You see their flyers hanging around campus, you go to their parties and stand in line and drink their warm, flat beer. You are awakened at night by their tactics when they are pledging. Fraternities and sororities are a part of the college experience, whether you agree with them or not. You may wonder, while standing in those beer lines, how these organizations got started. It does take more than fifty guys or girls getting together and choosing three letters of the Greek alphabet, despite what you think. To help you understand the process of starting a fraternity or a sorority, let's follow a fictitious fraternity called "Pi Pi Pi," or "Tri Pi," from its birth to its acceptance as a true on-campus fraternity.

According to the UB website, the definition of a fraternity or a sorority is a student group whose primary purpose is the intellectual, social, and personal development of its members, which can be obtained through planned social, educational, or service programs. One person that beginning fraternities and sororities will deal with is the University Liason to Greek Affairs, Pam Stephens-Jackson. First, Tri Pi must submit an application to the University that contains a letter from the national chapter of that fraternity or sorority or a statement by the local group on its purposes and goals. The application must also have a letter describing why Tri Pi is needed and desirable, a list of at least ten participating UB students who have a GPA of 2.0 or higher, along with their addresses, social security numbers and Tri Pi’s temporary officers. The last thing Tri Pi must submit to the University in order to get temporary recognition is a statement signed by Tri Pi’s president declaring that the organization will follow University rules, policies, and regulations. Once this application is turned in, the Coordinator of Fraternity and Sorority Life may approve or reject the application. For the sake of argument, let’s say Tri Pi’s application was accepted. At this point, the fraternity or sorority can operate on campus and rush, educate, and initiate new members. Next, the Coordinator of Fraternity and Sorority Life notifies the Inter-Greek Council (IGC), which is comprised of members of each fraternity and sorority on campus, that a new temporary fraternity exists on campus and that they can be invited to participate in Inter-Greek affairs. Even though Tri Pi would be able to participate in those affairs, the members can not vote on matters that involve the council.

Now that Tri Pi is a temporary fraternity, it can take steps to become "Term Recognized," which means that a fraternity or sorority could exist on campus for a four year term. For this to happen, Tri Pi would have to turn in another application which should include a statement of its purposes, goals, and membership criteria, a list of ten participating UB students, a statement from a UB faculty or staff member that indicates a willingness to serve as an advisor, an outline of community service, scholarship, and social programs undertaken during the period of temporary recognition, as well as plans for the future, and finally, a proposed constitution. Stephens-Jackson points out that the on campus fraternities and sororities recently raised over $10,000 for Kids' Day which was third highest behind M&T and Tops. This application is then reviewed by the Dean and is either approved or denied. If approved the new fraternity or sorority immediately becomes a voting member of the IGC, if denied, they can reapply after four months.

This process seems very easy, but for those who have actually gone through the trouble of starting a fraternity or a sorority, the process was painstaking work. Stephens-Jackson feels that national fraternities and sororities have the advantage when coming up with a constitution because the national chapter provides an existing document and the local chapter only has to tailor it to their needs. According to Aric Yackly, secretary for Sigma Chi Omega, the hardest part of the entire process is, "creating the constitution, which contains all of the by-laws, rituals, and pledging criteria. You are basically building a fraternity from the ground up, so you have to take all of that into account." Stephens-Jackson adds that beginning fraternities and sororities need to "pay attention to the constitution, and the by-laws because that dictates how you will operate. Think it through all the way." She recalled a recent disagreement with a fraternity on campus. The constitution of that particular fraternity called for a unanimous vote on an issue. When this could not be reached, they had to go through the IGC to determine what should be done. Stephens-Jackson continues, "Think ahead of different situations. If you don't, you could run into problems, and if you try to fix the problems in the middle of a disagreement, the problem could become worse because those involved are already on either side of the fence." Sigma Chi Omega treasurer Colin Healy says that the easiest part of the process was getting all of the guys together. "The minimum was ten members, but we had almost thirty-five members when we signed up."

If you are thinking of starting your own fraternity or sorority, Yackly warns that you should check out what is already on campus. "Check out what is out there before you start the process. What you are looking for might already exist in a fraternity (or sorority) on campus." Stephens-Jackson agrees, "If you are starting a new fraternity or sorority, try to be different than everyone else. Offer something unique and different that will appeal to other people. Healy adds, "they should also be aware of the time commitments that starting a fraternity entails. The past two years, our fraternity has had to meet a week before classes start each semester to work out details and get organized." Stephens-Jackson concludes that members of new fraternities and sororities should be aware that "Greek life is not all about partying. In fact, I would say that aspect is only 10% of what the organization really does. There really is no marketing of what they (fraternities and sororities) really do, like Kids' Day."

Starting your own fraternity or sorority may sound tedious, but the end result could be a lifetime of memories. The friends and people you meet make it all worthwhile, and the experience may change your outlook on life.