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Fraternities and sororities in North America (also known as Greek-letter organizations, or “GLO”) are organizations of university students and graduates in the United States and Canada that have existed since at least 1750. Generally, these organizations recruit and initiate members from among undergraduate students enrolled at the universities at which they are located. While much of a member’s involvement will usually be as a student, membership is generally for life and graduate or alumni members may take on various responsibilities within separately organized alumni clubs of their respective fraternities or sororities.

While individual fraternities and sororities vary in exact organization and purpose, most share five common elements. They are generally (1) secret societies, (2) restrict membership to a single sex, (3) select new members on the basis of a two-part vetting and probationary process known as rushing and pledging, (4) own or occupy a residential property at which all student members of a single chapter live, and (5) identify themselves by complex visual symbols consisting of Greek letters, coats of arms, ciphers, heraldic badges, flowers, and colors.

Fraternities and sororities engage in philanthropic activities, often host parties and other events that place them at the social epicenter of life on a university campus, sometimes provide “finishing” training for new members, such as instruction on etiquette, dress, and manners, and create networking and career opportunities for their newly graduated members.

Two additional types of fraternities, professional fraternities and honor societies, incorporate some limited elements of traditional fraternity organization but are generally considered a different type of association. Traditional fraternities of the type described in this article are often called “social fraternities.”

History

Establishment and early history

The fraternity system in North America began at the College of William and Mary in 1750.

The first known fraternity in North America was an organization called “FHC” (colloquially known as the Flat Hat Club) that was established at the College of William and Mary in about 1750. Among its members were Thomas Jefferson and XXX. It was followed by a second society, “PDA”, founded at the same institution shortly thereafter. Little is known about either organization and both are believed to have become defunct before the year 1800. In XXXX the first fraternity with a Greek letter name was founded, Phi Beta Kappa. (Phi Beta Kappa subsequently transformed into what is now known as an honor society and is no longer generally considered to be a social fraternity of the type covered in this article.)

Early fraternities represented the intersection between dining clubs, literary societies, and secret initiatory orders such as Freemasonry. The tradition of naming fraternities with sequences of letters probably began with FHC whose name may have been drawn from its Latin motto, “Fraternitas, Humanitas, et Cognitio” (brotherhood, humanity, and knowledge). Phi Beta Kappa’s own name originated

Growth

The first fraternity house seems to have been that of the Alpha Epsilon chapter of Chi Psi at the University of Michigan in 1845. As fraternity membership was punishable by expulsion at many colleges at this time, the house was located deep in the woods.

Fraternity chapter housing initially existed in two forms: lodges that served as meeting rooms and houses that had boarding rooms. The lodges came first and were largely replaced by houses with living accommodations. Lodges were often no more than rented rooms above stores or taverns. The idea of substantial fraternity housing caught on quickly but was accomplished with much greater ease in the North as southern college students had far less available money for construction. The first fraternity house in the South was likely one rented by members of Beta Theta Pi at Hampden-Sydney College from at least 1856. Alpha Tau Omega became the first fraternity to own a house in the South when, in 1880, its chapter at the University of the South acquired one.

Sororities

Sororities (usually officially termed "women's fraternities") began to develop in 1851 with the formation of the Adelphean Society, though fraternity-like organizations for women didn't take their current form until the establishment of Pi Beta Phi in 1867, which was followed closely by Kappa Alpha Theta in 1870. The term "sorority" was invented by a professor of Latin who felt the word "fraternity" was inappropriate for a group of ladies.

Internationalization

In 1867 the Chi Phi fraternity established its Theta chapter at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, marking the first foray of the American social fraternity outside the borders of the United States. At the time, many students from the American south were moving to Europe to study, due to the disrepair into which southern universities had fallen as a result of the American Civil War. One such group of Americans organized Chi Phi at Edinburgh, however, in the course of the Theta chapter's existence, it initiated no non-American members. With declining American enrollment at European universities, Chi Phi at Edinburgh shuttered in 1870.

