What is it like to be in Greek Life?

What do you think of when you hear the words "Greek Life," or "sorority," or "fraternity?" Do you think of the movie portrayals of constant partying? Or do you think of community service, academics, leadership, and philanthropies? Most people would probably say that they think of the partying aspect as their view on Greek life. However, joining a Greek organization can provide some life-long benefits and rewards that don't involve parties. Joining Greek life allows you to gain a support system, give back to the community, grow into a leader, and focus on your academics. 

Gaining a Support System

Joining a Greek organization gives you the opportunity to meet many new people who have the same interests as you. These members may come from different backgrounds and can provide a diverse family connection that will help guide you throughout your college years and as an alumni. They will be there to help you academically, professionally, mentally, and emotionally. Additionally, because a single Greek organization fits into a larger community of Greek organizations on campus and all over the U.S., you will have many opportunities to connect with other students from other schools. 

Giving Back to the Community

Every Greek organization has a philanthropy that focuses its efforts to helping a good cause. Some examples include supporting the Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation, St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital, Domestic Violence Awareness, and CPR Awareness. Greek organizations also emphasize the importance of giving back to the community by requiring each member to complete a certain number of volunteering hours each quarter. These efforts to give back to the community are important to Greek organizations and provide very rewarding experiences.

Leadership Development

Being a part of a Greek organization opens doors for leadership development. Not only can you gain leadership within your own organization by running for chair positions or the executive board, but you can also choose to join council executive boards and work closely with other Greek councils on campus. This will allow you to be a key part of the business side of running a chapter and/or council. You will have the opportunity to work with other student organizations and campus leaders. Finally, you will be exposed to conferences and retreats that focus on improving your chapter and personal career interests.  

Responsibilities & Workload

All of this sounds like it's a lot of work, right? Well... yes. If you join a Greek organization, you are committing yourself to meeting the responsibilities of your chapter position and member requirements. Many students say that being involved in Greek life is like taking another class due to the amount of work needed to fulfill your member responsibilities. Having good time management skills is key to making the most out of being in a Greek organization. Sure, it can be a lot of work when attending mandatory meetings, setting up events, meeting academic and volunteering requirements, and more. But, if you use your time wisely, prioritize your academics and well-being, and utilize your new support system, you will enjoy your time as a Greek life member.

Chapter President Testimonies

Lupe Solis (she/her/hers) - 2021 President of the Epsilon Delta Chapter of Sigma Lambda Gamma National Sorority Inc.

1. How has your view of Greek Life changed since you’ve joined and gained more responsibility?
- When I initially was looking into an organization, I think I viewed it for the social aspect and what it could offer me professionally and mainly what it could offer me as far as friendships or putting myself out there, maybe it would boost my confidence. It was more of a personal thing in that aspect. But then I officially found an organization that was a good fit for me. And I took on positions within the organization, especially leadership positions. I feel like my views shifted to a more professional mindset. I was able to see what it could offer me, but, as someone who will soon me graduating from UCSB and entering the workforce, like how do I connect with other people? What networks can get me to where I want to go professionally. So that's how it's changed.

2. What do you want to share widely about Greek life?
- I would say take your time when choosing an organization, if you plan on joining one, because sometimes we can rush into things for the wrong reasons. And then later, we ended up thinking it's a waste of our time or even our money. So I would say take your time when it comes to Greek life, look into different organizations, even non-Greek. Look at the logistics, how many chapters do they have? How many active sisters or, how many active members. What is your average GPA? What resources do they offer to their members. So just look at that. And also, does that align with your values? Does it align with your career interests? Maybe you already have a set schedule. Can you fit that in there? Because it is like a part-time job when joining that. So see which organizations align with who you are and who you want to be. And then make sure it challenges you, but in like a positive way.

3. What is the biggest gain of being in a fraternity/sorority during these times?
- I think the biggest gain during these times is a support system, a community. I think community is so important. I've been like a mentor to mentees who don't feel like they have a sense of community and I've seen how that can drastically affect their academic performance or even just their motivation to be at UCSB. And then I seen how people, you know, feel when they do have a community. So I think that my organization just like many other wonderful organizations can provide a community and a space where you can create networks with alumni or with sisters from other chapters. I think that, especially now when everything's virtual, because we've had events with sisters from UC Davis, when that would never happen if we were in person, so now you get to meet not just our members, but also members from a whole other school and who might plan to go to law school, like you might want to do or things like that. So I think right now, the possibilities are endless of who you can be connected to and who you can meet. More alumni are coming around, so that's also nice because a lot of them are already established. So I would say community networking and a support system as the same being as community.

