At Kingsman University (KU), fraternity and sorority life is as central to campus culture as its athletic teams. Included in that culture are alcohol abuse, mistrust of the institution, and failure to act when a situation turns dire. Furthermore, some people suspect that fraternities and sororities perpetuate racism. Following a near-fatal…

Entertainment media and popular culture often overdramatize the college experience. An honors colloquium engages students in scholarly research and discourse involving thematic elements of academic life in popular culture. An interdisciplinary approach to race, class, the professoriate, Greek life, and foreign experience is espoused. Through a…

Nonconsensual sexual activity remains a prominent and troubling aspect of undergraduate student life at U.S. colleges and universities. Past research revealed that 23.6% of female undergraduate students, and 5.8% of male undergrads, had experienced nonconsensual sexual contact. Given the scope of the problem, identifying groups of students…

This chapter points to how race and gender specific affinity groups serve as a vehicle for Asian male students to challenge mainstream stereotypes and redefine themselves in culturally relevant ways that subsequently empower them to embrace more fully their Asian male identities.

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between fraternal organizations and the University of Michigan and the implications for student affairs. This study was conducted by analyzing three distinct eras (two eras of politicization and one era of quiescence). Each era featured conflict between fraternal organizations and…

The retention of African-American male students at predominantly White institutions is an issue that continues to plague colleges and universities in the United States. African-American men have the lowest college graduation rate of any segment of the population. Pointedly, two-thirds of African-American male students who attend public four-year…

Student fraternities emerged in the late 1700s as an extension of literary societies and debate clubs. A century after their formation, in 1891, national interfraternal associations, or fraternity/sorority councils, also took root. These interfraternal associations would shape the Greek community on college campuses across the country. Decades…

This study examines the effects of Jayhawks Give a Flock, a bystander education program adapted from "Bringing in the Bystander," on first-year students' intentions to intervene as bystanders and prevent sexual violence using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) (Fishbein & Azjen, 1975; 2010) as a theoretical framework. This study…

Greek letter organizations are unique student organizations because they are supported, not only by student affairs professionals, but also by alumni chapter advisors. These advisors can influence organizational culture unconsciously through their underlying assumptions and beliefs. The purpose of this study was to examine how Fraternity and…

This study explored the reasons Latin@s join Latino fraternities and Latina sororities at a university in the southwestern United States. Via a phenomenological approach, it uncovered the unique placement of Latino Greek-letter organizations and their role in the success of Latin@ students by embodying the intersectionality of academics, social…

This qualitative study utilizes feminist media analysis to examine the depiction of college women in the U.S. TV show "Greek." Overall women engage in and graduate from higher education at rates greater than men, but representations of higher education in popular culture tend to minimize women's intellectual engagement within the…

Historically, predominantly White social fraternities aimed to provide an organization for elite men on campus, boasting their exclusive nature. Membership was only granted to those who fit the mold of how masculinity was understood during certain time periods since the 1800s (e.g. strong public speakers and debaters, athletes, drinkers and…

National associations such as the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) and Campus Compact create initiatives that promote service-learning and campus based service programs to improve civic engagement in higher education; they often fail to include Greek-letter organizations, especially Latino Greek-letter organizations,…

Informed by critical race theory (CRT), we examine how African-American and white college students, at a predominantly white, structurally diverse, Southern US university, understand their cross-racial experiences. Black-white interactions are understood within the context of the so-called 'post-racial' environment, against the backdrop of…

Bias issues in this country are real. Individuals are not treated equally and equitably because of their identities, their values, and their choices. This bias happens in places of employment, in the criminal justice system, in every day interactions and conversations. Bias is real, whether implicit or explicit, and too often compassion and equity…