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These questions were asked by Albany State University Students after a Greek Life Forum hosted by Dr. Walter Kimbrough, author of Black Greek 101 (an excellent reference source for anyone interested in the history of Black Greek Organizations). We thought these questions were so important (and so interesting and thoughtful) that we took the time to answer most of them. We tried to answer them in a way that would apply to all the Black Greek Organizations, but in some instances, we answered questions specifically in relation to Alpha Kappa Alpha. If the answers to these questions help you, then we're glad to have been of service. Please, send us an email with any other questions and we'll try our best to answer them honestly. |
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Background on the Different Sororities and Fraternities
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How much does it cost? Becoming a member of a Black Greek Organization is not cheap and the fees change every year. That is the honest answer. Thankfully, the Intake Fees are a once-in-a-lifetime Expense. Therefore, anyone who is interested in becoming a member of a Black Greek Organization should carefully consider their finances when they consider their decision to join. Every Organization is not only looking for members who will join, but members who will remain "active" (financially supporting and working within a chapter) all their lives. |
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Why does it cost so much? Intake Fees usually include a set amount required by the National Organization (for materials that you will need as a member), the chapter dues, and the cost of holding Membership Intake. Chapter Dues are determined by the chapter's financial obligations (obligations to the National Organization, local programs, and the cost of hosting different events). |
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Who is responsible for setting the qualifications? Basic Membership Requirements are set by the governing body of each National Organization. Then, additional membership requirements are set by the administration of the university or the University's Pan-Hellenic Council. Finally, membership requirements are included in the bylaws of every chapter. |
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What are the basic qualifications of a Greek organization? Most Black Greek Organizations have set a C+ GPA as the minimum requirement to join. All look for candidates with high ethical and moral standards and a record of high scholastic achievement. Evidence of leadership qualities and a willingness to work hard and support the national programs is also extremely important. |
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Do Greek letter organizations really look for members that will uphold their purpose? YES!!! Every Greek who loves their organization and really believes in the mission of their organization really wants to encourage people who have those same ideals to join. The problem that we as undergrads face is trying to find out which people are truly committed to the spirit and ideals of our founders and not just trying to join to wear the letters. |
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Do all chapters of Greek organizations have this set image they must fulfill? NO! Every Greek Organization has members who are totally different, yet alike in their devotion to the ideals of their founders. Their isn't a "set" stereotype for any Black Greek Organization, aside from our desire to choose people based on their willingness to work. Please Review This Question for more information. |
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Greeks are like any other people. When it's time to vote, we can only vote on those people who make a good impression on us. and those whom we already know. Within Alpha Kappa Alpha, that impression MUST be made at Rush. Rush is your chance to impress the ladies of AKA and make us want to pick you. So if you don't already know a member of AKA, you need to stand out at Rush and impress us with your knowledge, your good humor, and your enthusiasm. Underground choosing is illegal and we do discourage it, but the plain truth is that we don't know you are interested until Rush, which is when you are sitting with 300 other ladies who want to join as much as you do. So, may I ask you, have you made yourself STAND OUT on campus as a leader? |
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Why do fraternities and sororities concentrate more on who you know rather than your ability to meet requirements? |
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What do fraternities and sororities look for? Within Alpha Kappa Alpha, we look first to high scholastic achievement. The minimum requirement set forth by our National Organization is a C+ Average, which is a 2.5. Of course, we are impressed by ladies with higher GPAs. We also look for evidence of ethical conduct (academic dishonesty, criminal records, and dubious reputation all fall under that category). We are also impressed by ladies who have participated in community service projects and have done voluntary community service. Finally, leadership positions within other organizations give us an idea of your work ethic and time and people management skills. |
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How many hours of community service should a person have? There isn't a set number of community service hours any prospective candidate should have. Ideally, your community service should be something that you enjoy doing which, of course, will make you more likely to spend time there. |
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If it is supposed to be such a learning experience, why is it so hard to be a part of something that you wish to be affiliated with? Trying to become a member of a Black Greek Organization is a learning experience within itself. Sometimes, it's bad paperwork or lack of qualifications holding a candidate back. Sometimes it's lack of money. But sometimes, it's just "haters," and haters are a fact of life. Trying to join, and being a member, of a Black Greek Organization is just another lesson in life and in people management. Because the membership of the chapter has to vote on you, your relationship with the chapter is something you have to develop, just as you would develop a networking connection in order to get a job. |
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Why do organizations pre-pick people without looking for others with better qualifications? First, pre-picking a line has now been termed "pre-pledging," which is illegal in all Pan-Hellenic organizations. Second, review this question. |