Nine years following Chi Phi's abortive colonization of the University of Edinburgh, a second attempt was made to transplant the fraternity system outside the United States. In 1879 Zeta Psi established a chapter at the University of Toronto. Zeta Psi's success at Toronto prompted it to open a second Canadian chapter at McGill University, which it chartered in 1883. Other early foundations were Kappa Alpha Society at Toronto in 1892 and at McGill in 1899, and Alpha Delta Phi at Toronto in 1893 and at McGill in 1897. The first sorority, Kappa Alpha Theta, was established at Toronto in 1887. By 1927 there were 42 fraternity and sorority chapters at the University of Toronto and of 23 at McGill University. A few chapters were also reported at the University of British Columbia, Carleton University, Dalhousie University, University of Manitoba, Queen's University, University of Western Ontario Wilfrid Laurier University, University of Waterloo and Brock University.

20th Century

U.S. Army soldiers, presumably alumni members of Sigma Phi Epsilon, display that fraternity's flag in Iraq in 2009.

Organization

Members of the two chambers of the Delta Upsilon legislative body, the Undergraduate Convention and the Assembly of Trustees, meet in Seattle in 1924.

Social fraternities and sororities are generally of two types: local and national. Local fraternities and sororities are those which have only one chapter. National fraternities and sororities are those with chapters at multiple universities. National fraternities may sometimes style themselves as "international fraternities" when they have chapters in both the United States and Canada.

A single fraternity or sorority chapter will often consist of two separately operating sections, a residential undergraduate or student section, and a non-residential alumni section, the latter consisting of members of the fraternity or sorority who have graduated from university and entered professional life. These two elements operate separately, providing separate programming for their respective memberships, with alumni chapters and clubs sometimes filling a role for graduate men similar to that of a men's club. The student and graduate sections of a fraternity chapter may conduct join events several times each year, such as a Homecoming reception or commemorative dinner on the fraternity’s founding anniversary. Alumni may also provide limited fiduciary responsibilities and oversight of the operations of the student organization.

Individual fraternity or sorority chapters are generally self-governing with all aspects of their organization run by elected student officers. Beyond the chapter level, fraternities are today typically governed by legislative assemblies consisting of members selected from all of the organization’s chapters. The assembly will, in turn, frequently choose a board – often composed largely or exclusively of alumni members – to govern the fraternity’s affairs and regulate the conduct of its individual chapters. Officers of fraternities sometimes have traditional corporate titles such as president and vice-president, though some organizations have unique officer titles. Chapters of Delta Chi each choose five officers, who have the titles A, B, C, D and E. Officer titles within an Alpha Tau Omega chapter include the Worthy Master, Worthy Marshall, and Worthy Keeper of the Annals. Sigma Alpha Epsilon officers include the Eminent Archon and the Eminent Herald, among others.

Customs and characteristics

Core elements

Gender exclusion

Members of a sorority pictured in 2012. In general, sorority membership is limited to women, while fraternity membership is limited to men.

Fraternities and sororities traditionally have been single-sex organizations, with fraternities consisting exclusively of men and sororities consisting exclusively of women. In the United States, fraternities and sororities enjoy a statutory exemption from Title IX legislation prohibiting this type of gender exclusion within student groups, and organizations such as the Fraternity and Sorority Political Action Committee work to maintain this status quo in federal law.

Since the mid 20th century a small number of fraternities, such as XXX and XXX, have opted to become co-educational and admit female members. However, these generally represent a minority of Greek-letter organizations and no such fraternity is currently a member of the North American Interfraternity Conference, the largest international association of fraternities.

Pledging and rushing

Most Greek letter organizations select potential members through a two-part process of vetting and probation, called rushing and pledging, respectively. During rush, students attend designated social events, and sometimes formal interviews, hosted by the chapters of fraternities and sororities in which they have particular interest. Usually, after a potential member has attended several such events, officers or current members will meet privately to vote on whether or not to extend an invitation (known as a “bid”) to the prospective applicant. Those applicants who receive a bid, and choose to accept it, are considered to have “pledged” the fraternity or sorority, thus beginning the pledge period. Students participating in rush are known as "rushees" while students who have accepted a bid to a specific fraternity or sorority are known as "pledges."

A pledge period may last anywhere from one weekend to several months. During this time pledges will participate in almost all aspects of the life of the fraternity or sorority, but will not be permitted to hold office, or to vote in the organization’s affairs. At the conclusion of the pledge period a second vote of members may be taken, often by blackball. Pledges who pass this second vote will be initiated as members of the organization.

The Sigma Chi chapter house at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Many Greek-letter organizations give preferential consideration for membership to candidates whose father or brother or, in the case of sororities, mother or sister was a member of the same fraternity or sorority. Such prospective candidates are known as "legacies."

