Trinity University Texas - Greek Life

The individual frats and...

The individual frats and sororities do have definite characteristics, but these shift every four or five years as the membership experiences a total changeover. A few years ago, almost all of the fraternities were defined by a sport, so the Lancers were all football players, the Thetas were all soccer, the O-Phis were all basketball, and so on. That is no longer the case. However, some general characteristics prevail. The I-Chis are mostly nerds (and I use the term lovingly) who didn’t fit in with any other frat. They’ll tell all new pledges that they aren’t like those other frats, and they’re right. Other frats are big athletic drunk guys. The I-Chi’s are just drunk guys. O-Phis tend to be rather nice, Kappas tend to be elitist, Deltas have a reputation for sexually assaulting women (don’t drink Delta punch), and the Lancers (all six of them) will hopefully become extinct, sooner or later.

It doesn’t dominate the social...

It doesn’t dominate the social scene at all; it is not visible enough. What dominates the scene are general cliques of who’s ‘cool’ and who isn’t. The lack of a big Greek scene does not mean that students aren’t cliquish.

The Greeks do not dominate the...

The Greeks do not dominate the social scene. I advise everyone to go to one Greek party, but, freshman girls, do not go until your second semester; until that point, you’re nothing more than an easy target—trust me. If you like one Greek party, you’ll like them all. If like most people on campus, you don’t enjoy that brand of super-loud mass alcohol gorging, then don’t rush. Most campus parties have many non-official social groups partying harder and/or better than the Greeks. Ask around, meet new friends, and see what develops. Trinity has a lot of socially active students, but most of them (70 percent) don’t want or need an official organization to have a group of friends.

While only about one-third of the...

While only about one-third of the student body is involved in Greek life, it is really easy to assume that the majority of the students belong to a Greek organization. And while some would argue that belonging to a sorority or a fraternity increases socialization, builds friendships, and provides a sense of community, others would argue that it’s exclusive, fractures the student body, and promotes dangerous activities.

It’s everywhere—especially during...

It’s everywhere—especially during bid week. A large percentage of the campus is in a sorority or a fraternity. Each has its own reputation—all of them party. There has been some trouble with hazing and underage drinking lately—they’ve been caught doing it. Underage drinking is very prevalent.