This summer
I was incredibly fortunate and able to attend the Undergraduate
Inter-Fraternity Institute at Indiana University. The 5 day-long institute
brings together Greek students from across the country to discuss and analyze
the issues facing the Greek community. My experience at UIFI allowed me to step
outside of my own chapter, as well as my own university, to see the similar
problems and different approaches we had as Greek students.
One of the
things that struck me most upon my arrival at UIFI was just how many Greek
chapters there are in existence. There are hundreds, yes hundreds, of Greek
organizations on college campuses today. This led me to ask the same question
that I have been asked by my non-affiliated friends: why so many? Why are there
so many different organizations to do essentially the same thing? What makes my
chapter different from another, besides the women who are members? This “why”
was essential to the UIFI experience. UIFI taught me that to do something
meaningful and effect positive change, it must be done with intentionality. The
“why” of anything is just as important, if not more, than the “how” or the
“what.” So why does my organization, and Greek life in general, exist?
The facilitators of UIFI posed this question to us all, and it was almost
disheartening to see how long it took for us to come up with the answer: our
ritual and our values. Yes, the tried and true four or five words that everyone
recites during recruitment and when explaining to your parents and job
interviewers why being in a Greek chapter is so important. But, if we were to
look beyond the marketability of these terms and really understand how they
apply to our lives, we can see the individuality of each chapter and how their
values shape their organization.
Different
chapters were formed because their founders had different values than those of
other organizations. This can be seen in the way chapters have split off from
one another, the way chapters have been created in direct response to other
chapters, as well as the parts of ritual that are essential to other
chapters, such as singing to Beta Theta Pi (having a talented Beta in my UIFI
family was incredibly entertaining). The great thing about these values and
about your chapter’s ritual is that it doesn’t always mean the same thing to
you. Being one of the older attendees of UIFI, I saw the way in which these
discussions and revelations affected younger members differently than myself.
When you’re a first-year just joining an organization, these values can
represent a goal, a model, a person you want to become. In your second and
third years, they can be a seemingly unrealistic and unachievable standard.
But, after attending UIFI and being on the cusp of my senior year, they are a
reminder of a promise I made to become the best version of me that I possibly
can be. And while every Greek student has made that oath, we are all going
about it a different way. While myself and other Thetas are focusing on finding
faith, hope, and love all around us, the members of Alpha Chi Omega may be
trying to find the symphony of life. While it is the constant struggle to
better ourselves and the world around us that unites us as Greek students, the
existence of so many different chapters reminds us that there are so many
different ways to tackle a problem.