Thousands of Kansas University students contemplate joining a fraternity or sorority every year.

Some might join as a way to meet new people, but the KU greek system prides itself on being much more than just a source of parties.

“Though we are perceived as being very sociable, there are so many facets of college life that come from being in a sorority or fraternity,” said Billy Santoro, Phi Kappa Psi member and Interfraternity Council president.

The KU greek system is composed of 18 sororities and 25 fraternities, with the total greek population being 3,500 students. Each year the greek houses recruit incoming freshmen and current KU students who are interested in the greek community.

KU fraternities gain many potential members from the informal recruitment process, which occurs throughout the school year. People who are interested in joining a fraternity are expected to submit their recruitment information to the Interfraternity Council Recruitment Web site.

The various fraternities then will contact the potential members to attend recruitment events that usually take place during the spring semester.

Formal recruitment for fraternities exists mostly for incoming high school graduates who did not have the opportunity to visit during the school year. The formal recruitment process was June 25-28.

Santoro said joining a fraternity was a great way to get acclimated to college life.

“You can meet so many different types of people to help you get a big jump on your college experience,” Santoro said.

Sorority recruitment consists of fall formal recruitment and continuous open bidding. Fall recruitment is a six-day event during the first week of school when women visit sororities before they are extended an invitation to join a certain sorority on bid day.

“It’s something that you can always walk away from,” said Laura Winzenread, Kappa Alpha Theta member. “You’ve got an opportunity to test it and decide if you want to be a part of an organization.”

Although recruitment is an essential part of the greek system, the sororities and fraternities are involved in many other activities.

The greek system continually works on The House that Greeks Built as part of Habitat for Humanity. The second house was completed in October 2001 and fund raising is being conducted for the third house.

Rock Chalk Revue is the largest greek fund-raiser on campus that raises nearly $50,000 each year for Douglas County United Way. Fraternities and sororities partner up to put together 20-minute original musicals each year with the five best shows being presented in the Rock Chalk Revue every spring.

“People who participate in Rock Chalk say it’s one of the more rewarding activities they ever do,” Winzenread said.

To go along with philanthropy projects, academics are important to the greek houses. Each house conducts study hours for pledges and members as well as a minimum grade-point average needed to join.

The combined average GPA of KU’s sororities and fraternities in the fall 2003 semester was 3.08. The student body’s average GPA was 2.96.

Greek members also make connections with business professionals. Alumni groups of certain houses can serve as positive tools to find a job after graduation.

“The greek community is a building block of one’s career,” Santoro said. “There are so many different ways one can network within the greek community because of the alumni.”

Laura Cripple, assistant coordinator for fraternity and sorority life, said KU has a thriving greek community.

“It’s for anybody who is interested in finding a group of people to enjoy themselves with,” Cripple said. “It can be for anybody, but it just has to be what they want.”

– Kansas University journalism student John Domoney was an intern at the Journal-World during the spring semester.