What is "I Am a Fraternity Man"?

The "I Am a Fraternity Man" movement aims to share the true stories of fraternity men that you didn't know existed. Having grown tired of the negative, wide-sweeping generalizations that regularly bombard and discredit the fraternity community, Beta Theta Pi launched "I Am a Fraternity Man" in March 2015  to bring into focus the vast majority of young men whose fraternity experiences are positive and nothing like the negative ones portrayed in the media.

Why do fraternities matter?

With 372,090 undergraduate fraternity members, and nearly 100,000 new members joining each year, the fraternity experience aims to be a positive one which develops better leaders, better citizens and better men.

It's no surprise then that fraternity men:

• Completed 3.8 million hours of community service hours in 2014.
• Raised $20.3 million toward philanthropic causes in 2014.
• Achieved a collective 2.912 GPA versus the All-Male 2.892 GPA in 2013.
• Are political leaders:
  • 44% of all U.S. Presidents have been members of a social fraternity.
  • 31% of all U.S. Supreme Court Justices are fraternity alumni.
  • Greeks in 112th US Congress: 42 Senators (42%), 101 Congressmen (23%)
  • Greeks in 113th US Congress: 39 Senators (39%), 106 Congressmen (24%)
• Are business leaders:
  • 50% of the Top 10 Fortune 500 CEOs are fraternity men.
  • 15% of Fortune 100 CEOs belong to a Greek organization.

[Statistics from the North-American Interfraternity Conference.]

In addition to the statistics above, a new research study reveals improved well-being of individuals who belong to Greek organizations. 
In 2014, the North-American Interfraternity Conference (NIC) and National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) partnered with Gallup Research to study the benefits of Greek membership. According to the NIC, "The new Gallup-Purdue University Index study of U.S. college graduates found that graduates who are members of fraternities or sororities are more likely to be thriving in all five elements of well-being during their post-graduate years than those graduates who did not join a fraternity or sorority. The study revealed that respondents who identified themselves as members of fraternities and sororities scored better in overall well-being, workplace engagement, collegiate support, experiential learning and alumni attachment."

• Overall Well-Being
  Graduates who participated in fraternities or sororities are slightly more likely to be thriving in all five critical elements of well-being – purpose, social, financial, physical and community – than are graduates who did not participate in fraternities or sororities.
   
• Workplace Engagement
  National results show that 43% of college graduates who were members of a fraternity or sorority are engaged in the workplace, compared to 38% of college graduates who were not members of a fraternity or sorority.
   
• Support
  The support that graduates recall receiving from their institution as students is also important well into their post-graduate careers. 16% of graduates who participated in fraternities or sororities and who say they had a professor who cared about them as a person (one who made them excited about learning) or had a mentor who encouraged them to pursue their dreams, are emotionally attached, compared with 13% of graduates who did not participate in fraternities or sororities.
   
• Experiential Learning
  Similarly, graduates with fraternity or sorority affiliation and membership in college were more likely to have taken advantage of experiential learning opportunities while in college (11%) than graduates who were not members of fraternities or sororities (5%).
   
• Alumni Attachment
  Alumni who participated in fraternities or sororities exhibit higher emotional attachment to their school. 22% of those who were in sororities or fraternities are attached, compared with 17% who were not members of sororities or fraternities.

[To review the full report of the Gallup-Purdue Index study, click here.]