Parent Information About Fraternities & Sororities

As part of joining a fraternity or sorority, organizations host was most often refered to as new member education. This process is meant to help new members begin to learn more about their organization, the fraternity community, and the benefits and responsibilities associated with being a member.

In the education provided by the organization, new members can expect to learn more about their chapter's history, membership expectations, the inner workings of their organization, and their inter/national organization. This process is facilitated by an officer, usually called the New Member Educator, that will serve as their main contact throughout the process. The New Member Educator is there as a resource for them and should be able to answer any chapter specific questions they may have.

To supplement this education, the College also requires that all new members complete the following trainings and modules designed to prepare students to be a member of the fraternity and sorority community:

Greek 101: All new members attend a training sponsored by the Office of Student Activities & Greek Life to learn more about hazing prevention, the history of fraternities and sororities nationally and at Gettysburg College, and reviews expectations of new members.

Sober Monitor Training: All new members attend a training sponsored by the Office of Student Activities & Greek Life to learn more about how to manage events, bystander intervention, conflict de-escalation, how to identify if someone is in medical distress, and resources for when they need to seek help for themselves or others.

Sexual Assault Prevention Training: Each new member class meets with the Title IX Coordinator and Director of Civil RIghts Compliance and Education to discuss how members can actively contributed to sexual assault prevention.

Online Modules: To supplement the trainings and workshops provided in-person, all new members are required to complete a series of online education modules that cover topics that include supplemental hazing prevention information, alcohol and other drugs, substance abuse, healthy relationships, mental health, and how to create inclusive communities.

To help ensure that organizations are providing positive, educational, and safe experiences for their new members, the College has requirements and restrictions on chapter new member education programs. The full set of policies can be found in the New Member Policies section of the Fraternity and Sorority Policy Manual, we feel it is important to highlight the following policies:

• Alcohol and drugs may never be used during new member activities.
• New member activities may only occur between 7:00 am and midnight.
• New members may not be in chapter houses, suites, or residences of initiated members between midnight and 7:00 am Sunday night through Friday morning unless they live in those spaces or have received previous approval from the College.
• New members must be initiated into their organization within 8 weeks of receiving a bid.

Gettysburg College prohibits hazing in all student organizations including fraternities and sororities. The College's full Anti-Hazing Policy can be found in the student handbook and mirrors Tim's Law, Pennsylvania's Anti-Hazing Law. Specific behaviors that are prohibited by the Anti-Hazing Policy include any individual and/or organization requiring the following of their new members:

• Violating federal or state criminal law;
• Consuming any food, liquid, alcohol, drug, or other substance that subjects someone to a risk of emotional or physical harm;
• Enduring brutality of a physical, mental, or sexual nature;
• Activities that create a reasonable likelihood of bodily injury.

In addition to the Anti-Hazing Policy, organizations are also subject to the College's Organizational Misconduct Policy, which prohibits groups from having expectations of their members and/or new members that:

• Unreasonably limits their ability to engage or associate with others;
• Impose unreasonable requirements of physical appearance or dress;
• Involve tasks that are demeaning or create excessive embarrassment;
• Involve servitude; or
• Penalizing non-conformity

If you believe hazing or organizational misconduct is occurring, we encourage you to report it to the College as soon as possible. If there is an immediate threat to student safety, please contact Campus Safety at 717-337-6911. If it is not an emergency you can also report by contacting professional staff in the following offices:

The Office of Student Activities & Greek Life
717-337-6304

The Office of Student Rights & Responsibilities
717-337-6907

Campus Safety
717-337-6911

Being a member of a fraternity or sorority does come with a financial commitment that will last throughout a student's undergraduate experience. The most common of these financial obligations are:

New member fees: These are a one time fee collected by organizations to pay their headquarters to cover costs of joining the organizations. These fees can vary great from one organization to another. Your student should contact their New Member Educator or their President to get more information about these fees.

Membership dues: These fees are charged once a semester by organizations to pay for the operating costs of the organization including but not limited to activities, insurance, and headquarters support fees. Dues can vary greatly from one organization another and from one semester to the next. Some organizations have a larger comprehensive fee while others have a smaller standard fee with more out of pocket costs. Your student should contact their Treasurer to get more information about the cost of dues.

Non-resident fees: Some residential organization's alumni boards charge a non-resident fee for members that do not live in the facility to cover expenses incured by the organization through use of the facility by non-resident memebers.

Housing fees: Members of residential organizations are required to live in their chapter houses if there are vacancies starting as early as the second semester of their sophomore year. Some of these facilities are owned and operated by the College and some are owned an operated by the organization's alumni housing corporations. All housing fees are collected by the College but fees collected for privately-owned facilities are distributed to the appropriate housing corporation after the payment is made.

The links below will take you to College resources and policies regarding fraternities and sororities that parents often have questions about. If you need more information please contact the Office of Student Activities & Greek Life at osagl@gettysburg.edu or call 717-337-6304

• New Member Rights & Responsibilities
• Glossary of Fraternity & Sorority Terms
• Fraternity and Sorority Policy Manual
  • Eligibility Requirements
  • New Member Policies
  • Chapter Facility Policies
  • Financial Policies
• Residential Guidebook
  • Fraternity Housing Obligation Policy
• Student Handbook
  • Anti-Hazing Policy
  • Organizational Misconduct Policy