5 Myths Debunked About Greek Life

Think you know about fraternities and sororities at NYIT? Thomas Alicanti, president of NYIT's Greek Letter Council (GLC), sets the record straight on five common misperceptions of Greek life at college campuses. 

All Greeks do is party.
NYIT is a dry campus, and the Greek Letter Council respects it. A popular stereotype is that Greeks only party. However, people forget about the soup kitchens we worked at this year, the parks we cleaned up last semester, and the various American Cancer Society events we attend every semester such as Relay for Life and Making Strides for Breast Cancer.

It's just one big clique.
Name any culture, I guarantee you at least one of the fraternities or sororities has someone from it in their organization. Name a religion, it's the same situation. None of our organizations here at NYIT are race, creed, or nationality exclusive. Join any organization you want. We urge you to get to know all of them before you decide on choosing one.

Events are only for Greeks.
The reason fraternities and sororities throw events is to get people to have fun on campus! We call these events socials. They can be educational, fundraisers, or even community service. Greek recruitment week at the beginning of each semester IS FOR NON-GREEK students to find out who we really are. After all, we were all non-Greek at some point.

There's not enough time to get involved.
A standard college education is eight semesters. It only takes one semester to join a Greek organization. Fraternities and sororities usually meet once a week for meetings and hold an event, on average, once every two weeks. There is plenty of time to get involved, and your participation only opens more doors for other opportunities to get more involved. You will meet people who will be friends for the rest of your life.

It's expensive.
Greek life is affordable. If your organization requires payment for something such as an initiation fee, most fraternities and sororities have interest-free payment plans. Clothing with letters start at the same price as a regular T-shirt, but when you start adding your fraternity or sorority details, the price goes up. Greek organizations are not based on money. They're about new experiences and friendships to cherish for the rest of your life.

View Greek recruitment week events from Monday, January 26 through Friday, January 30. Check out these Greek organizations active at NYIT:

FRATERNITIES

• Alpha Chi Rho (AXP)
• Delta Epsilon Psi (DEPsi)
• Iota Nu Delta (IND)
• Tau Kappa Epsilon (TKE)

SORORITIES

• Eta Chi Gamma (HXR)
• Kappa Phi Gamma (KphiG)
• Sigma Iota Alpha (SIA)

MULTICULTURAL ORGANIZATION FOR MEN AND WOMEN

• DiGamma Omega Xi (DOX)