According to Fields, who acts as Vice President of Public Relations and Recruitment for ASA, RIT is moving to refer to pledging as “new member education program” to break away from negative stereotypes.

Though the nature of recruitment for fraternities and sororities is debatable, and strong ties to tradition can be crippling, the accomplishments that many of these organizations achieve throughout the year are hard to deny.

According to Daniels, Syracuse University has several sororities on campus that work with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and the National Kidney Foundation, among other organizations. This is only a small display of the philanthropic activity within Greek organizations throughout college campuses.

Greek organizations also provide resources for the greater campus. Throughout the academic year, Syracuse University, among other colleges, sponsor weeks devoted to Alcohol Awareness as well as other themes centered on educating the greater campus community.

According to Daniels, this is reflected in the quality of members that are attracted to Greek life.

“Typically our chapters look for someone who is committed to a balance between their academic and social activities, someone interested in philanthropy and community service and also a young woman who is interested in developing herself as a leader by taking positions within the chapter or the greater Panhellenic community,” she said.