4. How do you prioritize your academics and responsibilities?
- I think before you join an organization, you have to go in there with that mindset already that your academics will always be the first thing that you need to prioritize. So I always had that mindset. I procrastinate too, but I think I always knew kind of what my level one is, where my level two is, so when things get too heavy on me, I delegate tasks or I'm realistic. If I can't get something done tomorrow or whatever, I am communicating to my chapter that this we'll get it done this week. And then I use my planner and I feel like I'm very organized when it comes to like tasks that I have to get done. 

5. Why is mental health something that matters to you and your chapter?
- I feel like my chapter really takes mental health very seriously. We always kind of like do everything with keeping mental health in mind. I feel like if it matters so much because if our mental health is not in the right place, then business is so hard to get done. We even incorporated a mental health committee this year. So we've never done that before. We have committees for different things like a sisterhood committee, but this year we did a mental health committee and different members are a part of that one and they meet bi-weekly. They attend the active minds workshops and then they even promote it to the rest of chapter. Like, "hey, there's going to be this active minds workshop today. Or our national headquarters is putting on an event regarding mental health." So that's pretty much what they're in charge of doing. And like I said, the sisterhood committee that we have sisters are welcome to come to our meetings biweekly and talk about anything.  But the mental health committee is also open to sisters biweekly and they can come in and maybe talk about how their mental health is going, if something is affecting that. And while we're not professionals by any means, we're just a safe space and we're willing to connect sisters to resources that they need. 

6. What are some common mental health struggles you see in the Greek community?
- I feel like one thing that I've seen when we were in person was seeing a lot of people get lost in the partying aspect and then not really seeing brothers or sisters help them out of that, I feel like that's something I've seen and  sometimes it can be like super lonely when your members and peers don't know how to help you or even if you're going through stuff. Within the multicultural organizations, individuals like me naturally don't know how to ask for help when we need it, because that's just the way you were brought up for the most part. So I think a lot of those things, like a lot of those cultural values, come into the organizations and sometimes that's when your mental health has deteriorated so much. 

7. How has your chapter supported its members through any mental health concerns?
- So we had new members come in spring and that's kind of the weekend before we had to leave. So that was kind of tough in the beginning, especially coming in as president to that. So pretty much we had meetings regularly throughout summer. Usually we don't have meetings throughout summer, but I made sure that we did because I felt that was one way for us to stay connected and stay aware of how everyone was doing. I had tons of like sisterhood activities. I did a lot of like anonymous forms throughout the summer and fall as well to see how people were feeling with chapter, how they were feeling within themselves. At our quarterly retreats, I don't want just make everything about business. 

8. Have you had any conversations with your chapter sisters/brother about mental health concerns?
- As president, I always make myself available to sisters to reach out to me. Before every quarter starts, I have one-on-ones with them just to see how they're feeling about their position, what events they have planned and then also how their mental health is going. And yeah, I had sisters who sometimes can't make it to certain events because  their mental health is just not in the right place. Or even I've had moments where we're at events and sisters have to leave because they were triggered in some way when certain topics arise. So I've had to have those hard conversations with members. And I think in the beginning it was very intimidating because I didn't know how to have those conversations. I mean, no one really knows how right. You're not prepared to, but as time went by, I felt more confident in being a safe space for sisters and validating how they feel. And, I don't think I've connected anyone to actual mental health services, but, I feel like I've offered myself as a safe space to sisters multiple times throughout the year. 

9. How has the pandemic affected your mental health? With remote classes, in general?
- I feel like it's really affected my mental house at some point. And then some points, I had to move back home and that was really tough for me. I think like sometimes you get to a certain level and, you're so proud of yourself because you're involved in so many things and then it's easy to feel invalidated because your parents don't understand all of those things that you're doing. So, I think sometimes it'll randomly hit me and make me feel down. We really didn't have a fourth year and I'm here all calm. I feel like I'm back in the same place where I used to be when I lived here and that really, sometimes it gets to me or puts me in a funk. 

​ 10..How do you prioritize your mental health? What tips on self care do you have?
- I would say prioritize it and take care of your mental health before it's too late. And if you're already in a dark hole, I would say read about therapy before you get to a breakdown, like prevention therapy. I think that should be more normalized, especially in the Greek community. As far as mental health, I would just say, it's impossible to carry out any roles that you want to take on in the organization if your mental health is not in the right place. It will eventually like take a toll. So, lean on your community and seek resources. 

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Joel Garibay Ramirez (he/him/his) - 2021 President of the Sigma Gamma Chapter of Sigma Lambda Beta International Fraternity Inc.

