Greek Life has cemented itself as an integral part of campus life here at the University of Wyoming. Ever since the local foundings of Sigma Beta Phi in 1903 and Alpha Omicron in 1905, UW has had fraternities and sororities on campus, with new chapters coming and going with the progression of time. Throughout the 20th and 21st century, Greek Life chapters have provided many networking opportunities for ambitious students wishing to advance in the professional world, while also providing students many opportunities to enjoy organized charity events, such as Sigma Alpha Epsilon’s Master of Misery haunted house event, which raises significant funds for the Laramie Cathedral Home for Children.
However, with notoriety comes a level of uncertainty and misconception. Thanks to films like 1984’s Revenge of the Nerds and 2014’s Neighbors, Greek Life—particularly fraternities—get a particularly bad reputation as dominions of heavy hazing practices, beer pong, and unchecked egos. While these factors are not entirely based in fiction, they are sometimes exaggerated.
To provide legitimate insight into the world of Greek Life, freshmen Sam Kaiser and Aspen Custis were interviewed.
Kaiser, a member of the Kappa Alpha Order, was initially hesitant to join a fraternity. “I actually wasn’t planning on rushing before I entered college,” he said. “I thought that fraternity life just wasn’t for me. I thought there were a lot of things wrong about it, you know, like the cliché idea of paying for friends and dues being high. It didn’t just look super appealing to me, but I kind of got involved with Kappa Alpha Order. I think it’s a little bit different. It’s a different group of guys that are really close knit. There’s a close, close bond with the guys, and I think it’s a little different than the other fraternities on campus.” Regarding the benefits to joining a fraternity, Kaiser stated, “Definitely networking. You get a lot of opportunities through that. There’s a lot of scholarships through the foundation, through nationals itself. Additionally, you get to become closer with a lot of guys on campus, you get to be involved in a lot of events that you usually aren’t in. I mean, I’m the philanthropy chair, so I get to organize a lot of philanthropy events and do good on campus, do good in the community, and that’s really exciting for me as well. Even just getting to know everyone on campus, you know – I’ve gotten to make a lot of good relationships with upper admin, with other sororities, with other fraternities, things like that, and that’s really kind of a perk for me as well.”
Custis, a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma, expressed very similar sentiments. “Well, I rushed some of the sororities, and I guess I connected best with the girls in Kappa and they gave me a bid.” She elaborated on the rushing process for sororities, stating, “On the first day you just tour the houses, and then on the second day, you’ll start talking to them some more. After that, the houses will start putting in their preferences for you, like which girls they want to come back to their houses, and you’ll put in your preferences for which houses you wanna go back to. And then the next day, you’ll, like, maybe get dropped by some of the houses or something. And it just goes until you’re kind of narrowed down to a few. And then on the last day, it’s kind of whoever picks each other.”
Custis also spoke on the networking opportunities that came with her sorority membership. “Well, it’s definitely like a huge community that, like, supports each other. At least in my sorority, in my chapter, I feel like I’m friends with everyone there. I don’t have issues with anyone. Everywhere you go—it’s kind of a big enough chapter—you kind of see your sisters everywhere you go, so you don’t feel, like, as alone on campus anymore. And then it’s a lot more of an interconnectedness with the university. A lot of your sisters know people that work for certain jobs or have had certain professors, so you kind of have access to a lot more in the university. There’s also the events you do within your sorority, like the philanthropies and the fundraising, or the socials and events with the frats and the other sororities. I feel like that’s a good way to keep a little more busy, and a good way to also stay more organized.”
Debunking some misconceptions about fraternities, Kaiser stated, “Well, I guess the biggest thing you hear about is the hazing. Hazing is the, you know, it’s in all the movies, it’s in all the pop culture, everything like that. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the way I’ve interacted with the fraternity and sorority communities so far. Everybody’s welcoming, everybody’s inclusive, and there’s no reason to haze on the University of Wyoming campus because everyone’s entitled to be a part of an organization they wanna be a part of. And that really surprised me on this campus. Like, everybody belongs and nobody’s getting hazed, which is really cool. Additionally, I think another big misconception is that all you’re doing in a fraternity is paying for friends, like, that’s all you do. And I don’t think that could be further from the truth. You make lifelong friends, you make lifelong brothers and you form those connections early on, so that later in life, when you don’t have anybody to lean on, you can go back to your fraternity brother, your sorority sister, anything like that. I think that that’s a really special thing that you don’t get in a lot of other other organizations.”
Custis shared some advice for any young lady attempting to rush a sorority. “Avoid certain topics, like, obviously, Bible, Beer, Boys,” she said. “Also—and I know it’s cliché—be yourself, because each sorority has, like, a bunch of unique individual members. You don’t have to be a certain type of way to join a sorority. I think a lot of people think that. Don’t be disheartened if you get dropped by a house. It’s probably for the better. I mean, why would you wanna be in a house that dropped you anyway?”
The two Greek Life members provided closing statements, sharing what they wanted readers of the Branding Iron to know about fraternities and sororities respectively. Kaiser said, “To anyone looking at fraternity or sorority life or anybody interested in it in general, I would say it’s a great experience…Kappa Alpha Order especially. We’re a new organization, we’re different. We have a young exec board. We’re hungry, we wanna work, and we wanna see you guys out there. We wanna work with you, we wanna work for you, and we wanna mold you into better men as a whole, so… Rush The Order.” Custis said simply, “I think sorority life—or I guess Greek life in general—it can be bad, it can be toxic, sure. But I think a lot of the time it can have a lot of benefits, and it can be really good for your social and mental health.”
