One of the main differences I have found here in the States is the existence of sororities and fraternities. These are Greek organisations that focus around friendship (sisterhood and brotherhood), philanthropies that are the charities that the sororities or fraternities support and help to raise money for and keeping a high overall academic achievement. Some of the names of such organisations at Ole Miss include Pi bataphi (pi phi), Alpha omicron pi (a o pi) and Delta delta delta(tri delt).
I have been fortunate to make friends with girls who belong to some of the sororities and they have given me an excellent insight to what goes on within the organisation. Firstly to even be considered for a sorority you have to go through the rushing process. This is typically held at the start of their freshman year and is a week long process. The girls get to visit all of the houses and their admittance is based on mutual selection, i.e. the girls pick their favourite house and the present members decide whether or not you are the right material for that sorority and invite you back. I was shocked to hear just how expensive it would be to join a sorority with the range from as low as $600 to as high as $2500 a semester! Some students even take out loans just to stay in a sorority!
When you are invited to join you must go through an initiation process which includes a ceremony. At this point the girls cannot divulge any more information about what is included in the ceremony as it is regarded as secret and only members know. As a new member (aka a pledge) you must sign your name in the house book and raise your right hand and swear loyalty. The President of the house stays with you for the rituals and also tells you about the foundation and history of the house. You are usually only a new member for a few months and you can continue to remain in a sorority through your sophomore year.
During the pledge ship the girls find out more about the history of the house and also begin attending weekly meetings which are called chapter meetings. The girls usually have to dress up in formal attire including dresses and heels and sometimes professors would be invited to join the meetings. The purpose of these meetings is to keep up with events as the girls maintain a high presence on campus through attending main events. The sororities also would do things like sell cookies and community service to help raise money for their chosen charity and this is all discussed at their meetings.
As mentioned earlier the sororities also have to uphold a good GPA and have appointed study hours to keep their grades up. Some of the sororities even make their members sign into the library and if they do not complete the required hours they can get fined $15.
The houses are very grand looking with the majority having big white pillars on the front porch along with the symbol of the house engraved on the front wall. Both sororities and fraternities have house mothers who help them out with their chapter meetings. The fraternities on campus even have an in house chef who cooks their three meals a day which is included in their semester fee. They have also got sweethearts who are girls chosen by the fraternities to help them get things ready for events, bake cookies etc. However to even be considered to take on the role of the sweetheart you have to have been dating one of the male members of the house for over a year.
This Greek community is very close and is a great opportunity to meet a lot of new people and make friends for life. In being in either a sorority for fraternity you are also securing a good strong social network which would benefit many members in their future when looking for jobs.
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