Don’t listen to the stereotypes, I swear it’s different here…

For some, this article may be super up your alley, as you have wanted to join a sorority or fraternity your whole life. For others, you’re kind of just scoping out the party scene to see if we have good frats. For most, I know the idea of Greek life can be daunting and overwhelming. There are many movie and social media stereotypes that can reflect poorly on the idea of being a “sorority girl” or a “frat guy,” and this article is here to put all of those rumors to rest in regards to Columbia Greek life. I’m going to be splitting up this article on sorority/fraternity life into three sections: sororities and rushing, fraternities and brotherhood, and finally Greek life for people who aren’t “in” one of the organizations associated. Additionally, it’s important to know that Barnard students can participate in Columbia Greek life!

1. Sororities and Rushing

Rushing sororities at Columbia and Barnard is way less pressure than those Bama rush videos you see on your For You Page. Our recruitment season only lasts 3-4 days rather than a week (with one round being via Zoom) and we only have 6 Pan-Hellenic sororities to choose from. Pan-Hellenic sororities just mean that the sorority falls under the Columbia Pan-Hellenic Council and that anybody who wants to rush can try to join them. Pan-Hellenic excludes sororities or organizations that may fall under Greek life and have a house but are for specific groups of people to join, such as a historically Black sorority or historically Latinx sorority, as they have their own recruitment processes separate from the spring recruitment process.

Recruitment in general can be as stressful or not stressful as you want it to be. Some people are attempting to make it to a specific house in which they want to be a part of—they may spend hours on their outfits and rehearse exactly what to say to current sisters. Other people are just there to try something new. Whichever category you fit in, there are people to guide you and help you along the way. You will be assigned a Rho Gamma, a current student in a sorority there to answer all your questions. The Pan-Hellenic staff at Columbia is super lovely as well when going through the process. 

After the 3-4 days of recruitment, which mainly involves chatting with current sisters from different sororities and seeing where you fit best, you will receive a bid from a sorority. This will most likely be a sorority you “ranked” on an online system, and you will receive your bid by yourself in order for everyone to be able to keep their bids private if they want to. You will make the decision to either accept or reject the bid, and that night you will officially meet the other new members of the sorority as well as the current members. All in all, it is a very emotion-heavy but fun experience to spend with your friends and to make new ones.

It is also important to note that any Barnard girl can join any sorority. There are certain rules that pertain to living in sorority houses as a Barnard student since the houses are technically Columbia housing, but you won’t have to worry about that until you know which sorority you are in and whether or not that is an option you want to pursue. Furthermore, it is also good to note that at Columbia there is not really a “hierarchy” of the sororities. There is no “top house” that everyone is competing for—it is really about finding the right place for you and the people you vibe with the most. Coming into Fall Semester I wouldn’t worry about recruitment that much, but it will definitely be good to start reaching out to Pan-Hellenic friends once spring starts to roll around if you are interested in rushing.

2. Fraternities and Brotherhood

I am not the first person to admit that I do not know a ton about recruitment when it comes to fraternities, as they have a completely different style than sororities do. “Rushing” is not necessarily a thing for Pan-Hellenic fraternities, and instead it is more of an interview process with the houses and brotherhoods you are interested in. You will have to go through a Pan-Hellenic training module with videos about being in a fraternity or sorority at Columbia, but that is about as “formal” as it gets when it comes to fraternity recruitment. There are also two frats that are co-ed and invite-only that do not fall under the Pan-Hellenic radar—Delta Psi and ADP—and those you can learn more about when you get on campus.

Fraternity “rush” happens the first few weeks of each semester and in the spring happens around the same time as sorority recruitment. Frats will post on their social media or put up posters in residence halls about specific events where you can meet with the brothers and see which group you click with most. As you attend more of the events, or maybe even after just one, you will eventually be asked to be a part of the frat and will then be a brother. There is no bid process like sororities nor an official weekend that everything happens—it just all kind of comes together. And, just like sororities, many fraternities have brownstone houses or apartments where you can choose to live if you decide to in the coming years.

Columbia has a very strict no-hazing policy and therefore you will not hear a lot about fraternity hazing here like you do at other, bigger schools. That is also due to the fact that fraternities at Columbia are considered “Northern” frats versus “Southern” frats, so everything is a lot less formal, dressed up, or intense. Basically, this is just one of many ways to find a group of people you enjoy spending time with on campus. Nonetheless, there are oftentimes still rumors, negative stereotypes, or even downright misconduct circulating various fraternities, so be aware that no frat is completely clean.

3. Greek Life for Others

Greek life is not at all something you have to be a part of in order to have fun or party on campus! It can be as involved or uninvolved from your life as you would like, and most students are not formally in a sorority or fraternity. Frat parties are pretty open invite, especially if you are friends with people in Greek life, and tend to happen weekly or biweekly. Around large campus events like Bacchanal, Halloweekend, or Homecoming, Greek life hosts all the big parties, but once again the parties or events being hosted are not just for members of certain frats or sororities. 

ADP is a great example of a Greek life house that hosts jazz night events every other Thursday and literary nights that anyone on campus can attend. Being friends with people in Greek life will definitely help get you into more events, such as paid parties downtown or sorority formals, but overall the party scene at Columbia is not reliant on fraternities or sororities and your social life can 100% be formed without being a part of these organizations. It’s all about what you want to do and who you vibe with—you create your own future!

Frat Row via Bwarchives