As a general rule, fraternities and sororities require members to take an oath of lifetime loyalty to their organization, sometimes on nominal threat of death for violation. Membership in more than one fraternity or sorority is almost always prohibited. Recently, some Greek-letter organizations have replaced the term “pledge” with that of “associate member.” Sigma Alpha Epsilon, in 2012, abolished pledging altogether. Potential members are now immediately initiated into the fraternity upon accepting a bid.

The Kappa Kappa Gamma chapter house at the University of Illinois.

Residency

Most fraternities and sororities own private homes located in close proximity to a university campus where all student members of the chapter live together. Often fraternities and sorority houses (called lodges or chapter houses) will be located on the same street or in close quarters within the same neighborhood, which may be colloquially known as “Greek row” or “frat row.” At some, often small, colleges, fraternities and sororities will occupy a specific section of university-owned housing provided to them. Some fraternities and sororities are un-housed with members providing for their own accommodations. In many of these cases, the fraternity or sorority will own or rent a non-residential clubhouse it will use for meetings and other activities.

Secrecy

With a few exceptions, most fraternities and sororities are secret societies, with secret work often taking on a more complex or esoteric character in fraternities. While the identity of members or officers is rarely concealed, fraternities and sororities initiate members following the pledge period through sometimes elaborate private rituals, frequently drawn or adopted from Masonic ritual practice or that of the Greek mysteries. The inventory of ritual equipment used by Phi Delta Theta, for instance, includes no less than a dozen blindfolds, as well as a coffin, six spears, two swords, the fraternity flag, ceremonial robes, oil lamps, an altar, a plaster human skeleton, and assorted other items.

At the conclusion of an initiation ritual, the organization’s secret motto, secret purpose, and secret identification signs, such as handshakes and passwords, are usually revealed to its new members. Some fraternities also teach initiates an identity search device used to confirm fellow fraters. Delta Chi, for instance, has a seven line challenge-response initiates are expected to memorize, with the first letter of each phrase combining to form the English spelling "DELTA CHI."

“ Challenger: Do you know Kimball?

Respondent: E.L. Kimball, the insurance salesman?
Challenger: L.E. Kimball's my friend's name.
Respondent: Tall man with a dark beard?
Challenger: A rather tall man.
Respondent: Can't be my best friend Kimball.
Challenger: He doesn't know you.
Respondent: I don't know him.

”

Fraternity ritual manuals are often stored in a locking safe fixed in a concealed location within a chapter house. Some of the most privileged elements of a ritual may not be contained in the manual at all and members are expected to commit them to memory, or they may be printed in code.

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A non-working "model chapter room" maintained at Kappa Sigma headquarters.

Meetings and rituals are sometimes conducted in what is known as a "chapter room" located inside the fraternity's house. Entry into chapter rooms is often prohibited to all but the initiated. In one extreme case, the response of firefighters to a blaze signaled by an automated alarm at the Sigma Phi chapter house at the University of Wisconsin in 2003 was hampered in part because fraternity members refused to disclose the location of the hidden chapter room, where the conflagration had erupted, to emergency responders.

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Members of a fraternity participate in a tug of war competition during Greek Week at Ohio Northern University in 2011.

Depending on the group, a Greek-letter organization's secrets may trace their start to a transcendent, sometimes apocrophyl or symbolic origin, or they have a more mundane genesis. Kappa Sigma, for instance, claims an unbroken lineage to a medieval Italian secret society known as "Kirjath Sepher" formed to undermine the House of Medici. The secret work of Lambda Iota, on the other hand, was oriented primarily toward the circumvention of a campus ban on smoking that had been imposed at the University of Vermont at the time of the fraternity's 1836 formation.

Symbols, names and address

The fraternity or sorority badge is an enduring symbol of membership in a Greek letter organization.

Members of fraternities and sororities address members of the same organization as “brother” (in the case of fraternities) or “sister” (in the case of sororities).

The names of almost all fraternities and sororities consist of a sequence of two or three Greek letters, for instance, Delta Delta Delta, Sigma Chi, Chi Omega, or Psi Upsilon. In many cases the sequence of letters that forms a fraternity name is an acronym for a group's secret motto, or sometimes its public motto. The motto of Delta Upsilon, for instance, consists of two words, the first beginning with the letter Delta, and the second with the letter Upsilon.

