Why Do Students Join Greek Organizations?

The Greek System here at the university really has an impact on student life both in the lives of Greeks and non-Greeks. Little research has been conducted on Greeks of different ethnicities and I believe it is important to see what are these differences and similarities among all Greeks to get a better perception of where there are gaps of understanding. When I say understanding, I mean understanding how these students perceive themselves, their organization, their school, and the rest of the student body. Hopefully this paper will contribute towards finding ways that the university can use to bridge these gaps so students can learn to understand each other better and discontinue isolating themselves from the rest of the student body. For this study, one male and one female from four ethnic groups were interviewed, so there were two African American, two Asian, two Caucasian, and two Latino students. All of my participants were undergraduates that were members of the Greek System. Four came from the United Greek Council, two from the Black Greek Council, one from the Panhellenic Council, and one from the Interfraternity Council. The purpose was to get the point of view of females and males from different ethnic groups that are in Greek organizations here at U of I.unpublishe