How can we expand Greek life at PC? This is a question that many people
involved in Greek life on campus are asking. The numbers and popularity of Greek life
have declined since COVID. Both Charter numbers and Panhellenic numbers have
decreased compared to when Greek life was on the rise at PC.

While students feel this way, the staff in charge of Greek life does not share the
same view. The director of Greek Life said, “As chapter numbers have changed over the
years, enrollment numbers have also shifted.” This could be part of the problem but not
necessarily the root of it. Additionally, PC has seen a higher rate of
student-athletes in recent years as new emerging sports are being added.

The staff for Greek Life believes that Greek life, in general, has declined due to rising higher
education costs and the expenses associated with these organizations. They are
actively working to increase involvement, with chapter leaders reaching out to sports
teams to build relationships and gain trust, hoping that more coaches will allow their
athletes to rush.

Many Greek life members feel that the school is trying to “boot” Greek life out,
but this is not the case, according to the staff on campus. They say that they have
changed policies for safety reasons, not to take away the fun. Many students, not just
Greek life members but also unaffiliated ones, are upset with the new policies
implemented at the fraternity houses. A sorority president said, “When we have issues
we are supposed to go to Carson or Drew, and we have been, but nothing ever gets
done, and nothing ever changes.” This is an issue that the school needs to address and
make these organizations understand on a deeper level. This is where communication
comes in and the communication is not strong between staff and students in
Greek life.

The view on Greek life in general can be harsh, but PC is a lot different. As a
sorority present said, “If anything due to “RushTok” and the increased popularity in
that has increased the numbers of people wanting to rush, the Greeks at PC are just not
supported enough.” “Rush Tok” can scare a lot of people away but what you see on
Rush Tok is not how PC does it. This gives us a disadvantage because of the bigger
label that Rush Tok gives not taking into consideration that this is not how every school works.

For fraternities Greek life has had a massive decline in members and multiple reasons and factors led to this decline. Many members of the fraternity court believe that the reasons for the decline lean more toward the administration and
their involvement. “The school has shrunk by almost 400 students in three years and
athlete transfers remain extremely high, one thing remains clear, fewer students are
coming here and even fewer are staying, if the administration can’t change that it
won’t only be Greek life that continues to decline,” states IFC president Micaiah
Bouknight. Over the years the school’s enrollment rate has dropped and that partially can be blamed on the effects of Covid and how the school has changed its focus on funding and the areas the school is promoting. A frame of problems has been the use of campus policies and there has been a major problem with the decisions made. He also
stated, “A lot of issues causing this decline stem from the administration, more
specifically relating to the Office of Student Involvement the Dean of Students and
Chief of Police. Within those mentioned offices there’s no communication or chain of
command between these groups and these administrators regularly make decisions that
directly impact Greek life.”

So what should we Greek life organizations do? When speaking to members and
leaders of different organizations on fraternity court we see that fraternities and
sororities may need to take a different route. As a member one of the biggest
takeaways you can get from joining a Greek organization is the connections with
business-owning alumni and or opportunities. But now with LinkedIn being popular, it is
easier to get connected with business owners and jobs so the use of joining an
organization for that reason seems less important. The Commander of Sigma Nu Gage
Hatcher stated,” The campus-wide problem with Greek life is no one is excited to be in a
fraternity. The school doesn’t care about Greek life and this makes students not care
about Greek life.” So what can we do as members to fix this problem?

The answer is simple; we have to change our approach realize the issues and find a way to
succeed. Gage also stated, “When I realized this issue I switched the strategy of
recruitment. When recruiting, I made being in a fraternity a home away from home.”
Many people are asking and thinking about whether rush numbers would be
better in the spring rather than the fall. The argument is that if given a chance these
organizations to show what they are about and what they do.