With the semester just beginning, clubs and organizations are coming back in full swing. Greek organizations are taking the time during the first couple weeks back to invite students looking for a perfect place to fit in.
Each chapter at NMU, whether it’s a fraternity or a sorority, has its own unique personality. Every semester Greek life starts anew with recruitment to help their brotherhood or sisterhood grow.
Senior criminal justice major and 2019-2020 Greek Council President Lucas Lafave and other council members worked with the five Greek organization on campus to put on the first Greek Showcase to kick off rush/recruitment season.
“All the organizations have their recruitment board and materials, basically it’s just a set up where it’s super relaxed, there’s no need to be super formal,” Lafave said. “Each organization has a table and you can go to whichever one you’re interested in.”
The showcase is open to any student interested in Greek life at NMU. There will be free pizza provided while each organization explains a bit about themselves and how they get involved in the community.
NMU has two fraternities: Alpha Sigma Phi and Tau Kappa Epsilon and three sororities: Alpha Gamma Delta, Phi Sigma Sigma, and Kappa Psi Nu.
“We’re all Greek, we all have the same idea of wanting to better our lives and work with community, work on our education, but each chapter has their own identity,” Lafave said.
During recruitment or referred to by the fraternities as rush students are invited to join the organizations for various activities to get to know one another. By doing so the current members and potential members can gage who would be the best fit for which fraternity or sorority.
“The sororities and fraternities basically do altogether recruitment, so it’s not like you have to go to each one you do it together and figure out who you mesh with best,” Lafave said.
To officially get involved in Greek life on campus a student would have to attend a couple listed events during the recruitment stage, for the fraternities this includes video game night, sledding, basketball, etc. After spending that time together the organizations choose to give potential members a bid, ultimately inviting the student back for bid night where they can decide to accept the offer to be initiated.
“Greek life is what you make it, that’s what I tell everybody who’s interested in it or wants to know more,” Lafave said. “You can pretty much be as involved or not involved as you want. You develop social skills, communication skills, there are volunteer opportunities and volunteer opportunities in greek life overlap with Superior Edge.”
Becoming involved in Greek life helps many students attain jobs through networking and alumni support.
“It is like a family for life,” Lafave said. “It’s a different kind of bond that for me, four years in to Greek life, I still can’t really explain it because it’s something that you just experience and know.”
Lafave stressed that his fraternity brothers have been a crucial support system for each other throughout the years from study sessions together to working through lifelong personal difficulties.
“By coming to the showcase you can learn what it truly means to be Greek,” Lafave said.
The Greek Showcase is at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 21 in the classroom located in The Woods lobby.
