Greek life is a common way for many students to join something bigger than themselves. Not only do many view it as an opportunity to meet new people, but also as a means to help one’s community.
There are currently five fraternities and six sororities on the Cal Poly Pomona campus. The fraternities on campus governed under the Interfraternity Council are Phi Kappa Tau, Pi Kappa Alpha, Pi Kappa Phi, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Sigma Chi, Tau Alpha Epsilon and Triangle.
The Panhellenic sororities include Alpha Zi Delta, Chi Omega, Kappa Delta, Phi Sigma Rho, Sigma Kappa and Zeta Tau Alpha.
“At first, I was hesitant but after thinking about it more, I thought joining a sorority would be a great way to meet different kinds of people outside my major,” said Jaclyn Molnar, a fifth-year engineering major and former president of Kappa Delta sorority. “I knew I would make friends within my major so joining Greek life would expand my friend group even more.”
Joining a fraternity or sorority introduces one to a new world filled with brotherhood or sisterhood.
To join a fraternity, there are weeklong events that men will attend in order to meet the brothers of the fraternity of their choice. At the end of the week, the acceptees will get a call for a preference lunch or dinner so they may receive their bids, a form of acceptance from the organization.
On the other hand, joining a sorority has a different process.
In order to join a sorority, one must go through recruitment during September. It is a three-day process with a $40 fee requirement. Women meet members from each sorority and learn about their different values, philanthropy and sisterhood. On the last day, participants choose their desired sorority and await to receive a bid the following day.
Greek organizations commonly have philanthropic causes that they raise money and volunteer for. Every organization has a philanthropy week dedicated to raising money for charity. In Greek life, the different organizations view themselves as family.
“I’m not going to say Greek life is for everyone, but it’s definitely worth a try. It’s not at all what the movies and TV shows make it out to be,” Molnar said. “Especially at Cal Poly, Greek life is very close, so we all try to help each other out instead of putting each other down.”
Therefore, it is very often that fraternities or sororities support each other’s charities by participating in the various games, events and other activities planned during an organization’s philanthropy week.
During spring semester, all the organizations compete against one another during Greek Week. The entirety of the money raised during this week goes to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.
Every year, Greek Week has a different theme and each organization is assigned a role under that theme.
In past years, some events included a food fair, Greek Olympics and a lip sync battle.
“Joining Greek life made me enjoy my college years even more because I met a lot of different people and learned a lot about myself,” Molnar said. “I became more social, outgoing and professional.”
A previous version of the story was missing Sigma Kappa in the list of Panhellenic sororities and Pi Kappa Alpha and Tau Kappa Epsilon from the list of organizations governed under the Interfraternity Council.