Second Article

1. SALGADO-GREEK SYSTEM-1
Gabrielle Salgado
11/4/14
Second Article
Word Count: 1117
HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW THE GREEK SYSTEM?
By Gabrielle Salgado
ALBANY, N.Y. – Wild parties, hazing, sacred secrets, paying for your friends; these
are all common examples of Greek Stereotypes. Greek life seems simple, a group of
people coming together and throwing wild parties in dirty basements. But what
about fundraising, philanthropy, community service, workshops, the list goes on.
The secret to Greek Life is: there’s a lot more work that goes into being Greek than
meets the eye.
Greek organizations have many requirements that they must fulfill each
semester. The University sets requirements for each organization regarding
community service hours, workshops and GPA. The University at Albany grades
each Greek organization on campus every semester. The rubric is based on
academics, campus involvement, community service and other criteria.

2. SALGADO-GREEK SYSTEM-2
The University at Albany requires each member of the fraternity or sorority
to complete at least 15 community service hours a semester. “If you take a look at a
lot of the community service, it’s mostly Greeks. They’re the ones that are helping
out. They’re encouraging other students, non-Greeks as well that they should help
out,” said Claudio Gomez, a Senior Academic Advisor for EOP as well as the
Academic Advisor for Lambda Theta Phi Fraternity, Groove Phi Groove, Sigma Iota
Alpha Sorority and Kappa Phi Lambda Sorority.
In order to receive excellent accreditation from the University, the
organization must attend 3 campus events, as well as maintain a Chapter GPA above
2.75. Bonus points are given for new members who have a GPA of 3.0 or above.
Recently, the University raised the GPA requirement for students to pledge a
Fraternity or Sorority on campus from 2.5 to 2.65. “Those that really want to be a
part of the organization, will work hard to get that GPA, and if you have somebody
that’s working that hard just to get into the organization, that’s going to be a good
leader,” said Gomez.
Fraternities and Sororities on campus are a part of the All Greek Council
(AGC). This council meets in order to discuss Greek activity on campus and in order
to promote Greek unity. In order to score well on evaluations, each organization
must attend all AGC meetings in the semester. Greek organizations are also
required to host and attend programs that are not recruitment based. These
programs, often called workshops are usually focused on pressing topics in society.
“We hold educational events about topics that not a lot of people know about, for
instance ISIS-a lot of people didn’t know what ISIS was,” said Kunga Deki, a sister of

3. SALGADO-GREEK SYSTEM-3
Kappa Phi Lambda Sorority. Organizations must attend and host 3 programs in
order to receive an excellent score on their evaluation.
Greek organizations have a lot of requirements to fulfill for the University.
No other organizations on campus have to complete the same amount of work as
Greeks do. Greeks are held to higher standards than other organizations with
higher GPA requirements and evaluations based on activity and community service.
“It seems like it’s a lot on the Greek org to follow the protocol, but if I’m seeing it
from the other side as well, this could bring in a better quality of individuals into the
organization too,” said Gomez.
Besides University requirements, each Greek organization must complete
requirements for their National organization as well. Each national Fraternity and
Sorority is run differently, but there are a lot of similarities between Greek systems.
Greek organizations are run like a small government. Each member has the chance
to be elected to various positions. There’s a President, Vice President, Community
Service Chair, Fundraising Chair and some organizations have Wardens. “Each
position takes a lot of time out, it’s just like a regular club, or it’s more than a club. –
I’m Vice President right now so there’s a lot of things I need to handle and keep
track of on the side, so I’ve done a lot of updates,” said Angeline Lau a sister of
Kappa Phi Lambda Sorority. Greeks must pay dues in order to sustain the
organization. Every year Greek organizations host banquets, which are upscale
events that can be compared to a prom. It is the job of the members, or the Banquet
Chair to organize this event and contact Alumnus who may wish to attend. Greeks
must fundraise not only for themselves, but for Philanthropy as well. Each

4. SALGADO-GREEK SYSTEM-4
organization has to fundraise for their National Philanthropy as well as a local
Philanthropy, which is a charity of the Chapters choice. Apart from community
service hours for the University, Greek organizations have to complete hours for
their National organization as well. National organizations also require their
Chapters to host and attend programs at their Universities. Luckily, a lot of the
requirements for National organizations coincide with requirements from the
University. Greek organizations often also have to learn synchronized dances, called
strolls. Greek organizations will often perform for each other. Strolling is fun and
lets members show off their musical ability. Greeks will spend time practicing
choreography each week in order to perfect their stroll.
Being a member of Greek Life can be difficult. There is a lot of strain and
responsibility placed on Greeks, not only by the school but by the National
organization as well. “It’s a responsibility crossing into it, a sisterhood being able to
hold up a position and expectations,” said Lau. Some Sororities and Fraternities give
out fines. If members do not complete their jobs on time, or are late to meetings they
can be fined. Also, the National organization can fine a Chapter for not meeting their
requirements. “Not only do you have to do your own schoolwork, maintain your
own relationship with your friends, you have to try to uphold the values all the time.
It kind of puts a strain on you sometimes, you represent the sorority,” said Deki.
Being a member of a Fraternity or a Sorority is time consuming, expensive and is a
lot like a job. “At least 20 hours if you’re a minor board and if you’re a major board
30 plus,” Said Deki, when asked how many hours members spent each week doing
work for the Sorority.

5. SALGADO-GREEK SYSTEM-5
Greek organizations may like to have fun but they are not all about partying.
There is a lot of work that goes into being Greek and a lot of expectations by the
National organization as well as by the school. “Greek life brings a lot of diversity
into this University as far as their events. There’s always the misconception that
certain Greek organizations, all they do is have parties and cause a lot of wreck,
when in reality Greek organizations have been doing a lot for the community,” said
Gomez.
###