Why Go Greek?

Scholarship | Leadership | Community Service | Campus Involvement | Sisterhood/Brotherhood | Greek Facts

Scholarship

Fraternity & Sorority men and women strive for excellence in academics. Many organizations have study hours, mentors, and other programming to enhance their members' academic performance. Many organizations also offer scholarships and recognition awards for academic excellence. As a result of these efforts, many chapters have a grade point average above the all men’s and all women’s GPA.

Leadership

Fraternity & Sorority organizations offer more leadership opportunities for their members, on average, than any other type of organization. Fraternity & Sorority chapters run under their own executive boards, chairpersons and committees composed from the undergraduate membership. Each national Fraternity & Sorority also sponsors leadership conferences that are held regionally and nationally for its membership. Additionally, the Greek governing councils involve additional leadership positions working to benefit the entire Fraternity & Sorority community.

Community Service

Every Fraternity & Sorority at Hofstra participates in philanthropy and community service projects throughout the Long Island area. Each year, Greek students raise an enormous amount for charity nationally, and Greeks volunteer a lot of community services hours each year. Hofstra Greeks do philanthropies benefiting the Benefit Show (9/11), Make-a-Wish, Cardiac Care Research, domestic violence prevention, and many more. Community service includs projects such as painting the home of a disabled person, working in the local food bank, tutoring school children, and conducting food and clothing drives.

Campus Involvement

Greek membership can help make the transition to college life easier and more enjoyable for students. Fraternity & Sorority organizations offer a support system to students through its close friendships and opportunities for involvement. Joining a fraternity or sorority can help greatly broaden a student’s social network and make the college experience more enjoyable. The benefits of Greek membership are real. A US government study found that students who join Greek-letter organizations experience many positive benefits, including the following:

Greek students are more likely to stay in college, nationally, over 70% of all those who join a fraternity/sorority graduate in five years or less, while under 50% of all non-Greek students graduate.
Alumni members achieve success. College graduates who belong to a fraternity or sorority tend to be more financially successful than other graduates.
Greek alumni give more money to their alma matters, both more often and in great quantity than non-Greek alumni.
Greek students are more active on campus and in community activities. Upon graduation, these members are also more likely to get involved in volunteer and charitable activities.

Sisterhood/Brotherhood

Fraternity & Sorority membership is a life-long commitment. For most Fraternity and Sorority members, their sisters and brothers become the closest friends they will ever have throughout college and beyond. Greek membership is a great way to help make a large campus seem smaller, offering the opportunity to build a network of friendships much stronger than through routine classroom experiences.

Greek Facts:

Here are some interesting Greek Facts:

Since 1825, the founding of Greek-letter organizations, all but two U.S. Presidents were Greek.
7 out of 10 people listed in Who's Who Among College Students & Universities are Greek.
Both females elected to the U.S. Supreme Court were sorority members.
85% of the Fortune 500 executives are Greek.
Of the nation's 50 largest corporations, 43 are headed by Greeks.
63% of the U.S. President's Cabinet members since 1900 have been Greek.
Over 85% of the student leaders on some 730 campuses are members of a Greek-letter organization.
Since 1910, 40 of 47 Supreme Court Justices have been Greek.
More than 7 million men and women in the USA and Canada are Greek.
The Greek system is the largest network of volunteers in the US, with members donating over 10 million hours of volunteer service each year.
Over $7 million is raised every year by Greeks nationally.
Studies show that fraternity and sorority members are more likely to remain in college and obtain a degree than non-affiliated students.
1st Female Senator was Greek
1st Female Astronaut was Greek
76% of all Congressmen and Senators belong to a fraternity or sorority

Maybe you will be one of those great numbers!

Information adapted from Alpha Phi. Gamma Sigma Chapter