Collegiate fraternities and sororities can have civic impacts. While some are known for building civic character among members, less is known about many others--partly because research on fraternities and sororities has been developed in separate academic disciplines from research on other civil society organizations (CSOs). In this literature…

The Piazza Center Horizontal Hazing Model conceptualizes the ways in which hazing transitions from pre-college environments into higher education and across student constructed spaces such as student organizations or sorority and fraternity chapters. Hazing is multi-tiered, occurring at individual, organizational, and community levels. This model…

This study examines the hazing motivations and anti-hazing training needs of fraternal chapter advisors at two, large, public institutions in the Midwest of the United States. Research has found that when hazing is happening with undergraduates, advisors and coaches are in the room over 40% of the time (Allan & Madden, 2008) and a new state…

This mixed methodological study examines the relationship between participation in a residential commons system and sense of belonging in the context of an elite, highly residential liberal arts institution. Students of color, students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, and students who do not participate in Greek letter organizations reported…

Scholars have documented the positive outcomes that affiliation with sorority and fraternity life (SFL) organizations affords students; yet, few studies have explored how SFL professionals enable these benefits. Using validation theory as a framework, this narrative study examined how SFL practitioners affirm members of culturally based sororities…

Many women leave higher education and the workforce due to inadequate support after childbirth, as student affairs units often struggle to create family-friendly environments. The purpose of this narrative inquiry qualitative study was to understand why and how mothers who work in student affairs choose to stay after having children. This study…

Objective: The purpose of the study was two-fold. The first objective was to determine the level of rape myth acceptance of college students. The second objective was to determine the impact of social group membership on rape myth. Participants: 316 undergraduate students were recruited in spring of 2016. Methods: Surveys distributed to students…

This qualitative narrative inquiry examined the professional preparation of sorority and fraternity (SFL) professionals working with culturally-based sororities and fraternities. Using narratives drawn from 15 professionals and guided by our conceptual framework, we unpacked important findings in terms of ways participants referenced their limited…

Commuter students face a number of challenges, yet how they influence the experience of those who join sororities and fraternities is unknown. The purpose of this study is to explore those challenges, the strategies participants used to overcome them, and how policies and practices influenced their experience through interviews with eight alumni…

While scholars produce findings on how membership in historically white Greek letter organizations impacts racial identity, there is a lack of research addressing why students of color join historically white Greek letter organizations and how awareness of culturally based organizations impact their decision to join a Greek letter organization.…

This study sought to address the dearth in literature on South Asian fraternities and sororities by exploring the ways in which Desi/South Asian students in Asian American Greek-letter organizations (AAGLOs) experience belonging at AANAPISIs. While Accapadi's (2005) seminal study found that Desi/South Asian fraternities and sororities create…

School counselors underutilize three community entities within the Black American community: the Black Church, salons and barbershops, and Black Greek letter organizations (BGLOs). School counselors can use cultural wealth and multitiered systems of support (MTSS) as frameworks for making these connections to further cultivate Black American…

The growth of Phi Beta Delta cannot be attributed to any one cause. World interest in globalization and in cultural and education exchanges, along with the happy coincidence of a number of enthusiastic leaders, is certainly part of the explanation. However, it was the decision that it should be a Greek honorary society with the accompanying…

Fraternal organizations have existed on campus since the founding of Phi Beta Kappa in 1776 (Baird, 1991; DeSantis, 2007; "Phi Beta Kappa," n.d.; Thelin, 2011; Torbenson, 2005, 2009). Empirical evidence shows that membership brings added value to an undergraduate student experience (Biddix et al., 2014; G. D. Kuh & Lyons, 1990).…

This qualitative phenomenological study explored strategies utilized by risk management leadership to encourage positive behaviors in student organizations at a four-year mid-size higher educational institution in Texas. Through semi-structured interviews, participants described various protective behavioral strategies implemented to encourage…