What does fraternity and sorority life look like at UAA?

Greek life at UAA is, in many ways, different from colleges in the Lower 48. UAA’s fraternities and sororities are much smaller than their Lower 48 counterparts, which bring unique opportunities and challenges.

UAA’s two sororities, Sigma Sigma Sigma and Alpha Sigma Alpha, were founded in 1997 and 2004 respectively. Meanwhile, the two fraternities, Tau Kappa Epsilon and Alpha Sigma Phi

are much newer: founded in 2015 and 2018. UAA used to have one more fraternity, Delta Chi, which UAA lost within the last year.

‍Alpha Sigma Alpha President Hannah Bissett said that when it comes to sorority recruitment, the National Panhellenic Conference places a 40 member cap on sorority membership. However, since UAA’s enrollment numbers are much smaller, sororities at UAA have a lower self-imposed cap that is adjusted based on the size of the largest sorority.

‍Tau Kappa Epsilon President Steven Hobbs said that the rush process is different for fraternities. He said that, unlike sororities, UAA’s fraternities don’t have caps on how many students they can admit.

This year, fraternity and sorority visibility was significantly impacted when UAA’s annual Campus Kickoff was canceled due to weather conditions.

Bissett said that having no Campus Kickoff  “was definitely heartbreaking because it was the 20th anniversary of Campus Kickoff, and it's also our 20th anniversary being on campus.”

Hobbs also said that not having a campus kickoff this year was hard for recruitment.

“Recruitment for us is entirely word of mouth, almost,” said Hobbs, “That's why Campus Kickoff is so helpful for us … because we get face time with so many people in such a short amount of time.”

Despite the Campus Kickoff cancellation, Bissett said that Alpha Sigma Alpha has seven new members this semester, pushing their membership up to 15.

Hobbs said that Tau Kappa Epsilon will have three to six new members this year, in addition to their eight active members.

UAA’s sororities and fraternities don’t have houses in the way that many of their Lower 48 counterparts do. Hobbs said that the lack of a common space is challenging when Tau Kappa Epsilon is looking for somewhere to meet.

Sororities and fraternities operate in many different spheres. Each has their own “philanthropies,” which are groups they partner with to do volunteer work. They also offer networking and leadership opportunities specific to chapter members.

Bissett said that when it comes to being a member of Alpha Sigma Alpha, “you get out what you put in.”

“I've just been really heavily … pushing the idea [that] it's important for you to grow as a leader, and that's what ASA is supposed to be – at least in my opinion. It's supposed to be something that you take as a tool to do other things.”

For Hobbs, the draw of being in a fraternity is the community. “It’s guys that I will be friends with for the rest of my life. The guys you meet here will … be your best men at your wedding and carry your casket at your funeral.”

There are costs associated with being part of a fraternity or sorority, which vary from group to group.

Alpha Sigma Alpha’s dues are $425 a semester, driven in part, said Bissett, because their national organization has increased how much they charge per member.

Tau Kappa Epsilon’s dues are roughly $300 a semester, which Hobbs said is on the lower end of what fraternities charge.

UAA’s fraternity and sorority life also defies some common “greek life” stereotypes.

Bissett said that the members of sororities on campus don’t fit the stereotypical idea of what a sorority girl is. “A lot of girls are really down-to-earth and they just want to do service, and giving, and they want to be there for their communities.”

Student Organization Coordinator Shelby Kriegh said that it’s important to acknowledge the stereotypes that exist around sororities and fraternities, especially around drug and alcohol abuse, and there’s a reason why the media may portray them that way.

“But luckily here on our campus, I can say this having worked with like, many, many, many campuses, it is actually so different here. And I think one reason why is because the community is so small, they're able to be … much more tight knit.”

Kriegh said that in her time at UAA, she has barely had to interact with the UAA conduct team, because behavior tied to drugs or alcohol isn’t common.

Kriegh said that there used to be a third fraternity, Delta Chi, but they hadn’t met the membership numbers required by their parent organization. Their organization recently made the decision to remove the chapter from UAA.

Kriegh said that losing Delta Chi was due, in large part, to low membership during Covid. During and after the pandemic, it was hard to get students engaged with campus groups.

Kriegh said that this is an issue across UAA. “I think that's something that we're seeing, not just with fraternity and sorority life, but with all of our student organizations, is student engagement looks so different in this … somewhat post pandemic, post quarantine era that we're in right now.”

With higher enrollment at satellite campuses and more remote classes, Kriegh said that it can be hard to engage with students and get them interested in joining groups like fraternities and sororities.

Kriegh, Bissett and Hobbs all say that they hope to see more growth and engagement with UAA’s fraternities and sororities in the future.

Though rush is over, fraternities and sororities are encouraged to participate in continuous open bidding, where students can bid to join year-round. Student Organization Services has a Fraternity and Sorority Life interest form which can be found online.