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When would be the best time for me to try to join? The best time to try to join is when you feel you would have a good shot of making the candidate pool. If you believe that you can afford it, have the time necessary to go through intake, have the necessary qualifications to make the candidate pool, and can commit time to the chapter meetings and programs, then you are ready to join. |
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This is not a problem that the sororities and fraternities need to address. This is really a problem within the public. When people stop believing that every light-skinned girl with long hair wants to "pledge" Alpha Kappa Alpha or that every pretty boy with wavy hair wants to be a member of Kappa Alpha Psi, then Black Greek Organizations will be able to move past their ugly stereotypes and move on. The Black Greek Organizations do not have a section of their bylaws devoted to what the members should look like because it doesn't matter. WE want people who are devoted to our programs, who are willing to work, and believe in the ideals of our founders. This has never changed. |
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Will there be more information given to students before interest meetings are held? Alpha Kappa Alpha gives out its preliminary information in the "General Information for the Collegian" brochure, which every potential candidate must pick up from the Graduate Advisor BEFORE the interest meeting. If, after reading the brochure, you still have more questions, you can call the numbers on the back, which are the telephone numbers of the Graduate Advisor, Chapter President, Membership Chairman, and the Regional Director. Any question you may have can be answered by those four people and they can also direct you to additional sources of information. |
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How would you react to individuals who come to you in a respectable manner and inform you of their interest in your organization? People who come to us in a respectable manner and quietly ask us if we would mind answering a few questions about our organization will usually get a respectable response. If the person that you ask says no, ask them if you can talk to them later, at their convenience, instead of getting mad and assuming that they are just mean or "uppity." If they still say no, ask another member of the chapter. Eventually, you'll find someone in the organization who won't mind answering your questions. |
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With so many eyes watching, how can you research without being called a "wanna be"? First, DO NOT DO YOUR RESEARCH IN PUBLIC PLACES! If you do your research in the University Library, everyone is going to see you. Conduct your research in the city's public library, where you can request books and pick them up later. You can also check out different websites at the public library. Second, talk to Graduate members. If you speak to graduate members who work on campus, it isn't necessarily assumed that you are asking about a Greek Organization, which makes it the perfect cover. You can also ask the undergraduate members if they will answer your questions in email. There are many ways of getting information; you just have to be creative to do it secretly. Finally, we have included a page on our website that provides links to the national websites of all nine Black Greek Organizations as well as a list of books we think are helpful in researching the Black Greek Organizations and the Rush/Intake Process. You can use these resources to find out more about the organization you are interested in. |
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Why do people make comments about what Greeks are doing and are not doing when they don’t research to find out? A lot of people are just jealous. They think they know what is going on within the undergraduate chapter when they really don't. Others feel as if the Greeks should always be on campus "running thangs." Greeks are students too. The Greeks have jobs, classes, and their mandatory service projects. Maybe we should be present on campus more, but trying to create programs that the entire school would be interested in is difficult. We cannot control what other people say about us. All we can do is implement our campus programs, advertise them well, and hope people come to them. Others feel that Greeks are elitist organizations whose time has come and gone. We as Greeks take offense to that while every possible statistic on African Americans remains poor as compared to whites. Black Greeks are not a bunch of "elitist thugs"; we are committed undergraduate and graduate individuals committed to making a difference in our communities and giving back to those who need us. |
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Why is so much useful information kept secret? The useful information is not a secret at all. For the most part, the only secrets left in the Greek Organizations is their rituals. Getting the information just takes a little time and patience on the part of prospective candidates. |
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Where do you
find more info on Greek life? There are many Sources of information on Greek Life. Click here to go to a list of good Sources of information on all Nine members of the National Pan-Hellenic Association. |
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Why are Greek organizations so secret on their formation, rather than letting it be known about them? Not one of the Greek Organizations is secretive about their formation. The history of the organization is on every single national website. Most chapter websites also have a page about the national history and the chapter history. |
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Are students who receive scholarships from a particular fraternity/sorority bound to that particular group? No. In fact, the Gamma Sigma Girl who answered most of the questions on this page received a scholarship from both Alpha Kappa Alpha and Delta Sigma Theta. She made her choice based on her personality, the strength of the national programs, and her view of the Ladies in the Sorority. No one is bound to a particular Sorority or Fraternity because they give you money.
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Who decides how many are on line? The Chapter has the sole authority to decide how many people can participate in its intake. The only time the chapter does not have the sole authority is when the College or University has a cap on the number of students that can participate on any one Greek line.
