To Greek or not to Greek, that is the question.
Of the many decisions facing incoming freshman, this choice can perhaps seem the most daunting. Offering both traditional and multicultural organizations, UT’s Greek community represents approximately 20 percent of the student body.
While the university boasts an impressive tradition of widespread participation, recent years have brought a myriad of changes to Greek life.
UT’s $45 million Sorority Village, for example, has given every sorority a new place to call home on campus.
Since first breaking ground in May, 2011, 11 of the planned 13 houses have been completed and occupied, with Delta Gamma and Alpha Omicron Pi scheduled for completion shortly.
For sophomore Alpha Omicron Pi sister Nicola Shorten, the decision to join a sorority has been well worth it.
“Going Greek has been one of the best decisions of my life,” Shorten said. “It has made a huge campus so much smaller and I have met women who both challenge and inspire me.”
Encompassing both leadership and volunteer opportunities, UT sororities hold close ties with the Arthritis Foundation, St. Jude’s Hospital and the East Tennessee Children’s Hospital through the donations and hours of service expected of members.
For the fraternities of UT, however, growth and change has been a slightly more tumultuous journey.
After garnering national attention for alleged acts by members of UT’s Pi Kappa Alpha chapter in fall 2012, the fraternity remains under indefinite suspension. In the wake of Pike’s expulsion from campus, the National Christian Fraternity Beta Upsilon Chi made history in becoming the first chapter in the nation to inhabit a fraternity house all their own by occupying Pike’s former building on Fraternity Row.
Likewise, UT’s Pi Kappa Phi chapter closed at the end of the fall 2013 semester due to charges of pledge hazing and is currently banned from re-colonization until August 2017.
But from these incidents came a renewed effort to support and protect fraternity men, such as the formation of the Greek Life Task Force, the introduction of house directors, and contracted police patrol on Fraternity Row on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.
In addition, the national administration of Sigma Alpha Epsilon formally banned the pledging process for all SAE chapters nationwide. With these changes in place, all new SAE members will be initiated almost immediately, thereby eliminating the nearly semester-long process.
Fraternity Phi Gamma Delta, otherwise known as “Fiji,” returned to the university in the spring of 2014 following a 3-year suspension. Forsaking the rush process, Fiji consultants instead allowed members to nominate men they believed would make good additions to the chapter.
For men wishing to join a fraternity, “Recruitment Week,” which is currently scheduled from Aug. 18-23, begins with a required orientation and continues with opportunities to meet brothers and representatives of each fraternal organization.
For women, the “rush” process begins with a two day early move-in on Aug. 14 and ends with “bid day” on Aug. 20. While a full schedule of activities can be found online (http://gogreek.utk.edu/files/UpdatedFormalRecruitmentSchedule2014.pdf), potential sisters are encouraged to obtain a letter of recommendation from an alumnus of the sorority of their choice before the recommended date of Aug. 1.
Multiculural fraternities and sororities accept new members through individualized New Member Education processes specific to each group.