1. How has your view of Greek Life changed since you’ve joined and gained more responsibility?
​- Before I joined, I didn't really know how much of a responsibility it would be I just thought that it would be hanging out with a bunch of dudes getting to know each other and help each other out. I didn't really think of it in terms of the business aspect. As president, it has been a challenge in terms of how many responsibilities I have on top of making sure my members are okay and just making sure I'm not passing certain boundaries where people are feeling uncomfortable with being open to sharing their own opinions. It's also been a real challenge trying to find that space where everybody is okay with them. It has been a lot more on my plate than I would have necessarily expected but I definitely agree that Greek life has helped me set up my own platform where I'm able to manage this. Even though it seems like a lot to me right now,  it doesn't always feel like it's a lot of work .

2. What do you want to share widely about Greek life?
- I want them to know what to expect because the side that people usually see is all these good people  giving back to the community and having social events but it's a lot more than people. You have to be ready to sit in for several hours in a business meeting to get an event figured out. If you have a certain position you're going to have to be creating specific events and making sure you meet deadlines and get stuff done. We are social organizations and that's where that's not specifically what we're focused on.

3. What is the biggest gain of being in a fraternity/sorority during these times?
- The biggest gain during this time is my social network is how it expanded and grown so much. I have thousands of brothers coast to coast that I can reach out to and take advantage of these resources right now. This is something that I really do cherish because I've been able to be in communication with people I don't usually talk to. Not everybody gets to talk to 40 year old people that have gone to college that already have their own houses and families and see what they're up to and what their struggles are. I feel like I have that extra stepping stone now. 

4. How do you prioritize your academics and responsibilities?
- I have several calendars. I have a Google Calendar I use to have all my exam dates. I have another Google Calendar to separate specific details for the org and then I have a physical planner where I put everyday and fill it out with  what I have to do. I don't always get everything done but I'll make sure I do the most important assignments at the beginning of the day when I have the most energy and I know I'll be able to get them done. Sometimes it's hard, but as long as you know when those deadlines are in when they're coming up. That's what's been working for me.

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5. Why is mental health something that matters to you and your chapter?
- Mental health is important to me just because growing up I struggled a lot with my mental health than just depression and anxiety even with my ADHD like it's kind of getting that through to me as it has been difficult. It's important for people to be aware of the resources they have and to make sure that they're utilizing them to take care of themselves first and foremost. so that would be one of the main reasons that I'd say is important to me and everyone else but I definitely think that we should be doing a better job that I'm trying to find that common ground in communication with these. 

6. What are some common mental health struggles in the Greek community?
-  Some mental health struggles I've noticed is the stigma behind depression and that we don't necessarily talk about it. We see it within our communities like being able to have this conversation and being open and receptive. I'd say within our fraternity guys, like Latino men always have that stigma that you have to have this representation of what it means to be a man and not show emotion. In simpler terms "suffer in silence" and is this really what we want a future generations to think? How can we better prepare ourselves to know what resources are out there and actually try to use utilize them. I feel like I've had several conversations with people but how can we assure that our members are going to be utilizing these resources and it's not just they oh I'm telling you that these are here I hope you use them. How can we actually make sure that they're benefiting from what they have available?

7. How has your chapter supported its members through any mental health concerns?
- I want to say that we are open and knowledgeable of what resources we have available but I don't necessarily think we've done anything specifically tailored towards our members. Working with them to make them feel better and doing some self-care type of events or academic events like a motivational workshop, planning for college or how to destress, those are definitely factors that play a part in how we support our members through mental health concerns. We motivate each other and prepare ourselves within the academic setting. We should definitely do some form of checking in on individual brothers to let them know that their struggles are aren't just for themselves and let them know we're also here to help you through it all. 

8. Have you had any conversations with your chapter sisters/brother about mental health concerns?
- I think there needs to be more education on mental health. I feel like a lot of people need someone when they could be going through a manic episode or something you know where they'll be like all that person's just crazy comments. If someone is educated then it's just like bringing that education back to the community which would be would take a long time it would be like a large-scale type of project that would have to be done but it definitely is possible.

​9. How has the pandemic affected your mental health? With remote classes, in general?
- it's made my mental health really challenging especially just throughout time like at the beginning of the beginning of it was it was challenging to the transition just moving into the digital platform. Then I got used to it for a while and it just wasn't that bad. I got used to just always being around so many people throughout the years here and always having somebody to be able to ask for help. But being virtual kind of made it seem like I didn't want to talk virtually with a psychiatrist through my laptop when I'm going to be like around my house mates or when I'm going to be around my family so it made it more difficult for me to be able to have that communication that I had before.