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Annotated Bibliography

How Does Participating in Greek Life Help Prepare Someone for their Future Career?

Lily Armington

Professor Malcolm Campbell

English 1104
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March 13, 2017Annotated Bibliography

Busteed, Brandon H. "Fraternities and Sororities: Understanding Life Outcomes." Gallup-

Purdue University, n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2016.

This academic source was a study performed by Gallup and Purdue University to

understand the life outcomes of sororities and fraternities. 30,000 U.S. graduates took

part in this study. Throughout this process, Gallup researchers partnered with North

American Interfraternity Conference (NIC) and National Panhellenic Conference (NPC)

to identify similarities and differences between college graduates who were members of a

Greek organization and non-members of a Greek organization. All together, 16% of the

30,000 were members of a sorority or fraternity. In terms of employment engagement, it

was reported that 55% of the Greek members that were surveyed were employed full

time. Of those members who are employed full time, 43% of them are engaged in their

work place, unlike non-Greek members where only 38% were engaged in their

workplace. It was also reported that more sorority and fraternity members have started

their own business (28%) compared to those who were not affiliated with Greek life in

college (23%). This could be correlated to the fact that 58% of Greek members did not

take out any student loans for undergraduate school, compared to the 51% of non-Greeks

that did not take out loans. By not taking out student loans, it puts less financial burden

on the student, and they can focus more on finding a career that they love.

After reviewing this study, I found it to be reliable. The study was performed by Gallup

and Purdue University, and was published by Brandon H. Busteed, the executive director

for Gallup education. Gallup serves to deliver forward-thinking research, analytics and

advice to help leaders solve problems. With over 75 years of research experience, they
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know more about attitudes and behavior than most organizations. Purdue University is a

large laboratory for discovery. The university is mainly known for their STEM program.

The intended audience for this study is people who believe sororities and fraternities have

nothing beneficial to offer students. This study wants to show that affiliating with Greek

life does help students when they get to the point in their life when they are starting their

career. The information provided in this study is fact. The study had 30,000 people,

which is a decent representation.

This can be used in my EIP because it provides information that shows how participating

in Greek life helps prepare students for their future career. Not only does this study show

that, but it also shows that participating in Greek life helps students thrive in their work

environment once they establish their career. All of the information from this study is

helpful because it shows that more Greeks than non-Greeks are successful with their

career once graduating.

Glass, Nicole. "Examining the benefits of Greek Life." USA Today. Gannett Satellite

Information Network. 8 May 2012. Web. 07 Feb. 2017.

In an article written in 2012, Nicole Glass, a senior at American University and a staff

member for the campus newspaper, wrote this online article that examines the benefits of

Greek Life. Glass was a member of Greek Life when writing this article, so her point of

view is coming from a student who has experienced being part of a sorority. Glass began

her article by stating that over nine million college students are part of a Greek

organization, and that each student has an incentive to change some aspect of their life.

Glass then goes on to talk about how although there are many positive parts to being in a

sorority or fraternity; they are overshadowed by the few negative stereotypes, such as

hazing and drinking. Next, she informs her readers of how Greek life was established in
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1825 when five Union College students came together to form a private group where they

could engage in educational debates and discussions. The men named their society Kappa

Alpha Society and went of to become the first established fraternity. Glass was able to

talk to David Stollman, co-founder of CAMPUSSPEAK, to get his input of Greek life

and how it prepares students for the future. Stollman adds that being part of a Greek

organization can help improve their leadership and interpersonal skills and that he sees a

great correlation between those skills being developed and the ability to be successful in

any task.

