What Exactly Is a Fraternity?
A fraternity is many things, but above all else, it is a brotherhood. It is a group of friends who are organized first and foremost to deepen their friendship and to extend it to others, just as it had been extended to them.
A fraternity answers the universal desire to form deep friendships, to share new ideas and experiences, and to belong to a proud community as a college student. Every fraternity at Cornell is a circle that has continuously expanded, in many cases, for over a century.
“Fraternities promote intellectual and social development, active participation in community service, and a special home at Cornell where people develop lifelong friendships. The University’s Greek system is an integral part of the Cornell experience.” — Hunter R. Rawlings III, Former President, Cornell University
A Place to Make Friends
One of the greatest challenges for new students on any college campus is to build a community of true friends. The “loneliness epidemic” makes regular headlines, not made easier the university's competitiveness and location. At Cornell, fraternities are unparalleled as the tried-and-true mechanism to bring a diverse group of strangers together and turn them into friends—not just for four years, we we say, but for life. In a fraternity, you never need to worry about finding someone to talk to, or finding something to do.
A Place to Call Home
It would be unimaginable to move every year in high school, yet this nomadic existence is precisely what many college students experience. Knowing you have a home, full of your best friends, that you can always come back to is a great advantage. Most chapters have housing and dining options available for your whole Cornell career.
“Home” is worth a lot more than avoiding the housing lottery. Home is where you feel a sense of security and stability, the base from which you set out to conquer the world, or just your next prelim. Your fraternity house is where the informal, unscripted, and meaningful moments and conversations can be found.
GreekLife âž” LifeTime
Your campus experience, done right, will continue to bring value to you for the rest of your life. Your fraternity connections can continue to grow when you're long gone from school, and every Homecoming and Reunion is a chance to renew bonds with the old crew.
This common bond accounts for the higher levels of “well-being” reported among participants in Greek life. Members of fraternities and sororities reflect on their time in college more favorably. The camaraderie, comfort, and confidence a fraternity experience brings explains the generosity of our alumni networks to each other and to our alma mater.