Over the past two years, Columbia’s Greek system has undergone unprecedented growth, with over 80 percent more students now members of fraternities and sororities than in the fall of 2006.
That semester, only 550 Columbia students were reported as members of sororities and fraternities. By the fall of 2008, that number reached 823, and now more than 1,000 Columbia students participate in Greek life, according to the Office of Residential Programs.
Much of the recent growth in sorority and fraternity membership can be attributed to restructuring of the Greek system that has taken place over the past few years. In 2007, former Inter-Greek Council President Margy McCullough, CC ’08, and former Interfraternity Council President Matt Heiman, CC ’09, led an effort to divide the Inter-Greek Council into three distinct councils: the Interfraternity Council for fraternities, the Panhellenic Council for sororities, and the Multicultural Greek Council for historically multicultural chapters. This restructuring devoted attention to specific entities within the Greek system.
Before the division, both the Panhellenic Council and the Multicultural Greek Council had existed, but there was no Interfraternity Council. Heiman, who felt that this asymmetry was detrimental to the organizational and social structure of fraternities, was determined to change the existing system.
“The IFC was created to address fraternity-specific concerns and to foster a sense of community between fraternities,” Heiman said. “While we had strong individual fraternities, there weren’t strong connections between them. ... Now that has changed.”
Dave Salant, current president of the Interfraternity Council, explained, “With this revamped executive structure ... the IFC now has the flexibility and resources to take up event programming and fraternity representation in more effective ways.”
Heiman believes that it is this newfound connection among fraternities that has attracted many new members. “There is a real sense of community in Greek life,” he said.
Sajaa Ahmed, the president of the Panhellenic Council, also attributes much of the increased interest in Greek life to structural changes. She cites the “increased organization and unity of the panhellenic community,” an effort spearheaded by Director of Greek Life Victoria Lopez-Herrera. This shift in sorority organization has involved initiatives to gain visibility and influence at Columbia.
“We have been able to reach out to more women on campus through more programming, such as info sessions, study breaks, and philanthropy and service events that are visible to the campus community,” Ahmed said.
Additionally, Ahmed suggested that recent classes of incoming students have been more open to joining a sorority than others had been in the past.
“Sorority members are among the most active in other Columbia student organizations,” Ahmed said. “So women are constantly meeting other women who they feel would be a great fit for the panhellenic community.”
Still, while Salant believes that change has been beneficial, he conceded that it’s difficult to conclude which came first—the growth or the shift in structure. “Explaining our community’s explosive growth may be a bit of a chicken-or-egg issue,” he said. Nonetheless, he added, “Increased size, improved government and resources, and deeper programming have had a cyclical effect over the past two years, as each factor drives the others.”
“Years ago, many students saw Greek life as peripheral and not a major part of student life,” added Heiman. “Now, greek life has an important presence on campus.”
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