New students flooded the SF State campus last week and many are eager to get involved in the campus’ community. For some of these students, Greek Life is the way to go.
“If you want to get the most out of your college experience, my advice is to try out Greek Life,” said Justin Lovell, a member of SF State’s Pi Kappa Phi. Lovell said being apart of a fraternity is a great way to network and have a tight sense of community.
Greek Life at SF State began in 1928 and currently has 30 Greek organizations, according to the Student Involvement and Career Center.
According to the SF State Panhellenic website, formal recruitment for sororities at SF State will take place Sept. 19 to Sept. 22.
“I absolutely could not imagine college without joining (Greek Life),” Lovell added. He rushed his sophomore year after considering transferring schools.
Amethyst Moncé, a transfer student from Skyland Community College, who is rushing Sigma Omicron Pi, agreed that going Greek is part of the college experience.
“I just always thought it was the college thing to do,” Moncé said. “I really like being involved with my peers.”
Not everyone has experienced the same positivity in Greek life, however. Many people, such as communications student Zac Cloud, didn’t even know that SF State had Greek organizations.
“I didn’t rush at SF State because there’s a lot of stuff to do around the city where you don’t have to pay to have friends,” Cloud said. “When I was a freshman, I didn’t even know that there was Greek Life at our school. That definitely says something about the Greek Life at SF State.”
SF State does not offer housing for Greek life like many other California State Universities do. Cloud believes this is another reason not to join.
Savannah DiGiuseppe, a member of SF State’s Alpha Phi, agreed. “If we had a house, it would make Greek life at SF State a bigger deal,” she said.
Other students, like Molly Diedrich, say they joined Greek Life to maintain good grades.
“People often stereotype us as being dumb, but that is not true,” said Diedrich, the Alpha Gamma Delta (AGD) president. According to Diedrich, members of AGD must maintain at least a 2.8 GPA.
Diedrich also said that feeling connected to the University led her to rush.
“Since we are mostly a commuter school, I definitely wanted to get involved with our campus’ community,” she said.
Lovell said his fraternity is trying to address an area of rushing that deters many students: the costs of joining.
“We offer a discounted fee for new members who join Pi Kappa Phi, as well as do a lot of fundraising to lower the costs,” he said. “Each fraternity varies. Pi Kappa Phi is $500 per semester.”
Still, for some students, the price of going Greek remains too high.
“Even though I was planning on joining a fraternity on campus, they are too pricey for me,” said freshman Tyler Allen. “It sounds like fun, and a place I would be able to meet good people, but I will probably join a club instead.”
