What's the Difference?
Recognized VS. Unrecognized Organizations

Many times questions arise between parents and students alike about what the difference is between a recognized organization and an unrecognized one. The difference between recognized and unrecognized organizations is: unrecognized organizations are not associated with the campus. There are many factors that may sway your student into joining an unrecognized organization, but it is up to you to change their mind!

Recognized Organizations

Phi Sigma Sigma, Sigma Sigma Sigma, Pi Delta Chi, Sigma Delta Tau, Sigma Gamma Phi (Arethusa), Mu Sigma Upsilon Sorority Inc., Chi Upsilon Sigma Sorority National Latin Sorority Inc., and Lambda Theta Alpha  are the eight sororities recognized by the SUNY Oneonta campus.

Chi Phi, Phi Kappa Psi, Alpha Phi Delta, Zeta Beta Tau, and Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc. are the five fraternities recognized by SUNY Oneonta.

These twelve organizations must abide by the Code of Rights and Responsibilities for Greek Letter Organizations. The new member process is closely monitored by the college to make sure your student is safe and that he or she is going through a valuable learning experience. Some of these organizations have national recognition, which means that they are also monitored by a larger organization and have rules and restrictions with their national affiliation.

Students must have at least a 2.50 GPA to be a member of a recognized organization. This GPA requirement was recently upgraded to promote academic achievement of recognized Greek students.

The New-Member Process ("Pledging")

The new-member process (commonly referred to as "pledging") is different from organization to organization, but as previously stated, it is closely monitored by the college. After a recruitment period during the first week of the semester (sometimes referred to as “rush week”), new-member programs must be turned in to the Greek Advisor. This program explains day-by-day what organizations will do and the significance of the event.

Example New Member Program: On January 30, 2010, Chi Phi will have a luncheon. The purpose of this is to allow new members to interact with the brothers, learn about positions within the fraternity to understand the importance of leadership, and to become lifelong friends.

Many chapters play trivia games about their organizations history, do bonding activities like go to a movie or an event on campus, attend educational programs on campus about hazing, alcohol, health and safety, and become lifelong friends with their new brothers or sisters.

There is an 11:00PM curfew set in place by the college to make sure that your son or daughter is home at a reasonable hour; this is not the case for unrecognized organizations

Chapters also encourage studying every day. Since scholastic achievement is important to the recognized Greek community, library hours are tracked and awards are given to the chapter with the highest amount of hours.

There are college-sponsored events for chapters and their new members to attend each semester. These are educational programs about health, safety, and college lifestyles.

Chapters must initiate their new members by a certain date within a time frame set by the college.

Being A Member

After initiation come the responsibilities of being a Greek. It is a rewarding experience to be a part of recognized Greek life, and some of the things that recognized Greeks do are used by unrecognized Greek organizations to deter interested students from joining recognized organizations.

One of the largest parts of being a recognized Greek is community service. Greeks are given a large amount of possible community service projects; some required, some not. In total, recognized Greeks alone volunteered more than 8,000 hours last year. Sometimes this may seem overwhelming to students, but many volunteer hours are unnoticed by the individual. They may include chapter meetings (usually 1-2 hours weekly), GPA programs, retreats, Inter-Greek Council (IGC) meetings, etc. There are also large events to go to that IGC and chapters hold for their individual philanthropies, like Boy’s & Girl’s Club, the National Kidney Foundation, and the Make A Wish Foundation. More chapter philanthropies can be found on chapter webpages.

Another common concern with being in a recognized organization is dues. Dues are money owed to the Inter-Greek Council and to nationals to pay for the chapter's needs. Since some organizations have to pay national dues, some chapter dues are higher than others. Local dues (dues paid to IGC) are an average of $30 a semester. Information about chapter dues can be found on chapter webpages. If this is a concern of yours or your student’s, chapters offer payment plans to make sure that money owed will not steer them away from the Greek experience.

Chapters also have social events throughout the semester. Recognized Greeks not only do great things for the college and the community, but they have fun in their free time as well. Each chapter has a "risk manager" to keep social gatherings safe and many chapters have "sober brothers/sisters" to help if necessary. Risk managers create programs for Greeks to go to about how to stay safe, how to help if trouble arises, and how to prevent activities that are unsafe.

Some Greeks are also CPR certified and many will soon be participating in the Red Watch Band Program. *This program was developed in 2008 by a Stony Brook University faculty member who lost her son to an alcohol overdose. She then created a four-hour training session in which participants learn how to recognize alcohol emergencies and respond effectively. (stonybrook.edu/sb/redwatchband)*

After Graduation

Graduating as a recognized Greek has many benefits. Many activities, community service events, positions held, etc. may be helpful on a resume. All of the work they do is great resume material and is often used by students to get successful jobs after graduation. As a part of an unrecognized organization, many of these things would not be as prominent on a resume. Since unrecognized chapters are not affiliated with the campus, there is no proof that they actually held a position or that it was worth crediting. Also, recognized Greeks have a large amount of community service opportunities that unrecognized Greeks may rarely or never encounter. Being a Greek is also has a rewarding networking capability. Alumni of chapters can set up jobs interviews for graduating members and those with national chapters can network with brothers and sisters of theirs that they don't even know from different chapters!

