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Social, in every sense of the word does not mean “with alcohol”. A basic definition for social in this context could be: interacting with different people in unique settings. One
could also look at “social” and believe it to be “preparing young men
and women to develop critical people and interaction skills that are
necessary for success in life.” Ultimately, groups are not called
“social” because the events they sponsor (i.e. parties, formals,
mixers, etc.), but rather because they are founded to teach their
members how to act in society. Social:
prepare members for life in society (e.g. Alpha Delta Pi, Delta Delta
Delta, Phi Kappa Tau, Phi Delta Theta, Kappa Alpha Theta, Kappa Kappa
Gamma, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Sigma Chi)
Academic or ‘honorary' : recognize high achievement and scholarship (e.g. Phi Beta Kappa or Order of Omega)
Professional : prepare members to be better *biologists, businessmen, chemists, psychologists, writers, etc.* (e.g. Beta Beta Beta)
Service : prepare members for a life of servant leadership (e.g. Alpha Phi Omega) The
world we live in today has changed. Today's fraternities and sororities
are not the drinking clubs they once were associated with. This is,
however, not to say that there doesn't exist a few drinking clubs that
masquerade as fraternities or sororities. The ideas and ideals of the
founders are alive and well. The bedrocks of academic excellence, the
provision of opportunities for leadership and personal growth, the
doing of good deeds for community and philanthropy, and above all the
establishment of a brotherhood and sisterhood that forever burns in the
hearts of its members, are stronger now than ever. Through providing
those assets and bedrocks, a home away from home is created unlike any
other. Nationally, studies have proven that retention and graduation
rates have increased as a result of membership in a Greek organization. The
1990's brought us the true culture of Animal House, Old School, and Van
Wilder, to name a few. Historically, this decade marks the paramount
time when drinking clubs masqueraded as fraternities and sororities.
Not surprisingly, the 1990's were wrought with numerous tragedies,
deaths and unfortunate circumstances. In 1999-2000, fraternities and
sororities returned to the values and ideals of their founders. In
2004, after two years of planning, 60+ member organizations in the
National Interfraternity Conference adopted and mutually agreed to
enforce the standards which call men and women to something greater –
and demand accountability and responsibility for their actions. In
2007, those same groups have taken the next steps to form coalitions of
good men and women with the purpose of traveling to the over 800
campuses in North America that have Greek communities and assessing the
health, status and climate of their Greek systems. From this
information, these groups hope to provide an agreed-upon framework of
resources in an effort to raise campus communities to the level in
which they need to be. |
