Greek life often carries a negative stigma. But there is much more to these organizations than meets the eyes.
“Rushing for Greek means you don’t only get to be involved with many activities on campus, but you get the unique experience of being in Greek as well,” said Colton Bell, president of Psi Phi Psi. “Comparing it to a club, you join a club, you meet up once a week and play a game or do something else. You meet a couple people that you might talk to now and again or see three semesters down the road. When you go Greek, it really is a lifetime thing. It’s described like that by everyone; it’s a lifetime bond.”
However, there is even more to Greek life than simply the friendships you are able to form. Greek life opens doors to countless possibilities — an entire article could be dedicated to listing the famous people who were once a member of a fraternity or sorority. This list includes the likes of George W. Bush, Condoleezza Rice and Michael Jordan.
“You meet a lot of good people,” Jay Atkinson, president of Pi Theta Xi said. “You have a lot of leadership positions. You build a lot of good ties with sponsors and planning events. And it gets you out and involved doing something instead of sitting in the dorm.”
More recently, the fraternities and sororities on campus have begun working on developing a scholarship through the Legacy Paws located near the Weber State shuttle stop.
“The details of who gets the scholarship is still in the works,” said Bell. “But the money from the Legacy Paws is already set up to go into a scholarship, so we are looking into adding a Greek scholarship.”
This scholarship will be one of many philanthropic activities members of the Greek community have taken on. According to Bell, a significant portion of philanthropy nationwide is conducted by Greeks.
For those who might be interested, Rush Week is in full swing already with much to do for the rest of Rush Week.
On Monday, the Greeks hosted the “Greek Crawl.” On Tuesday, they participated in some of the aforementioned philanthropy in the “WSU Greek Service Event.”
On Wednesday, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. there will be a “Meet and Greek” at the Bell Tower Plaza. This will be followed by “Formal Night” from 5-9 p.m.
On Thursday, from 6–9 p.m., the Greeks will host “Let us Entertain You!” in the Stewart Wasatch Lifestyle Center.
After Friday, there is a wide array of activities based on getting students more familiar with sororities and fraternities.
“One of my friends told me about Greek life and said ‘this is cool. We should do it,'” said Sami Tibbets, secretary of Tau Psi Beta. “So I went, and I rushed, then I pledged, and now I have a whole bunch of friends. I wouldn’t know half the people that I do know without it.”
