Benefits of Chapter Membership
Coming to college is one of the major life changes that your student will experience. Joining a sorority chapter can help make the transition easier. The sorority experience is multifaceted and offers numerous opportunities to your student. Developing life-long friendships with the members in their chapter will help make the campus seem smaller. For many members, these organizations become a home away from home. In addition to the sisterhood, every chapter is dedicated to enhancing leadership, scholarship, philanthropy/service, and financial responsibility through various programs and opportunities. It will be up to your student to determine the level of involvement they want to have in the organization and what kind of experience it will be for them.
The friendships your student will make through their chapter can also last into post-college years. Greeks have national networks for members to use for securing jobs and advancing their careers. Membership in a chapter is a life-long experience that the members and the sorority enjoy together. Joining now is really an investment in your student’s future as they will reap the benefits now and for a lifetime. Wherever a member decides to reside after college, chances are she will be able to find other members of their sorority.
Scholarship
Above all else, your student’s reason for attending college is purely academic. The Panhellenic Council requires a 2.5 chapter grade point average for chapters to remain in good standing. Each individual chapter also sets its own academic standards and requirements for its members to remain in good standing.
Students often find managing their time difficult when moving from the highly structured high school environment to the freedom of college. Sorority membership assists in that transition by offering scholarship programs that may include study partners, mandatory study hours, and time management workshops. Each chapter elects a scholarship chair who assists with these efforts and upholds chapter standards. Some chapters even offer scholarships for academic achievement. Your student can access the network of chapter members who already know how to use campus resources like the library, tutors, computer labs, and academic advisors.
Nothing, however, can take the place of a disciplined and academically focused student to ensure success in college. Thanks, in part, to the chapters’ academic goals and these programs, many chapters’ cumulative grade point average exceeds a 3.0.