Students at UCSC seem oblivious to Greek life or don’t care for the Greek system in general. While the students who join often have a blast, most students create bonds with floormates, teammates, or classmates instead. Many students here choose not to partake in Greek life and very rarely do Greek organizations host events on campus. But, while Greek life is small, many UCSC students do attend the Greek parties both on and off campus, and many times, students are aware of some Greek reputations.
While Greeks are slowly becoming more popular and accepted on campus, they still remain a little-known sector in University life. If you want to be in the Greek system you can, but the organizations are not very developed, and there is no guarantee that you’ll be accepted as a member. Also, in general, most fraternities and sororities are ethnically based. There is certainly no pressure to join, but for many, joining a sorority or fraternity is a way to meet people and open up a new social scene. However, there are many other ways to do this, like getting involved in sports teams, clubs, organizations, or just forming a community within your residential college or hall. If you’ve heard that joining one of the frats or sororities will increase your popularity at UCSC, then you’ve heard wrong. If anything, the opposite is true. As in most facets of college life, the UCSC campus does not run the normal gamut when it comes to Greek life and even community acceptance of them.