There are many reasons to go Greek, but here a few of the bigger highlights with advice from some of the top universities in the nation. The Top Five Reasons to go Greek:

1. Leadership

There are many opportunities for students of Greek organizations to become leaders. Leadership opportunities are also available in various other campus organizations and activities. Each year, members of Greek organizations are found among the campus leaders and officers in every phase of the University, including Student Government, academic honor societies, and various other organizations. Greek Life enables it members to learn how to live and work within a group environment. It can also help the members gain planning skills and teach you how to manage your time. The leadership knowledge and skills you gain through your experience will prove invaluable and rewarding during your college career and beyond.

2. Scholarship

The mission of the University is to provide a solid learning environment for its students, and Greek organizations provide a network of support to succeed academically. Serious scholarship and academic excellence are encouraged among all students. A variety of incentives and programs are designed to help all members reach their fullest potential. Dedicate yourself first to academics, as its academic rewards will ensure a more enjoyable college experience, as well as a successful future. Greek life is a commitment to scholarship excellence.

3. Community Service

Greek organizations  pride themselves on community service participation; it has been a corner stone of the Greek experience since its founding days. Philanthropy projects are events in which the Greek community as a whole or as individual chapters donates their time and efforts to raise money for a variety of worthwhile causes. Throughout the year, Greek organizations strive to strengthen the relationship with the community by increasing individual member involvement in local causes and events. Participation in such events provide meaningful learning experiences for all.

4. Brotherhood / Sisterhood
Brotherhood / Sisterhood is more than wearing Greek letters, attending meetings, and participating in activities. It is the joining of individuals in love and friendship, striving for similar goals that draw them together as one strong unit. It is the opportunity for you to meet new people and appreciate their individuality while sharing a common bond. You will learn many things about yourself and what it means to have shared lifetime commitments to the same values. Your brothers/sisters will be a part of your life for many years to come and will help you to create some wonderful memories throughout your college career and beyond. Each organization has something unique to offer, just as you have something unique to offer them.

5. Social
Social opportunities are another way for all organizations to come together and interact with others. Some of these activities include Retreats, Greek Week, athletic competitions, alumnae gatherings, mixers with other Greek organizations, step shows, and formals. By interacting with the Greek community, members gain friendships with people from other organizations. This creates a closer bond among the community and helps the organizations support one another’s events. Through these activities, Greek organizations fulfill their goal of bringing together a group of people to build their values, while enjoying the bonds of friendship.

The Phi Beta Kappa Society, founded on 5 December 1776, at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, is generally recognized to be the first Greek-letter student society in North America. It was founded by John Heath, who had failed at admission to the two existing Latin-letter fraternities at the College, the F.H.C. Society (nicknamed as backronym the “Flat Hat Club“) and the P.D.A. Society (nicknamed “Please Don’t Ask”). The main developments associated with Phi Beta Kappa are the use of Greek-letter initials as a society name and the establishment of branches or “chapters” at different campuses, following the pattern set by Masonic lodges.

The Greek letters (ΦΒΚ) come from the motto Φιλοσοφία Βίου Κυβερνήτης (philosophia biou kybernētēs, “Philosophy is the helmsman of life”), now officially translated as “Philosophy is the guide of life”. Greek was chosen as the language for the motto due generally to classical education at the time, and specifically because Heath “was the best Greek scholar in college.” One official historian of the society, William T. Hastings, and some others believe that the society was originally knows by the Latin name Societas Philosophiae (Philosophical Society), and that the name Phi Beta Kappa only came to be taken as the society name over time. This use of Greek letters was briefly preceded by the use of Latin letters, notably the F.H.C. Society drawing its name from its secret motto, presumed to be “Fraternitas, Humanitas, et Cognitio” or “Fraternitas Humanitas Cognitioque” (two renderings of “brotherhood, humaneness, and knowledge”.

However, Phi Beta Kappa was very different from a typical college fraternity of today in that the membership was generally restricted to upperclassmen, if not seniors; and men who had been initiated as students continued to be active in the society after becoming members of the faculty of the host university. The annual Phi Beta Kappa exercises at Yale were public literary exercises, with as many or more faculty members of the society than undergraduate.

As Phi Beta Kappa developed it came to be an influential association of faculty and select students on several college campuses, with membership becoming more of an honor and less of social selection. The increasing influence of the society came to be seen by many as undemocratic and contrary to the free flow of intellectual ideas in American academia, and, as a curious side effect of the anti-masonic controversy of the early Republic, the secrets of Phi Beta Kappa in the appendix to a book published in 1831. After that time, Phi Beta Kappa ceased to be a social fraternity in any real sense and is now only an honorary society, although prominent and respected.