/Student Affairs
Fraternity and Sorority Life

Dear Friends & Family,

By joining a fraternity or sorority, your student is becoming part of a well-established, close-knit, and supportive community of intelligent, dedicated, and loving individuals. This community allows students to build life-long friendships, networks with alumni, volunteers in the local community, and grow and develop as an individual in an environment where they feel supported and encouraged.

Keep in mind that while fraternity and sorority membership is great for students who choose to be involved, it is not for everyone. That is a decision that each student needs to make and that you can discuss with them. Stony Brook University hosts more than 30 fraternities and sororities ranging in size and focus. All of them embrace the shared values of academic excellence, service, leadership, personal development, multicultural appreciation, and brotherhood and sisterhood.

We encourage you to support your student with their decision to join a fraternity or sorority. Ask them questions about what they are looking to gain from their experience and learn as much as you can about the organization they join and empower your student to be confident in themselves and their abilities.

family

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The fraternity and sorority community is made up of values-based social, professional, and culturally-based organizations. Fraternities and sororities provide lifelong membership to university students who subscribe to the shared values of academic excellence, service to the community, leadership development, and lifelong friendship.

Fraternity and sorority members enjoy life-long friendships, opportunities to give back to the community and raise awareness for important social issues, leadership development and transferable skill building, and networking opportunities with alumni in a variety of career fields.

Every organization has a unique new member recruitment and intake process in regards to seeking membership. Some organizations require participation in and attendance at on-campus recruitment events, while some organizations have an application or registration process. We recommend that your student ask current members how the specific recruitment and intake processes work for their organization.

Joining a fraternity or sorority is an important lifelong membership commitment for a student. We encourage family and friends to support your student by advising them to first do their research and attend events to ask questions to learn more about which organization may be the best fit for the student.

Encourage your student to attend Involvement Fairs or programs hosted by our organizations. Students can learn more about our recognized fraternities and sororities and their events by visiting SBEngaged.

All students wishing to join a fraternal organization at Stony Brook University must:
  • Be a full-time, regularly enrolled student
  • Have at least a 2.5 cumulative grade point average
  • Have earned a minimum of 12 credit hours (credit hours must have been accrued during matriculation at a college campus)
  • Advanced placement credits or other credits acquired during high school cannot be included

Encouraging students to do their own research and to actively participate during the recruitment period are the best ways to ensure your student is finding the organization that best aligns with their personal values and interests. Please read below for some of our suggestions on how to support your student during their fraternity or sorority exploration:
  • Do Some Research
  • Encourage your student to visit SBEngaged to determine which recognized chapters we have at Stony Brook University and check out our organizations national and local websites. Tell your student to attend an all fraternity and sorority event to learn more about our organizations and meet members.
  • Encourage your student to attend a recruitment event, a fraternity/sorority educational program, volunteer for community service with an organization, etc. The best way for your student to find their niche is to meet people and find who they feel comfortable with.
  • Encourage your student to prepare and ask questions. Please review some recommended questions that might be helpful for your student to ask before joining an organization: 
  • What are the guiding principles of your organization?
  • What is the fraternity or sorority looking for in an ideal member?
  • What is expected of active members?
  • How long is the new member program and what is the time requirement? What are the expectations of new members?
  • What leadership opportunities are available for me?
  • What is your philanthropy and how has your chapter contributed?
  • What are the community service requirements for members?
  • What activities does the organization participate in or sponsor?
  • How will this fraternity or sorority benefit me?
  • How much does it cost?

As a loved one of a student interested in joining the fraternity and sorority community, your role is important. The best thing you can do is invest time and interest in your students' interest in membership. Take time to learn about the fraternity/sorority life community at Stony Brook University. Ask your student what the organization can offer them and let the student make the best decision for themselves.

Once your student joins, continue to be engaged in their experience. Here are a few suggestions you can practice to support your student in their fraternity/sorority experience:

  • Be happy and supportive of your students’ choice of fraternity/sorority affiliation
  • Encourage your student to attend programs hosted by the chapter, inter-fraternity and sorority council, and Department of Student Engagement and Activities.
  • Learn the name and contact information for the chapter president, new member educator and chapter advisor.
  • Ask for details regarding the financial obligations of membership.
  • Stay in touch with your student. A phone call, text message, or email check-in goes a long way.
  • Participate in Family/Friend events hosted by the chapter.
  • Congratulate your student on fraternity/sorority milestones like initiation or partaking in a leadership opportunity within the chapter.

Joining a fraternity or sorority does involve a financial commitment. The first semester of membership is typically the most expensive as individuals pay one-time initiation fees to the national organization. Yearly dues vary by organization. We encourage the student to always ask the fraternity or sorority they are interested in about their financial commitment.

