Greek Life
The mission of Greek Life at the University of New Haven is to enhance the personal development of its members through involvement in social Greek-letter fraternities and sororities, in accordance with the mission of the university. Greek Life cultivates a community based upon academic and personal success, culture, friendship, history, and tradition. Greek Life is committed to the fulfillment of the following core values: personal growth, community engagement, brotherhood/sisterhood, scholarship and lifelong involvement. Through the values and standards that bind us to our respective organizations, Greek community, and university, we are committed to strengthening our membership through personal growth, scholarship, and service.
- To challenge our organizations and members to live by the rituals and values of each organization;
- To empower our organizations and members to reach their full potential by providing them with opportunities for academic achievement, personal growth, and co-curricular involvement;
- To demonstrate involvement through community engagement, civic relations, service and philanthropic endeavors locally, nationally, and internationally;
- To facilitate cultural awareness and diversity amongst all social Greek-letter organizations;
- To provide an inter-fraternal family of caring brothers and sisters who accept and respect all, who strive for life-long unity.
Coming soon.
Q. What are the qualifications of joining a Greek Organization at the University of New Haven?
A. The University requires that all potential new members have a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.5 and have passed 12 University of New Haven credit hours. Other chapters have additional standards of membership and it is important that you ask each one what they are – they may include higher GPA requirements, community service hours, leadership involvement, etc.
Q. How and when can I join a Greek Organization at the University of New Haven?
A. Recruitment takes place throughout the year and includes information sessions, open houses,and individual chapter events.
Q. How do I determine which chapter I want to join?
A. Listen to your intuition. Avoid taking “advice” from friends and ignore rumors. The goal of the potential member is to determine where he/she personally feels the most comfortable and which chapter is the best “fit.”
Q. How do the chapters extend invitations to membership?
A. Every chapter has their own system for distributing invitations. The goal for the chapter is tofind men and women who will be happy and contribute to their organization. They will look totheir standards, values, and rituals to make their decisions.
Q. Will my grades suffer if I join a fraternity or sorority?
A. One of your main focuses at UNH is your academics. Each chapter has GPA requirements thatapply to both incoming and active members. It’s up to you to be motivated and to balance yourwork load.
Q. How much time does it take to be involved with a fraternity or sorority?
A. Generally, you will get out of a chapter what you put into it. If you are as excited as most, you will have no trouble participating fully and attending all events and the rewards will be ten fold.There are many circumstances when you may choose to take a less active role for a short time and most chapters allow for this flexibility if it is needed. New members of a fraternity or a sorority attend a variety of activities to meet other chapter members, learn about the organization’s history and values and develop leadership skills. Each chapter has a weekly chapter meeting, fundraising events, community service, educational programs and other events that members are expected to attend.
Click here to view the University of New Haven Greek Anti-Hazing Policy.
Click here to view the University of New Haven Greek Expansion Policy.
Active – a fully initiated member in a fraternity or sorority.
Alumni/Alumnus – An initiated member of a sorority or fraternity who is no longer in college but is a lifelong member of the organization.
Associate – a non-initiated member in a fraternity or sorority that employs the associate member program.
Bid – an invitation to join a fraternity or sorority.
Brother – a term used by fraternity members when referring to each other.
Chapter – a fraternal group at an individual campus of the larger inter/national organization, designated by a special name.
Colony – a newly-formed group of members who have the intent of being chartered as a chapter by meeting inter/national headquarters standards.
Fraternity – a Greek organization for men.
Go Greek Week – The week before Recruitment Week, held once a semester. This week is a values based week demonstrating at-large what the values of Greeks on campus uphold; anti-hazing pledge, social, service, philanthropic, brotherhood/sisterhood, and scholarship.
Greek – a member of a fraternity or sorority.
Initiation – the traditional ritual that brings a new member to full membership.
Inter-/ national – a term referring to the central office of a given fraternity or sorority.
Interest – a person who is seeking membership in an MGC or NPHC organization.
Legacy – A potential new member of a fraternity/sorority who is a son/daughter, brother/sister, or grandson/granddaughter of a member of a Greek organization
Local – an organization that contributes to the tradition and history of UNH. This organization is only found at this campus.
Member – a fully initiated, lifelong fraternity or sorority member who is active at the collegiate level.
Membership intake – the process for culturally-based fraternities or sororities to bring in new members.
New Member – a person who has accepted a bid to join an IFC fraternity or a Panhellenic sorority.
Potential New Member (PNM) – an undergraduate college woman who is participating in the Panhellenic recruitment process.
Ritual – the values and beliefs by which members of an organization live; usually depicted in traditional organizational ceremonies.
Recruitment – the activity by which chapters seek new members.
Sister – a term used by sorority members when referring to each other.
Sorority – a Greek organization for women.