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Why is intake
not publicized? Intake is publicized. Rush is the OFFICIAL announcement of an intake process. After Rush, the names of the people who were accepted are kept secret for two reasons. First, we don't want people harassing our candidates. We prefer that our candidates remain safe at all times and we don't want other people trying to tell them what to do and what not to do. We have an OFFICIAL membership intake procedure and any deviation from it means that the candidates will not become members. Keeping our candidate list a secret also reduces the chance for hazing. Only three people within an Alpha Kappa Alpha chapter are supposed to know who is on the line and the rest of the membership will find out when the candidates show up for intake. Second, we want the names of the people we accepted to be a surprise. There is no point in coming to, or even holding, a "probate/neophyte show" if the entire campus already knows who was on the line. So we also keep the names secret so the candidates will be able to surprise friends and family with the announcement. |
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How long is
pledging supposed to last? The national chapters determine the length of the intake process. Within Alpha Kappa Alpha, it is a 3-day process that must be completed in its entirety. |
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What does the number of a line stand for and represent? The line number usually stands for the members' placement in the line according to height. |
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What does it mean to be financial? To be financial is to have paid your national and chapter dues on time and, hopefully, every year. |
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Is there individuality after pledging Greek life? Yes! You individual personality is the entire reason you would be picked to become a member of a Greek Organization. After you become a member, maintaining your individuality within the group actually becomes even more important. As a new member, you are expected and encouraged to bring new ideas and enthusiasm to meetings and to your group activities. If you are a carbon copy of everyone else on your line, then you aren't contributing much. So, yes, individuality is encouraged because it's is your individual difference from your line sister/brother that makes the group stronger. |
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Did you lose any friends (when you joined)? If you did, was it because they weren’t Greek or because they joined different organizations? This question is hard to answer because it really depends on the person. A lot of people claim that Black Greek members "change" after they are made and sometimes that's quite true. Other people are the same after they cross.
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Can being a Greek look bad upon a person? It Depends. Whether or not being Greek looks bad on a person really depends on the person and what they do with their letters. Sometimes you encounter people who don't want to work with Greeks because they think Greeks are "uppity" or snobbish. That's really their problem. If they can't accept you as an individual instead of as an extension of all the hang-ups and stereotypes they have about Black Greeks, then you can't change that until they are ready to change. Sometimes, being a member of an chapter whose community reputation is bad will make you look bad. On the flip side, there are instances where being Greek helps. It provides an instant bridge between two people when they meet, if both are Greek. Because of all the chapter programming that must be done as an undergraduate, being Greek is an automatic advertisement of your time and people management skills, as well as your ability to do event planning. Studies indicate that Greek members are more likely to remain in college and receive a degree than nonaffiliated students. Nationally, Greek members have an overall higher graduation rate than non-Greeks. Since 1910, 85% of the Supreme Court Justices have been Greek. All but two of the U.S. Presidents since 1825 have been Greek, and 63% of the U.S. President's cabinet members since 1900 have been Greek. Studies show that 76% of our nation's Senators, 71% of the people listed in Who's Who in America and 85% of Fortune 500 executives are Greek. Of the fifteen presidents who had a chance to join a fraternity, twelve took advantage of the opportunity. Studies show that 88% of college students’ time is spent outside the classroom. Greek Life provides a viable option for leadership development and extracurricular involvement. |
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How can Greek life help me succeed academically? Greek organizations were founded on the principle of successful scholarship. Academic success is extremely important to the Greeks. Organizations have structured study halls and grade requirements for membership. In addition, they have contests for the higher chapter grade point average and encourage each other to excel academically through incentive programs for individuals and for chapters. Academic success is in the student's favor when you factor in help from fellow sisters and brothers, study halls, workshops, test taking strategies, and time management assistance. |
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Why is there such a negative vibe among fraternities and sororities (group A doesn’t like group B)? Although some Greek persons do take Greek life too seriously, it is important that these persons have missed the entire purpose of their founders and the organizations goals for the "upliftment of the black race". Each organization does employ chants and steps that would be disrespectful in a Non-Greek persons eyes but it's merely a competition or a rivalry to keep each other on their toes. But each fraternity and sorority has a mutual understanding and respect for the others, it's just most of the time Non-Greeks don't see that. All non-Greeks look for is who clowns the next group at a probate show, or who steps the best. Non-Greeks look for the DRAMA and not the positives. |
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Is it possible to stand out and be an effective leader on campus without being a part of an organization? ABSOLUTELY! You don't have to be Greek, or part of SGA, or any other group on campus in order to be recognized as a leader. Most people, however, find it easier to work within a group to get things done. Being in a group makes being a leader easier because you have people ready and willing to carry out your vision. You can join other organizations and be a leader without being Greek. |
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When is it time to let Greek life go? We sincerely hope that, once you join, you never decide to let Greek life go. If you feel that you might allow your membership to lapse for any reason, do not become a member. We depend on active people to keep our mission going and we would be sorry to miss your presence within the organization. |
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| Hazing |
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Please Read Black Greek 101 by Dr. Walter M. Kimbrough. That's the best reference on the history and customs of Black Greek Organizations and includes the best section on Hazing that we are aware of. |
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What exactly is hazing? According to the State of Georgia, Hazing is defined as: a) As used in this Code section, the term: (1) 'Haze' means to subject a student to an activity which endangers or is likely to endanger the physical health of a student, regardless of a student´s willingness to participate in such activity. (2) 'School' means any school, college, or university in this state. (3) 'School organization' means any club, society, fraternity, sorority, or a group living together which has students as its principal members. (4) 'Student' means any person enrolled in a school in this state. (b) It shall be unlawful for any person to haze any student in connection with or as a condition or precondition of gaining acceptance, membership, office, or other status in a school organization. (c) Any person who violates this Code section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature.
A misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature can only carry a sentence up to 12 months in jail. However, if you receive a jail sentence, the maximum good time credit you can get per month is only 4 days. In other words, in a month with 30 days, you will have to do 26. Fines can be as high as $5000. Also, In addition to jail, probation, fines, and restitution, some common punishment for a misdemeanor conviction are as follows:
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When did hazing first come about?
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What is the purpose of hazing? What’s the difference between pledging and
hazing? The purpose of hazing is to embarrass and degrade someone who is committed to joining the sorority/fraternity. The difference between pledging and hazing is that hazing is usually accompanied by brutality in some form. Pledging can be embarrassing, but it's usually not brutal. |
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Why does pledging seem to be so degrading? Because it is! Hazing is only someone's attempt to degrade and embarrass another person in the name of "sisterhood." There isn't any sisterhood in hazing. |
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Did the old school Greeks haze like the new school Greeks? From everything I've heard from graduates, No, but we'll have to find someone who will tell us about their experience in order to answer this question honestly. |
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Do you think pledging is
right?
What can hazing prove? Hazing is NOT right and it only proves your willingness to be degraded and embarrassed. If your own sister wouldn't (insert humiliating action here) to you, why would you let a total stranger do that??? |
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How do the national chapters involve themselves in illegal pledging? If you are caught hazing, most national presidents' suspend the chapter first. Then an investigation begins and the police and district attorney are called in (if they aren't already involved). If the guilty individual is an undergraduate member, their membership will be revoked (they have to hand in their pin and membership card), they could possibly be expelled from school, and the District Attorney has the authority to arrest the individual. If the Guilty member is a candidate, the same applies, only their name is placed on the list of individuals now banned from ever applying for membership. If the individual is a Graduate member, the penalty is the same as the undergraduates', but they could lose their job (I haven't met a business owner yet who likes the thought of employing criminals). Only after the investigation is there a possibility that the chapter will get it's charter back (and that's not a guarantee). |
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Do Greeks really understand pledging in this day? NO. Because of the stories of the graduate members, some undergraduate Greeks and potential candidates, believe that they are missing out on something. Pledging was different from hazing, but as the Black Greek Organizations moved into the 1970s and 1980s, pledging and hazing became so intertwined that it was hard to tell the difference anymore. Then the deaths from "pledging" became more publicized and the national governing bodies voted to end pledging all together. |
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What can be done to bring back old school pledging? To be honest, not much. Since each of the Black Greek Organizations voted to outlaw hazing in their intake process, the number of people getting injured or killed seems to be increasing rather than decreasing. Because of this, each of the national organizations finds itself in a losing position: tightening the intake process on one hand and expelling members who haze on the other. Hazing has really become epidemic in the Black Greek organizations and the national organizations are doing everything they can to stop it. Please be aware that the actions of those who haze do not represent the values of any of the fraternities or sororities. People who haze have lost all respect for the organization, its mission, and history and should be avoid at all costs. I believe (and maybe I'm an optimist) that in order to bring back an extended intake process, the injuries, deaths, and lawsuits have to disappear and intelligent, thoughtful individuals have to take a stand against those who violate others in the name of any Black Greek Organization. |
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If undergraduate chapters of Greek organizations are losing the central focus of joining them, how difficult would it be to allow graduate chapters of college chapters to be responsible for intake of potential undergraduate members? Actually, this is an idea that has been bounced around more than one organization but the answer is "EXTREMELY HARD!". The problem lies in the fact that undergraduates who want to haze or be hazed will look to each other for "the REAL experience" instead of to the wisdom and experience of the graduate members. Because of the immaturity of some, graduate members are not and will not be willing to risk their lives (homes, cars, reputations, etc.) to hold an intake for a group of undergraduates who are willing to go get hazed in the middle of the night. That would be putting too much of their life on the line. So, having graduate members run the intake is a good idea in theory, but wouldn't work in fact. |
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DO NOT ATTEMPT TO JOIN ALPHA KAPPA ALPHA IF... ...you are only concerned with images
and stereotypes. What you are is what you bring to the organization.
What you bring to the organization is what the organization becomes. Only Join Alpha Kappa Alpha IF... ...you are willing to dedicate yourself
to the cause of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. ...you don't just want to "wear" letters, but do something with them. Since its inception, Alpha Kappa Alpha has been community service oriented. |