What are the benefits of your son joining a fraternity?

Many parents may wonder what benefit their son will gain from joining a fraternity. For those unfamiliar with modern fraternity life, this is understandable. The stereotypes of fraternity life do not make it appealing to those who have higher aspirations than an extensive social life. However, those stereotypes are NOT the truth about what it means to be in a fraternity. A college career that includes involvement in a fraternity can provide valuable advantages over a one that does not include Greek life.

Scholarship and Learning

First and foremost, college is about getting an education and doing well with it. Greek organizations typically require all members to maintain a minimum GPA to remain in good standing, and at the University of Arkansas, most chapters require above a 2.5 GPA to be initiated. Furthermore, whereas the transition to the rigors of a college education can be hard for many incoming students, fraternities institute scholarship programs, especially during the first months of college, that help structure a student's academic study and allow him to focus on what is most important - doing well in school. In addition, the chapter Scholarship Committee under its Chairman is tasked with overseeing the educational well-being of all members, helping to assign tutoring or additional study hours as needed.

Friendship and Brotherhood

When entering college, the transition can be especially difficult for those who have to leave a close-knit group of high school friends and family behind. However, Greek life can help mitigate these effects by providing a warm, open environment in which students can approach and make new friends. Some people may see this as an attempt to "buy friends", but such arguments do no stand up when it is considered that one of the primary goals of fraternity life is building a bond between members that will last beyond years at the University. Rather than buying friends, paying fraternity dues allows members to pool their money with friends in such a way that all are able to enjoy more and larger activities. Likewise, through membership in a fraternity, members are eligible to live with their brothers, their family-away-from-home, in one residence, mitigating the effects of living in college dorms surrounded by strangers.

Leadership

An integral part of successfully moving out into the world after college and into a leading role in the community is the knowledge and experience of being able to lead in a group. Fraternities provide that experience in a variety of ways. Internally, members are eligible to run for an executive officer position, serve as a committee chairman, or lead in service events. Not only do members lead groups, but it is commonplace for all fraternity members to serve in some capacity on a committee within their chapter. Through these efforts, brothers learn not only how to lead a group but also how to work effectively within one. No matter their title, all members in a fraternity have the oppurtunity and responsibility to work together because the course of the group is set not by a single member but by all acting in concert. In this way, parents can rest assured that through fraternity involvement their son will gain valuable experience working with and leading other individuals in ways that they would not otherwise be able to experience.

Involvement

Studies show that the more involved a student is on his or her college campus, the better he or she tends to do in school. Fraternities are just one aspect of involvement for an individual. Most Greek organizations urge their members to not lock into just chapter involvement, but wider campus involvement as well. This can take many forms. Within the Greek community, there are intramural leagues, campus Interfraternity Councils (IFC), Greek service organizations, and inter-Greek competitions. Across the broader campus, Greeks tend to be extremely involved in student government, sports, and other extracurricular activities. Through involvement in a fraternity, young men are not only encouraged to become more involved on campus, but they are provided contacts with individuals who are already involved in these other endeavers.

Philantropy and Community Service

One of the cornerstones of any good Greek oganization, male or female, is the strength of its community service and philantrophy events. Most fraternities have a national philantropy to which all member chapters contribute time and money each year, while each local group also tends to have smaller, more community based endeavors as well. Members are also expected to contribute a certain number of hours each semester to community service so that they help benefit both the wider world around them through service and themselves through selfless giving.

This text adapted from "The Benefits of Fraternity Life" by William Hogan