Some students prefer to live in their own apartment. Others like the residence halls.

But almost one-fourth of the students at Kansas University belong to a fraternity or a sorority.

“Fraternities and sororities are thriving,” said Angie Carr, KU’s coordinator of greek programs in the Office of Student Organizations and Leaderships.

“The academics are great; the leadership is great,” she said. “Numbers are very high.”

So high, in fact, that KU is adding a 14th sorority, Zeta Tau Alpha, to its roster.

“We needed another sorority just to keep up,” Carr said.

Zeta Tau Alpha will begin recruiting members this fall.

KU also has 23 fraternities, five traditionally minority fraternities and five traditionally minority sororities.

As yet, the minority-based sororities and fraternities do not have houses. They meet at other sites.

Two fraternities  Alpha Kappa Lambda and Delta Tau Delta  disbanded in 2002 and 2000, respectively.

“Basically, their numbers got down and they couldn’t generate the revenue they needed to make required upgrades,” said Danny Kaiser, director at the Office of Student Organizations and leadership Development Center.

“So to some extent, we’re in a situation now where we’ve got the same number of students wanting to get into one or two fewer fraternities,” Kaiser said. “That’s behind some of the demand.”

Another factor, perhaps, has to do with the greek system’s dogged reputation for hearty partying. But Carr suspects that’s only part  a small part  of the picture.

“I tell (high school) juniors and seniors that KU is a really, really big place,” she said. “And when you go from a high school with a class of 25 or 50 and then, all of sudden, find yourself at a school with 25,000 students, it can be a little overwhelming.

“Living in a fraternity or a sorority makes the college experience more manageable,” she said. “There are people there to help you navigate the process, give advice and make introductions. Being in a sorority or a fraternity gives you access to a huge network of friends and relationships that will be there for the rest of your life.”

Carr downplayed the image of greek life being one party after another.

“I don’t know that we’ll ever get away from that  not as long they’re showing ‘Animal House’ on TV and as long as MTV has shows like ‘Sorority Life,'” she said.

“But, yes, fraternities and sororities are social organizations and they do have social events, but that’s certainly not the focus of what they do. If the truth were known, they spend a lot more time on community, philanthropy and scholarship than they do on socializing.”

Each chapter sponsors an annual charity event, and members also participate in communitywide service projects. Greek volunteers help teachers in Lawrence elementary school classrooms through the Adopt-a-School program.

In addition, there are blood drives, walk-a-thons and the annual Rock Chalk Revue, which raises money for the United Way of Douglas County.

It’s hard to argue with the greeks’ performance in the classroom. Last year, 11 sororities and seven fraternities had better than a 3.0 grade-point average.