There are a few exceptions to this general rule, as in the case of the fraternities Farmhouse, Triangle, and Acacia.

Social aspects of university Greek life

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Members of the Phi Gamma Delta chapter at the College of Charleston compete in a charity dodge ball tournament in 2010.

Social life among undergraduate members of a fraternity and sorority is often focused on events involving other fraternities and sororities. This closed social loop is colloquially known as a university’s “Greek system.” Typical social events include brotherhoods and sisterhoods, house parties, philanthropy activities, communal dining, and Greek Week.

• Brotherhoods (known as sisterhoods at sororities) are regular social events most Greek-letter organizations sponsor in which all the student members of a chapter participate in an activity or outing together. These might include attendance at a sporting event, movies, or camping trips.
• House parties are social gatherings hosted by fraternities at their chapter houses for members and their invited guests, and sometimes members of the larger campus community. As a general rule, sororities do not host house parties. Biads, triads, and quads, are terms used to describe two, three, or four fraternities pooling their resources to host a larger event.
• At many university campuses a week-long series of inter-fraternity athletic and talent competitions known as "Greek Week" is held in the spring. Fraternities and sororities compete against each other in events such as tug of war, pushball, and fashion shows.
• Members at housed fraternities and sororities typically take most meals together in dining rooms maintained in their respective chapter houses.
• Most undergraduate chapters of fraternities and sororities organize one or more philanthropy events each year. Popular activities include Adopt a Street and canned food drives. Some philanthropy events raise funds for a charity through inter-fraternity competition. "Anchor Splash," an event hosted by most Delta Gamma chapters at their respective campuses, pits a university's fraternities against each other in a series of swimming and diving competitions. Money is raised through registration fees and the sale of commemorative t-shirts.

Value and criticism

Fraternities and sororities have been criticized by conservative religious groups and by progressive activist organizations. Greek letter organizations have often been characterized as elitist or exclusionary associations, organized for the benefit of a largely upper middle class to upper class, typically Caucasian, membership base. Fraternities specifically have been criticized for what is perceived as their promotion of an excessively alcohol-fueled, party-focused, and oversexed lifestyle.

Supporters of Greek letter organizations point to high academic and social indicators among members, and greater than normal community involvement by student and alumni of fraternities and sororities.

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A newly initiated member of the Delta Upsilon chapter at Boise State University receives the fraternity's badge.

Academic performance

Studies have found that university graduation rates are 20-percent higher among members of Greek-letter organizations than among non-members and students who are members of fraternities and sororities typically have higher-than-average grade point averages.

Conspiracy theories

Some popular conspiracy theories allege fraternities represent a secret hand that undemocratically influences or controls public policy in the United States and Canada. Fritz Springmeier has alleged that "American college fraternities are a way that the Illuminati recruit and entrap university students" and that "through hell week, hazing, and ridicule the candidate is broken down into acts of submission to his fraternity or her sorority. Lifetime loyalty is put in place by vows and oaths, some on penalty of death." Springmeier believes Greek-letter organizations are part of the "whole fabric" of the "elite's control."

Hazing

Fraternities, and to a much lesser extent sororities, have been criticized for hazing sometimes committed by active undergraduate members against their chapter's pledges. Hazing during the pledge period can sometimes culminate in an event commonly known as "Hell Week" in which a week-long series of physical and mental torments are inflicted on pledges prior to their initiation. Common hazing practices include sleep deprivation, sensory deprivation, paddling, use of stress positions, forced runs, and mind games. Rarer incidents involving branding, enemas, urination on pledges, and the forced consumption of spoiled food have been reported. Supporters of fraternities note that hazing is almost universally prohibited by national fraternity organizations, and the occurrence of hazing in undergraduate fraternity chapters goes against official policy. Supporters also note that hazing is not unique to fraternities and is often reported in other student organizations, such as athletic teams.

Many fraternities customarily require or encourage pledges to construct "pledge paddles." Historically these have been used to discipline individuals who violate a fraternity's rules during the pledge period. As a traditional device in fraternities they continue to be

Nepotism and networking

Critics of Greek-letter organizations claim they create a culture of nepotism in later life, while supporters have applauded them for creating networking opportunities for members after graduation. A 2013 report by Bloomberg found that fraternity connections are influential in obtaining lucrative employment positions at top Wall Street brokerages. According to that story, recent graduates have been known to exchange the secret handshakes of their fraternities with executives whom they know to be fraters as a means of obtaining access to competitive appointments.

