Do Sports and Greek Life Mix?
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Many people grow up having dreams of playing collegiate sports; later down the line, these same people also learn about joining Greek life, which is very popular amongst first-year college students. Both sports and Greek life offer their own social groups—the opportunity to become a leader, and the chance to develop lifelong skills that can benefit you even after graduation. As someone who is involved in Greek life and sports on campus, I can say that it is possible to have the best of both worlds.
Numerous student-athletes have gone through recruitment for a fraternity or sorority; luckily recruitment isn’t the first week of school, so athletes can get a feel for their practice schedule to see if they would also want to be a part of Greek life. Of the three fraternities, Kappa Alpha Order has the most members involved in sports varying from soccer and lacrosse to baseball and volleyball, and out of the two sororities, Zeta Tau Alpha has a few more members are involved in athletics compared to Chi Omega.
Since there are so many athletes involved in every Greek organization on campus, it makes it easier for the Greek organizations to schedule events around practice and game schedules. Many student-athletes can be very involved in their Greek organization, Hayden Weber, a member of Kappa Alpha, and Mitchell Lulich, a member of Kappa Sigma, have both been able to serve as presidents of their fraternities while also being members of different athletics programs at Centenary. A staple of success for being involved in both Greek life and athletics is time management. Not only do you balance athletics and Greek life, but you must also make sure things are going well with your classes.
Student-athletes not only need a certain GPA to be eligible for their season, but every member of a Greek organization must also maintain a certain GPA to continue membership within their respective organizations. To stay eligible to play in the NCAA, athletes must achieve at least a 2.0 GPA.
In my experience, balancing Greek life and athletics has been slightly difficult at times but ultimately has proven to be worth the effort. I am a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon serving as the chaplain for the fraternity, as well as being one of the captains for the men’s lacrosse team. I went through recruitment my freshman year not expecting to join a fraternity, but after meeting many different people who were and were not involved in athletics, I decided to pick up a bid. I was looking to branch out and make new friends and give myself something to be busy with when I wasn’t doing school or lacrosse. Being involved in both Greek life and athletics has allowed me to form relationships with people that I would have never expected to. Something I feel is important that many athletes may not think about is having friends outside your sport. Greek life allows you to have a social outlet with people that you’re not constantly competing against and working with.
Joining a fraternity or sorority, admittedly, is not for everyone regardless of whether or not they place sports, and that is perfectly fine. Those who decide to participate in rushing should use that time to find people that they connect with and feel comfortable around if they are thinking about picking up a bid; it’s always an option to go through rush and not pick up a bid if you decide Greek life isn’t something you’re interested in. Student-athletes should feel safe knowing that their choice to pick up a particular organization's bid won’t affect the dynamic of their sports team.
To sum it all up, I would recommend student-athletes who are interested in Greek life sign up for rush and go through the process, even if they don’t want to pick up a bid. Rush is a great way to meet and make new friends so even if you don’t pick up a bid you could still pick up a new friend.
