All Greek organizations had a chance to get to know the new faces on campus at Meet the Greeks last Tuesday, Sept. 9, in the Multipurpose Activity Center (MAC).
Meet the Greeks gives students who know little about Greek life at the University an opportunity to find out what it truly entails.
Cassie Fortunato, a social work major who is a first time recruitment counselor said, “Meet the Greeks is a very positive experience, as is getting involved in Greek life in general. Going Greek, you get involved on campus and meet new people, while making lasting friendships and connections.”
Each fraternity or sorority is assigned their own table to fill with information. This is an opportunity for all of Greek life to gather in one spot and show new interested students how different each group of Greeks really is.
Over 500 people attended Meet the Greeks according to Kendall Bohannon, Vice President of Panhellenic Recruitment and homeland security major. The majority of those who attended were freshmen and sophomores, but upperclassmen and transfer students made an appearance as well.
“Meet the Greeks is a great opportunity to meet the upperclassmen involved in Greek life, and have a chance to get comfortable with all the organizations,” said freshman nursing major Anna Caruso. “It was such a good experience and I got so much out of it, you learn so much and meet so many genuinely nice people.”
Students were able to ask questions to sisters and brothers about recruitment, social events, and Greek life as a whole.
Zeta Tau Alpha Recruitment Chairand communication major, Amanda Caruso, said that Meet the Greeks is not only beneficial for new students, but for organizations as well.
“We like to be a friendly face for new students to turn to as a resource to campus,” said Caruso. “We also like to know who on campus is interested in Greek life so that we can get a better idea of who will be coming out for Spring Recruitment. We are always looking to better our chapter with each new member class.”
Recruitment counselors are also a resource for new students to use to get to know more about Greek life.
Fortunato said, “Many of the girls were very relieved when I went up to them to see if they had any questions because they really did not know what to do. It was a very good experience for me because it was really nice being able to answer questions and help them with what they needed.”
Entertainment was provided by some of the mutli-cultural organizations on campus. Alpha Kappa Alpha, Lambda Theta Alpha, and Lambda Theta Phi all contributed with different dance and chanting routines.
This year, Meet the Greeks had two new organizations join them: Delta Tau Delta and Tau Delta Phi. More options meant more students attending the event.
“At first, all the fraternities and sororities in the same place, was a little overwhelming, just because there were so many people,” said Caruso. “Then when I started to talk to the girls in all of the different sororities it became less overwhelming and more fun.”
In previous years Meet the Greeks was held in Anacon Hall, which caused the event to seem even more crowded with such limited space. With the extra room given in the MAC, sororities and fraternities have more room to spread out with their boards, t-shirts, and members.
While this is the first step in getting involved with Greek life, sororities and fraternities have specific dates set aside for recruitment. Students must be able to attend all recruitment sessions to get all the information needed to join Greek life. Students should keep an eye out for e-mails with these dates. If a student was unable to attend Meet the Greeks, they can look for information on who to contact on the University website, or bring all contact information to the Student Life offices.
Meet the Greeks is an event that is held once each semester so if an interested student did miss the fall event, there is always another chance come spring.
PHOTO COURTESY of Erin Ally