Personal fulfillment

A 2014 Gallup survey of 30,000 university alumni found that persons who said they had been members of Greek-letter organizations while undergraduates reported having a greater sense of purpose, as well as better social and physical well-being, than those who had not.

Member profile

Demographics

There are approximately 9 million student and alumni members of fraternities and sororities in North America, or about 3 percent of the total population. Roughly 750,000 of the current fraternity and sorority members are students who belong to an undergraduate chapter.

A limited 2010 study of fraternity chapters at eight east coast schools conducted by the University of Connecticut found that about 96 percent of student members were Caucasian.

A 2010 survey conducted by Princeton University, however, found that only 77 percent of sorority members and 73 percent of fraternity members at that school were Caucasian, roughly equal to the population at large.

Ronald Reagan was initiated into Tau Kappa Epsilon at Eureka College while George H.W. Bush joined Delta Kappa Epsilon at Yale University.

A detailed study the same year at the University of Arizona found 67.5 percent of GLO members at that school were Caucasian, relative to a campus population of 51.1 percent. That same study also found fraternity members at Arizona were twice as likely to identify with the Republican Party than non-members, and were about twice as likely to be involved in athletics or other campus activities as non-members. More than 4 percent of GLO members surveyed at Arizona participated in activities sponsored by the university’s LGBTQ club, compared to a general student involvement level of about 1 percent. Fraternity and sorority members at the University of Arizona were also more likely to be the children of university graduates than non-members, and generally reported higher family incomes.

A 2014 study undertaken by Beta Theta Pi about their membership, found it was largely “white, straight, American, wealthy and urban.”

Notable fraternity and sorority members

Since 1900, 63-percent of members of the United States cabinet have been members of fraternities and sororities, and the current chief executive officers of five of the ten largest Fortune 500 companies are members of fraternities and sororities. In addition, 85-percent of all justices of U.S. Supreme Court since 1910 have been members of fraternities. U.S. presidents since World War II who have been initiated into fraternities are George W. Bush, George H.W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, John F. Kennedy, Dwight Eisenhower, Harry Truman, and Franklin Roosevelt. Three Prime Ministers of Canada have been members of fraternities.

Currently about 25-percent of members of the U.S. House of Representatives and 40-percent of members of the U.S. Senate are members of Greek-letter organizations.

In popular culture

For a more comprehensive list, see list of fictional fraternities and sororities.

• The 1978 comedy movie National Lampoon's Animal House portrayed members of a fictitious fraternity (Delta Tau Chi) at a fictitious college.
• The 1984 comedy movie Revenge of the Nerds portrayed 'rejected' fraternity members taking revenge on popular fraternities by setting up their own fraternity and the change in power from the jocks and cheerleaders to the nerds. Starred Robert Carradine and Anthony Edwards. The co-ed fraternity Lambda Lambda Lambda takes their name from the fraternity in this movie.
• The 1994 comedy movie PCU also portrays members of a student group at a fictitious college where fraternities have been prohibited.
• The 2006 film Stomp the Yard depicts African American Greek life centered around the tradition of stepping, made popular by Black Greek Letter Organizations.
• The 2006 film Accepted includes a fictional fraternity Beta Kappa Epsilon, which Sherman Schrader attempts to become a part of because his father is a member.
• The 2007–2011 ABC Family television series Greek depicts students of the fictional Cyprus-Rhodes University (CRU) who participate in the school's Greek system.
• The 2007 film American Pie Presents: Beta House where new college freshman try to gain eligibility to the Beta House fraternity.
• The 2007 film Sydney White Uses the sorority system and how it affects social dynamics to tell the classic fairy tale of Snow White in the modern day.
• The 2009 slasher film Sorority Row features the sorority 'Theta Pi' in which Audrina Patridge's character was one of their members.
• The 2009 movie Sorority Wars revolves around sorority experience in college.
• The 2010 television series Glory Daze depicts students of the fictional Hayes University who participate in the school's Greek system.
• The main plot point of the 2013 movie Monsters University is a competition between fictitious fraternities and sororities to determine the best scarers.
• The 2014 film Bad Neighbours pitches a fraternity house against a young family in a battle of hearts and minds.