Published On: Fri, Jun 9th, 2017

FAU Greek Life – Shining a Light on the Unknown

By: Gabriel Diaz

greekHazing, pledging, chugging, parties.  These are the common terms associated with fraternities and sororities nationwide. Stories relating to these terms have surfaced nationwide, such as the most recent Penn State incident in which a pledge of Beta Theta Pi fraternity fell to his death and was found to have had a blood alcohol content reading of between .26 and .36.

Luckily for the Boca Raton community, the Greek life system at Florida Atlantic University is not broken. This is due to the fact that FAU has a very strict anti-hazing policy, and “anyone found to be hazing will be dealt with quickly and severely” according to FAU President Dr. John Kelly in his statements on the video about Hazing Education found in the FAU website. In response to what happens when someone is found to be hazing in FAU the Fraternity and Sorority Life office said that “All hazing allegations and investigations occurring in the FAU community, be it individual or organizational in nature, are facilitated by the Dean of Students Office.”

Greek life in FAU is a benefit to the Boca Raton community for a few very important reasons, and should be embraced by the community as a whole.

Taking a look at the numbers, over five percent of FAU undergraduate students are members of fraternities and sororities. This means that there are over 1,500 Greeks roaming around Boca at any given time.

The Greek community at FAU is the largest socially active demographic of the 30,000 + student population at FAU,” stated Brandon Sirota, the President of the Interfraternity Council.

Although 1,500 students does not seem like a lot of people in comparison to the total population in Boca, the Greek community does a lot more than some would think.

In 2016 the FAU Greek community completed over 5,000 hours of community service ranging from beach cleanups, to helping pack lunches at Boca Helping Hands and other philanthropic events through the local community.

“I feel the relationship between the Greek community at FAU and the greater Boca Raton community is reciprocal in nature,” said Sirota. “There are many opportunities to engage the community through philanthropic events, community service, social networking among peers, alumni, local residents and more.”

Greek life at FAU raised nearly $150,000 for charitable organizations, both local to the Boca Raton community and nationally to causes like Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, The Ability Experience, Ronald McDonald House Charities and others. This is quite impressive for a set of only 1,500 students within a community of around 30,000 at FAU and over 91,000 in Boca Raton.

Greek life has grown in FAU periodically every year. Talks of expansions and improvements to 20th Street will make it so that Greek life’s presence could be more defined in the Boca Raton community within the next five, 10 or 25 years.  

“I’ve been extremely adamant that increasing the size and number of Greek organizations at FAU is necessary to help build up the community we have, and that Greek housing should be an integral part of that necessity,” added Sirota.

The idea of Greek housing has been pitched and catched for many years and could improve the FAU community to make it even more of a true university, rather than the commuter school it is trying to steer away from.

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