Greeks focus on professionalism

Greek life is an important part of university life, particularly at IU.

But while the mention of fraternities and sororities may conjure thoughts of houses along North Jordan and a slew of social events, there is a whole other aspect of the greek system.

Other than the traditional social fraternities and sororities, more than 10 additional fraternities exist across the IU campus. Many non-social fraternities exist to cater to the academic and professional growth of students.

“Basically, the mission of our fraternity is to help students make an informed decision about law school,” said Jana Kovich, president of Phi Alpha Delta, a pre-professional law fraternity on campus. “

We do different professional development activities, like having panels of law school students, providing students with volunteer opportunities that are based in the legal field.”

Kovich is also an active member of IU’s Panhellenic Association, where she advises recruits during the sorority rush process, and cannot publicly disclose her specific sorority until after recruitment.

She lives in her sorority’s house and rides Little 500 for her chapter, and said there are differences between her experience in a social sorority and Phi Alpha Delta.

Phi Alpha Delta is co-ed, and it doesn’t have a house, she said. There is also no rush process and membership is open to whoever wants to join. But the most apparent distinction is the relationships built with fellow members.

“From my perspective ... there are definitely social aspects to being in a pre-professional fraternity, but a lot of them are networking,” she said.

“In a social fraternity or a Panhellenic chapter, you all live together, and you get to know everyone really well.”

This isn’t to say, however, that there is no social aspect to these non-social fraternities.
Phi Chi Theta is one of several business fraternities on campus. Found
ed in 2009, its membership is smaller than the other business fraternities at IU.
“In our frat, there’s 26 of us, so we all know each other really well,” said Cristina Talucci, Phi Chi Theta president.

“We stay after meetings and talk to each other ... We meet at least once a week ... there’s that friendship aspect of it, even if there’s not something specifically socially planned.”

Other non-social fraternities focus on community service, such as Alpha Phi Omega, which has been on campus since the 1920s. In the past, the fraternity has raised money for Shalom Center, WonderLab and various other non-profits.

Like other non-social fraternities, Alpha Phi Omega accepts new members multiple times a year, and anyone is welcome to join. But unlike some academic fraternities, Alpha Phi Omega does not have a GPA requirement.

“We’re really just built upon giving back to the community. That’s strictly what our fraternity does,” said Deirdre Tromp, Alpha Phi Omega president.

“The socials and things like that are more used to help you grow as a person within the services that we do for the community.”