The purpose of all new member education programs shall be to develop well rounded members of the fraternal community. The new member process is a maximum of six weeks in duration. Each new member activity must be purposeful in keeping with the University’s mission of education and human development. The new member education process' purpose should be to achieve the following:
 
  • To educate the potential new members about the ideology, history, and ceremonies of the fraternity or sorority.
  • To instruct potential new members on their purpose and responsibility to the fraternity or sorority, to the University and to the community.
    To broaden the understanding between active members and potential new members, and to promote a sense of unity between them.
  • To carry out activities of campus and civic value.
  • To continue the tradition of fraternity and sorority membership as a matter of special pride and achievement as long as these traditions do not violate university policies, or place the prospective member in physical, mental, or emotional jeopardy.
 
We work with each chapter to support the development of an educational and positive new member experience.

We are committed to supporting and educating chapters on how to maintain a positive and well-rounded new member experience for all new members which includes partnership and transparency with our department and recognized chapters.
 
Every semester, our department holds a required training for all chapter new member educators to review department and University policy as it relates to new member education. Each chapter is required to submit a new member education/intake plan and a detailed calendar of intended new member activities to our department at the beginning of each semester.
 
This new member plan is then reviewed by staff who provide feedback for revisions/ determine if the new member plan is ready for approval. All new member plans and activities must be approved by our department in order to be conducted.
 
All new members must also attend a new member education workshop, which is led by staff members from our department. Our department also oversees the completion of required hazing prevention and fraternity and sorority life modules which must be completed by all new members within the first week of their new member process.
 
Finally, our department partners with the Center of Prevention and Outreach (CPO) to ensure all new members complete Red Watch Band Training during their new member process. Click here to learn more about the Red Watch Band program

During the new member/intake process, new members may receive an email asking them to meet with a staff member from our office to check in and see how they are enjoying the process. Any student who decides to leave the new member process must also participate in an exit interview with a staff member from our department.

The new member process is a maximum of six weeks in duration. Some organizations initiate students to full membership as quickly as 72 hours and others initiate after a 6 week period. Before joining a fraternity or sorority, it is important to talk with your student about the importance of balancing the new social opportunities that come with fraternal membership with their own personal and academic obligations. Help your student plan for what time management looks like for them and what academic resources are available for them to be successful. Academic achievement is an important value of fraternities and sororities and many of our organizations hold internal scholarship workshops utilizing campus resources to help members develop new skills both personally and professionally.

Each student must determine how much they are able to commit while continuing to balance their academic, work, and family commitments. Students who take on leadership roles agree to a much larger time commitment than students who remain at the member status. Most of our fraternity and sorority members attend between 1 – 3 fraternity/sorority events each week.

Each fraternity and sorority is run by students elected into officer positions. They are completely student run organizations. Most of the fraternities and sororities at Stony Brook University are part of larger inter/national corporations and therefore report to their inter/national organization. Inter/national corporations provide guidance and leadership support to the chapter leadership to help the undergraduate chapters operate. Additionally our inter/national and local chapters may have alumni advisors to help their organization.

Professional, graduate, and undergraduate staff work with our fraternities and sororities to provide guidance, educational, and leadership development to each member and organization.

Although alcohol usage, binge drinking, and reckless behavior is a common stereotype associated with fraternities and sororities, our organizations work hard to dispel such stereotypes. This is not to say our organizations are not without incident or use, however all of our fraternities and sororities are required to follow risk management policies and host educational programming for their members on safety related issues. We are proud to announce that nearly 100% of our active fraternity and sorority community are Red Watch Band trained. Each semester, new members are required to complete Red Watch Band training as part of their new member education/intake process. Click here to learn more about the Red Watch Band program.

Stony Brook University does not condone hazing practices within any student organization. Hazing is entirely contrary to the values and purpose of fraternities and sororities. The rituals of fraternities and sororities have nothing to do with hazing: they are not scary, shameful, or degrading. 
To learn more about what hazing is, hazing signs and behaviors, hazing prevention resources, and how to report hazing, please visit our hazing prevention website at stonybrook.edu/hazing prevention

If you suspect that hazing is happening in any fraternity or sorority at Stony Brook University we urge you to report it using one of the methods below:
  • For emergencies, contact University Police at 333 from campus phones or (631) 632-3333 from non-campus phones.
  • File an Incident Report under Report at our Hazing Prevention website
  • Report to any campus faculty, staff, or administrator.

On occasion we have organizations “pop up” on campus that are not recognized by the University. Unrecognized groups/organizations, and those whose campus recognition has been withdrawn or suspended, either temporarily or permanently, may not conduct recruitment and/or related activities, or host events/activities on campus. These organizations do not meet the University’s standards for recognition and/or have lost recognition for failure to comply with University policy. We strongly discourage students from joining these organizations. For more information about the unrecognized groups on campus, please visit here. Joining an organization who has had its recognition removed is a violation of the Code of Student Responsibility.

Please check the list of currently recognized organizations on our website to ensure that your student is joining an organization that the University supports. Another way to determine whether or not a group is recognized at Stony Brook University is to visit SBEngaged. Unrecognized organizations will not have a page on SBEngaged.