at UNC Charlotte. She is involved in a different sorority than me, Alpha Delta

Pi. She explained to me what makes her sorority different from other sororities, but said

all the fraternity and sorority goals are to help out the community and create long lasting

friendships. I interviewed her in our dorm room and took a video of her. At first she was

really nervous in front of the camera, but after continuing to talk about her sorority she

calmed down. The goal of interviewing Addie was to find out how her sorority is

different from mine and why she decided to join Greek life.

I have run into a few problems while researching my sorority. Since I am a new

member and not initiated; I cannot attend chapter meetings that are held. In these chapter
 Mello, 4

meeting I would learn how the older sisters communicate and what they plan. Being a

new member I am not allowed to know our rituals. When I get initiated, I will have

access to more information on our rituals and chapter meetings. I have also run into not

knowing other sororities rituals because they are highly secretive. Not knowing their

rituals provides me limited access on how sororities are different from each other. Rituals

are things that a certain sorority has done since they were founded. Even if there is a

same sorority in another state the rituals will be exactly the same. It is a way for the new

members to be initiated and have a special attachment to their sorority.

Analysis

In my observations I learned how Greek life isnt based on the movies where

grades dont matter, instead they strive for good grades. When I observed my new

member meeting, people who got As on test or quizzes were awarded recognition and

candy. They use these incentives to motivate people in the sorority to have good grades.

In the new member meeting the leaders tell the new members how you are always

wearing your letters. Meaning that people are always representing the sorority or

fraternity so they need to keep in mind and make good decisions on things. Everyone has

a voice in my sorority there are people with leadership positions that carry everyones

opinions out. In the chapter meetings they discuss how they are going to raise money and

get opinions from people in the sorority. Our community provides a welcoming

atmosphere to people who arent Greek. They are still friends with people who didnt go

Greek, but they strive to educate people on why they should go Greek.

I interviewed two people one Ana and the other Addie who I mentioned before. I

choose Ana because she is my new member director and talks about what made her
 Mello, 5

choose Delta Zeta. Since she is a senior at UNC Charlotte she explained to me how it is

different being a senior in a sorority rather than being a freshman. I also interviewed

Addie she is a new member of a sorority at UNC Charlotte and explains to me the

reasons why she went Greek and what makes the sororities and fraternities different from

each other.

My new member director of my sorority is in charge of helping out the new members and

getting them educated on what our sorority does. She is an undergraduate senior majoring

in international business and Greek life is a huge part of her life. The reason I decided

to join Greek Life was because I wanted to be involved in an organization that was

known for being extremely active on campus. I was never involved in anything in high

school. Coming in as a freshman, I did one organization but I wasnt happy with UNC-

Charlotte, nor was I happy with the friends that I had made. My freshman roommate, who

is now my best friend, joined Greek Life in Spring 2012, and thats when I decided I

would join a sorority when I saw how active she became on campus, and in her life Ana

states. She thinks everyone should join Greek life to build character and make lasting

friendships that will go beyond just the four years at college. When I asked her a question

about why she thought that Delta Zeta was the right place for her Ana said I chose Delta

Zeta over other sororities because I had already established friendships through my

freshman roommate, who is a Delta Zeta. They were very genuine and welcoming to me

when I wasnt Greek. They seemed like a very diverse group of women that werent

looking for something superficial, but something real and genuine.

In a discourse community there are common goals that people in that group want

to achieve. The goals I believe we want to achieve are to empower women and make
 Mello, 6

changes to the world. Our Creed is exactly what we strive for. We want to build women

who want to give back to the community, we want to build relationships based off of love

and understanding, we want to build strong, honest women. We want to build smart and

knowledgeable women Ana stated her opinion about Delta Zetas goals. I think these

goals are what makes up Delta Zeta. They strive to not only make friends but rather

sisters. Delta Zeta is involved in helping sisters out whether that is with classes,

studying, or personal stuff.

The next person I interviewed was my roommate Addie, who is apart of Alpha

Delta Pi at UNC Charlotte. I interviewed her in person in our room and decided to

interview her to analyze how each sorority is different. The reason I went Greek was

seeing my friends that went Greek have a fun time through their events and the friends

that they established made me want to join Addie says. When starting college it can be

stressful at first. You are living on your own, in a new surrounding, and may not know

many people. For most people Greek life gives them the opportunity to fit in and find

friends. We started talking about her sorority is different than mine is or any at UNC

Charlotte. Addie said, What makes Alpha Delta Pi different from the other sororities is

our philanthropy. Our philanthropy is that Ronald McDonald house and all the money we

get from our events go to the Ronald McDonald house. We get to work at the Ronald

McDonald house, which makes our sorority different from others, because other

sororities dont get the opportunity to work directly with their philanthropy. Alpha Delta

Pis values are friendship, secrecy, and truth. Because we value secrecy I am not allowed

to share to you the rituals that we do that make our sorority different from others. Addie

says. Even though all sororities and fraternities have a common goal on establishing long
 Mello, 7

lasting friendship and helping out the community they do it in different ways. They have

different events, rituals, and community service. Secrecy is an important value in every

sorority and fraternity, this makes it seem more special and unique to people not having

the rituals shared with everyone.

Conclusion

The goals of sororities and fraternities are to make friendships that last a lifetime

and raise awareness of their philanthropy. They value academics, close friendship, and

community service. Even though each sorority and fraternity have different

philanthropies and events they all strive to reach the same goals of helping out the

community. Greek life relies on the communitys donations so they use a lot of social

media and different advertisements to spread their word. Through conducting this

research I have learned more about my sorority and others. I have learned that they are

supportive of all of Greek life at UNC Charlotte and contribute to other sororities and

fraternities events. I have learned that even if people are not Greek that doesnt mean they

exclude them from not letting them join their events.