Greek Life – Emma

03/09/2020 1:04 AM

Hey everyone! I wanted to share with you a little about Greek life here at Bradley!

Greek life is widely incorporated throughout college campuses across the nation right now. At some colleges, it’s the biggest part of the “college experience”. At other colleges, they don’t have greek life at all. I am a member of Greek life here at Bradley and I love it, but what’s nice about Bradley is you don’t have to participate in greek life in order to have a life outside of academics by any means.

Here at Bradley, 33% of the undergraduate population participates in Greek life. We have 30 fraternity and sorority chapters here on campus, so there are a lot of opportunities to get involved if it’s the route you choose to take.

What’s nice about Bradley Greek life is that it’s very inclusive. Every person is different, which is why every chapter is different too! As much as you are going to hear “trust the process,” it’s a very real statement. There’s a house for everyone, so finding your “people” is easy.

The process of recruitment for both men and women can be daunting. You’re new to the campus, new to college classes, and all of a sudden you’re getting thrown into fall recruitment. But not to worry, because we’re just as nervous as you! The recruitment process for women differs from men. 

Sorority recruitment lasts 4 days. On the first day, you’ll be grouped up with other women going through recruitment and assigned to a “Rho Gamma.” A Rho Gamma is a woman who is in Greek life but unaffiliates from their chapter so that they can help you all find which house is best for you. On the first two days, you go around with your group and your Rho Gamma, and get to visit all of the sorority houses. You’ll get to talk to a number of girls in each house and hear about the philanthropies they raise money for annually. After the first two days, you will narrow down your list of houses you liked. On the third day, you get a house tour of all of the chapters and will get to talk one-on-one to more members. You spend your final day at 2 or less chapters, getting to know the girls and getting a deeper look into what their sorority is all about. The entire process is based on mutual selection, so the chapters only get to choose you if you choose them as well. 

Recruitment for men is a little different. It takes place over the course of 2 weekends. For the first weekend, you get to tour all of the houses and attend informal events like barbecues, pick-up football games, watching a football game at the chapter house, etc. The second weekend consists of formal, invite-only events. Saturday is a no-communication day where the chapters can’t contact you and you can’t contact the chapter, and then Sunday you make your decision on which bid you will accept.

As said before, it’s an intimidating process but it really isn’t that bad while actually going through it. It’s a great opportunity to meet other girls going through recruitment as well as girls that are already in chapters. Some of my best friends on campus are girls I met during recruitment that aren’t in my sorority. Also, if you join a house you aren’t confined to those girls and those girls only. What’s nice at Bradley is that you can join one house and still be best friends with girls in other houses too. There’s a lot of greek unity on this campus, so there’s no “wrong” decision when it comes to recruitment.

Personally, Greek life has been my favorite part of Bradley so far. The girls I’ve met through my sorority are some of the most amazing people I’ve ever had in my life. What’s nice is that every girl in my chapter is so different, so we all bring something different to the table whether that’s a different talent, perspective, sense of humor, etc. At the same time, however, we all have this one thing in common that brings us all together in a way that no other bond could! Being in a sorority also brings in so many opportunities outside of friendships. The networking opportunities that Greek life gives you are incredible. Being a part of an organization that runs nationwide gives you connections that no other organization could. Alumni are constantly reaching out, giving advice on their experiences and letting us know about job/internship opportunities.

Greek life isn’t confined to one definition here at Bradley. We have social fraternities and sororities, business fraternities, service sororities, etc. There is so much to choose from if you go the route of Greek life, and so much to choose from if you don’t go the Greek life route at all! Regardless, finding “your people” at Bradley has never been easier and I hope that you all are able to find that, whether that be through greek life or not.