University of Astoria Fraternities

The fraternities of the University of Astoria are tightly regulated by the university in how they operate. New fraternities are given one of the houses on Greek Row, and a five year charter in which to establish themselves and grow to a size that will let them outgrow the Greek Row house. If they have done so by the end of that charter, they will be renewed for another five years, and so on. If they have not flourished, or have been the source of too many problems on-campus, the charter will not be renewed.

Joining Greek Society

• Fall Term (Introduction): By the administration's request, the Fall Term is off-limits for rushing.
  • Wanting to give new students the chance to settle into the greater university culture (to say nothing of figuring out a good balance with their classes), the Fall Term is made up of various social events for the student body, organized and paid for by the fraternities.
  • These are intended to help foster university culture as a whole, as well as give students the chance to meet and get to know some of the Greek societies on campus, as well as give those Greek societies the chance to make positive names for themselves.
• Winter Term (Rush): Fraternity Rush begins Winter Term, and lasts for four weeks (until the end of Midterms, roughly).
  • These weeks are filled with "rush events," social events created by the individual fraternities to give students a chance to meet their membership, see what they're like and to make an impression. Only events on the weekends are actually parties - the fraternities often sponsor movie nights, buffet dinners, pick-up sporting events, and other events that often highlight the purposes and character of the fraternity.
  • The last two weeks of the Rush includes all of the Greek Row Houses hosting Open Houses from 10am to 8pm, giving interested members the chance to see what living in the House is like, and to make their interest known. Then, the last week of Rush, the societies extend their bids to interested students, and take those who accept in as pledges.
  • New pledges are not permitted to move in until right after Winter Term Finals, but they do tend to spend a lot of time a the Houses before then. New Pledges also often tend to spend Spring Break at the events the fraternities plan for their membership, often full-on vacations at Spring Break locations.
• Spring Term (Pledge & Initiation): After being accepted into the Greek society, the Spring Term is the opportunity for new members to test themselves. There is a whole corpus of knowledge that pledges are expected to learn: the meaning of the fraternity's name, its luminaries, its history, knowledge about Greek society in general and so on.
  • Pledges are often given onerous tasks in the upkeep of the organization and House, and though hazing isn't strictly legal in the Greek system, it inevitably does occur to some degree, although RAs and chapter presidents know to keep a close eye out for anything that becomes potentially dangerous or legally actionable.
  • By end of term, pledges have either been released from their oaths (which very rarely happens) and are not being accepted, or they are prepared for initiation. Each society has its own rituals of initiation and oaths of secrecy.

Greek Life Office

• The Greek Life Office is located in the Student Center.
• It is an office and an attached conference room where the chapter presidents of the school's societies meet weekly.
• The office is work space for any of the presidents, and they tend to take "shifts" over the course of the week in the office, making themselves available to answer any student questions or concerns regarding Greek society.

Alpha Tau Omega, known for engineers and athletes	Alpha Phi Omega, known for being co-ed and social justice	Delta Omicron Sigma, known for being military veterans
Phi Sigma Nu, known for being Native American	Pi Kappa Alpha, known for being the big-party frat	Theta Phi Alpha, known for being a very social sorority