Reading over this article, it is clear that there is a slight bias. The writer, Nicole Glass,

was a member of a sorority while writing this article. Although she was involved in

Greek life, she still acknowledged that there were negative stereotypes associated, which

helped writing become neutral. In addition, she also interviewed a third party, David

Stollman, a co-founder of CAMPUSSPEAK, to get his opinion on Greek life. By

choosing to include other peoples opinions, it helps create less of a bias. Although this

article was published in 2012, nearly all of the information mentioned is still relevant

today. The source that I used to find this article is geared towards college students, and

because Greek life is associated with college students, it is helpful to see what is being

said about Greek life from the people it is geared towards. Reading over this article, the

audience that the author was targeting were college students who are thinking about

joining a Greek organization

After reviewing this source, I found it to be very helpful in furthering my research. The

article mentions how being in a sorority or fraternity can provide students with life skills

that they will need to be successful in their future. Glass mentions that Greek life gives
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students the opportunity to build a network and leadership skills. This is very helpful

when searching and applying for future careers. Employers typically look for people that

have leadership skills because they want their employees to thrive. By building a

network, it will help the student find a career more easily.

Horvth, Nra. "5 ways Greek life will help further those career goals of yours." USA Today.

Gannett Satellite Information Network, 15 Aug. 2014. Web. 14 Mar. 2017.

This article went over reasons joining a sorority or fraternity can help prepare their

members for corporate success. The first reason was that by participating in Greek life,

the members already know how to climb the corporate ladder. This means that because

Greek life offers a vast range of leadership positions, potential employers are more

confident because it shows the member wants to take initiative and they are good at time

management. Another reason is that Greek life prepares its members for interviews.

During formal sorority recruitment, members learn how to get to know someone in 5

minutes or less while sounding friendly but not creepy. During a job interview, it is up to

the interviewee to sell what they do for the employer. This is similar to recruitment

because the potential new member (PNM) is supposed to sell what she can offer to the

organization. The article also mentions that by affiliating with Greek life, the member is

building a large network that can help them find a career. Older members in the sorority

or fraternity along with alumni are always willing to help younger members find work or

give recommendations.

After reviewing this article, I found it to have a slight bias. The author of this article,

Nra Horvth, was a junior magazine/international relations student at Syracuse

University when she wrote this. However, she was also a member of Greek life during
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her time in college. This article came from the same source as my first article, USA

Today. Reading this, I was able to tell that the intended audience was for members that

are still in college getting ready to apply for their first career, and non-Greeks who are

wondering what the advantages are to joining Greek life. I noticed that about half of the

article was facts, such as that Greeks are philanthropic and have a professional network,

but some parts of it was opinionated such as when it stated that interviewing comes easy

to members. While that may be true for some members, other members could be

struggling with interviews, no matter how much practice they receive.

After reading over this article, I am going to use some of the information from this in my

EIP. It does a good job of laying out what Greek life can do to help prepare its members

for their future career. However, I am only using the points where it is clear there isnt a

huge bias. Although getting insight of what Greek life has to offer in terms of career

preparation from someone who is on the inside and part of an organization, it also creates

room for bias.

"NPC Foundation." National Panhellenic Conference Foundation. National Panhellenic

Conference, n.d. Web. 09 Feb. 2017.

This is the National Panhellenic Conference Foundation website. The mission statement

of NPC states, To advance the 26 womens organizations of the National Panhellenic

Conference and their commitment to personal growth by raising funds for underwriting

initiatives that launch and sustain women leaders. It also mentions that NPC values life-

long commitment to intellectual, personal and social growth; empowerment of women

and betterment of campus culture and society in general. NPC is one of the largest

organizations advocating for women, with nearly 4.8 million women initiated within the

26 different organizations.
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This is a reliable to use because it is the official National Panhellenic Conference website.

Everything that is put on this website has to be approved by the NPC board of trustees.

This board consists of the president, secretary, treasurer along with five other chairmen.

There is no single author for this website, instead a group of women are in charge if

updating the website and posting new information when it is needed.

While working on my final EIP, I will be able to use this website. It provides me with

enough information to see and understand that affiliating with Greek life can help create

women leaders, which is a skill that most people need to be successful in their future

career. Another piece of helpful information is that NPC values life-long commitment to

intellectual, personal and social growth. All of these are very helpful in the work

environment. With intellectual growth, it will help the individual want to know more

about their career and different ways to be successful. With personal growth, it will help

challenge individual, thus making them stand out in their career for wanting to know

more. This is a trait employers look for; because they want to see their employees

challenge themselves to become the best they can be.