Unrecognized Organizations

As stated before, the difference between recognized and unrecognized organizations is that unrecognized organizations are not associated with the campus. They have no rules or obligations to SUNY Oneonta or society. At one time, these organizations may have been recognized but violated the Student Code of Rights and Responsibilities for Greek Letter Organizations and were disaffiliated from the campus. If your student is thinking about joining an unrecognized organization, there are many problems that may arise in his or her time at Oneonta.

Alpha Kappa Phi (A-K-Phi), Lambda Epsilon Phi (L-E-Phi), Delta Sigma Tau (D-S-T), Pi Phi Delta, Sigma Phi Delta (Sig-Phi-Delt), Sigma Iota Kappa, and Pi Phi Sigma are the known unrecognized sororities in Oneonta. They are not associated with the SUNY Oneonta campus.

Tau Kappa Epsilon (“Teek”), Sigma Alpha Mu (“Sammy”), Sigma Nu, Beta Chi (B-X), Alpha Epsilon Pi (A-E-Pi), Iota Tau Kappa (I-T-K) Sigma Tau Gamma (Sig Tau),  Kappa Sigma, and Zeta Sigma Delta (“Z-Sig”) are the known unrecognized fraternities in Oneonta. They also are not associated with the campus.

The New-Member Process ("Pledging")

The new-member process is very different from that of recognized organizations. The college is not able to monitor the process at all; therefore these groups can do anything they want with no discretion or fear of sanctions.

During the recruitment period (“rush”) the first two weeks of the semester unrecognized organizations often have a lot to say to interested students to make them decide that it would be a great idea to join. These organizations are not always truthful about this process and this is how students are often swayed to join.

Things unrecognized Greeks might tell your student (and that your student will tell you) are:

• That they will lose no sleep in the process
• That they will get home at a reasonable hour
• That they will not be humiliated or degraded in any way
• That they have to keep a certain GPA
• That they do community service on a regular basis
• That recognized organizations pay thousands of dollars in dues
• That recognized organizations have to get up at 8AM every weekend to do community service
• That they are recognized, or working with the campus to become recognized
• That recognized organizations are not as “cool”
• That recognized organizations haze

All of the above are untrue statements. There is an endless list of things unrecognized Greeks can say to your student because the Student Code of Rights and Responsibilities for Greek Letter Organizations does not apply to them.

What really happens then?

• Forced drinking
• Branding (Getting something (like a symbol) burnt into your skin)
• Calisthenics (some very dangerous)
• Screaming/yelling
• Crafts (Making and Delivering)
• Fundraising (Cleaning for money that goes to the organization, begging for money on the streets)
• Get back to dorms late, sometimes not at all
• Sleep on floors with no blankets
• Chores for members (clean dishes, laundry, mop, etc.)
• Scavenger hunts (sometimes obligated to steal things)
• Carrying an extreme amount of heavy items in backpacks
• Wear similar uniforms
• Have things poured on them to make them smell
• Not allowed to shower
• Forced to embarrass themselves in front of the opposite sex

All of these items are activities called "hazing". SUNY Oneonta has an anti-hazing policy, but this policy is difficult to enforce for these organizations because they are not affiliated with our campus. The list of what can happen during a pledging process may be much longer, but we cannot know exactly what they do since they are not affiliated with the campus.

Once a new-member process starts, the student may feel trapped, even if they can't handle what is going on. Unrecognized organizations often scare their new-members into going through with these activities, stating that if they try to leave they will ruin the rest of their college experience. Some students have even transferred to different colleges because of the harassment after "depledging".

Being A Member

Being a member of an unrecognized Greek organization is likely to be an unrewarding experience, regardless of what they may tell your student. Many of these organizations pledge until very close to the end of the semester and then their dues go towards parties, shirts, and alcohol. This is where the phrase "You pay for your friends" comes from in regards to joining a Greek organization because the dues money is going towards nothing productive to society. These organizations are just social groups.

Unrecognized organizations give a bad reputation to all Greek organizations in the city of Oneonta, which makes it harder for recognized organizations to keep their reputations positive. Unrecognized organizations are often a nuisance to society: causing fights, large amounts of noise ordinance violations, unpleasant living environments, destruction to off-campus housing, etc. Unrecognized fraternities are banned from living in many apartments, which is stated in many leases, along with fraternity and sorority hazing activities. Landlords are aware of the problem but there is only so much they can do.

After Graduation

Graduating as an unrecognized Greek does not have many benefits. As previously stated, any work done with an unrecognized organization is not verifiable by the campus and therefore not applicable on a resume. Also, since these organizations only associate with themselves and each other, they do not have much ability to network. They cannot refer a "sister of their sorority" or "brother of their fraternity" to employers because they are not real organizations. They are a group of people that have regular social functions and nothing else.

In Conclusion...

We cannot tell your son or daughter that they cannot or should not join an unrecognized Greek organization. What we can do is offer them choices, give them great opportunities, and most importantly an unforgettable college experience.

If this information has not covered some of the questions that you may have had about Greek organizations, or if you are confused by something, feel free to call the IGC office (607) 436-2052.