Greeks offer opportunities to get involved
GREEKS from page 8
There are 24 fraternities at
UNL and 15 sororities to choose
from - each unique in its own
way, but each united in the pur
pose to give college students
friendships, activities and life
long memories. Twenty-one of
the fraternities and 13 of the
sororities have live-in houses.
More 3,000 students are
members of greek organizations,
but it’s the impact of what the
chapters do that makes the system
strong.
Both fraternities and sorori
ties help serve their members in
achieving academic excellence.
The all-greek GPA of 3.167 is
higher than the all-university
GPA of 3.018. This is a direct
result of the emphasis that the
chapters put on academic
achievement.
“Joining a greek chapter
means being a member and
maybe living with upperclass
men, not just other freshmen,”
Schwartzkopf said. “You will
have mentors and role models
that will help you out in your
studies, which will benefit you
immensely in getting off on the
right foot academically.”
Members of sorority or frater
nity houses also flourish on the
UNL campus with their involve
ment in student organizations.
More than half of the members of
the Association of Students of the
University of Nebraska, the stu
dents’ governing body, are sorori
ty or fraternity members.
Leadership opportunities also
abound within each chapter. Part
of joining a greek organization is
learning how to be a part qf an
organization - how to interact
with people and operate an oigan
ization successfully. One learns
how to work for leaders and then
eventually become a leader,
which will serve a student well
once he or she enters the business
world.
For evidence of how helpful
an experience joining a fraternity
or sorority house is, one need
only look at what members make
of themselves. All but three U.S.
presidents since 1825 were in
greek organizations, and 75 per
cent of today’s congressional
member were members of a fra
ternity or sorority. Forty-three
chief executive officers of the top
50 companies in the United States
were, as were 85 percent of the
Supreme Court’s justices.
Fraternities and sororities
also give back to the community.
Fraternity and sorority members
volunteer 850,000 hours a ^ear
U Quite simply, they are here to give
college students a better college
experience and make them better
people when they leave the
university.”
Linda Schwartzkopf
director of Greek Affairs
nationally, and $7 million is
raised nationally for charities by
those members.
At UNL, both fraternities and
sororities are actively involved in
volunteer causes such as Habitat
for Humanity and March of
Dimes and hold their own philan
thropy events such as the Hot
Tub-a-Thon, Pancake and French
toast feeds, and a Fight Night to
raise money for charity organiza
tions.
And, of course, joining a
greek house will give one count
less opportunities to have fun.
Dinner exchanges with other
houses, parties, intramurals and
road trips to fellow chapters of
one’s fraternity or sorority across
the country are just some of the
many ways to partake in that fun.
But the most important con
cept in joining a greek organiza
tion is die experiences and mem
ories one gains throughout col
leges with one’s “brothers” and
“sisters.”
Living in a greek house just
gives a student a much better
family-like, home atmosphere
that you don’t get anywhere else,”
Schwartzkopf said. “It’s a unique
chance to live with people you
want live and spend your college
years with, and you just simply
feel more at home in that kind of
environment.”
Although there are plenty of
benefits a student can get out of
living in a greek house, the
stereotypes and supposed nega
tives of greek members and life
still linger.
For example, some think
chapter houses are not diverse,
are exclusive and are only open to
“one kind of person.”
Schwartzkopf said that contrary
to this belief, a wide variety of
students of ethnic and social
backgrounds join greek houses,
not to mention a wide variety of
students from different geograph
ical regions and college majors.
Another myth: It’s too expen
sive to live in a fraternity or soror
ity - it’s only for “rich kids.”
Schwartzkopf said that the room
—— ——
and-board costs of living in a fra
ternity or sorority house are com
parable and similar to the cost of
living in the residence halls. Yes,
members must pay dues to the
national organizations, but those
dues include the social benefits
that come with being in a fraterni
ty or sorority, not to mention
priceless experiences and memo
ries.
Drinking and hazing have
become far too much of a focus in
greek life, from what we learn in
the media, through countless
incidents at college campuses
throughout the nation.
Schwartzkopf said that as much
as possible has been done at UNL
to combat drinking and hazing,
especially in the last five years.
Some of those things have includ
ed several alcohol education pro
grams and speakers that are
specifically designed for greek
students and strict anti-hazing
policies and penalties enforced
by the university’s code of con
duct.
“It’s important to us that our
members become leaders and
respectable people when they
leave college,” Schwartzkopf
said. “One of the advantages of
the greek system is educating the
members about high-risk drink
ing and rules so they will become
that.”
The greek system,
Schwartzkopf said, is just another
of the many options a strong uni
versity such as UNL provides its
students. If one is interested in
exploring this option, fill out a
fraternity or sorority rush appli
cation and one can then begin to
see which greek house is the right
one.
“Rush,” or recruitment of new
members, is done year-round, but
the main rush period for fraterni
ties is in the summer and is in the
beginning of the school year for
sororities. If you think greek life
is for you, give it a rush!
For more information, call
Greek Affairs at (402) 472-2582
or visit the office on the third
floor of the Nebraska Union.
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Theaters cater to students
THEATERS from page 3
on the grassy space located north
of Kimball Recital Hall.
Students and residents alike
are invited to picnic on the grass
while watching cinematic clas
sics. While the films showcased
on Movies on the Green aren’t
independent films, they are
movies students would be other
wise unable to see on the big
screen. Ladely said it was a fun
change of pace for everyone.
“This summer we got a huge
donation of 550 films, and we’re
going to show off that collection
with seven of the best films,” he
said, listing^“African Queen,”
“Bridge on the River Qui” and
“Butch Cassidy and the
Sundance Kid” as some of the
featured films.
The series will start on June
14th and will show once a week
for the following two weeks and
then in one week during July and
August.
Work for a
daily newspaper
The Daily Nebraskan employs writers, editors,
photographers, artists, advertising account ex
ecutives, classified ad executives and distribu
tors. You do not need to be a journalism major
to work at the Daily Nebraskan. Visit us in Au
gust to inquire about openings.
Daily Nebraskan 20 Nebraska union
402-472-2588
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