Why Join UConn's Greek Life?

Hi Jacob here,

Whenever I introduce myself to a tour I make sure to highlight that I am a proud member of Greek Life. What usually follows from here is a prospective student asking me about Greek Life. To most being Greek is the abyss of college, the unknown and the scary. In reality though Greek Life is not what the media has made it out to be. Yes, I live in a fraternity house, no it is not like animal house. This negative image that is portrayed is a skewed view of what Greek life truly is.

My older sister, who attended another state university, quickly became involved in Greek Life. I always looked up to my sister when I was younger and when she came home from school and I would see her wearing letters or telling stories about being ‘Greek’ it only made me more intrigued. When I came to UConn I gave it a shot and attended  rush events, I ended up receiving a bid and pledging Alpha Epsilon Pi. Flash forward just one very short year and here I am sitting on the executive board of my fraternity. It is fair to say I have fell in love with being ‘Greek’, and I am a strong advocate for going ‘Greek’.

It can be intimidating to attend a school of 17,000 people. Greek Life here at UConn comprises about 11% of the university. To have campus shrunk down to a little over 1,700 is much more manageable in my opinion. Coming from a small town in Massachusetts where my high school had about 1,300 students I felt as thought shrinking down this campus would be necessary for me.

Greek Life has so much to offer at UConn, whether is be philanthropies, meeting tons of new people, having a close knit community, being in an organization with like-minded students and the list goes on and on. I had a very close group of friends in high school and I was always worried about meeting close friends again, however the bonds that I have made as a brother of Alpha Epsilon Pi have been remarkable and rewarding. Even meeting people outside of your organization is a true treat, whether is be participating in lip-sync for homecoming with a few other organizations or even creating tight bonds during Greek Week. Another great aspect of Greek Life at UConn is the all Greek housing called Husky Village. With students of all ages there it gives students even more of a chance to get to know their fellow ‘Greeks’.

Greek life has so much to offer, and I personally would recommend everyone give it at least a try.