Greek life. Phew. It’s a hot topic on every college campus, and everyone has questions about it. How many people are in it? What’s the ~vibe~? Am I paying for friends? Do I have to be in it to have a college experience? Is it worth it? Also why is it called Greek Life when “fraternity” and “sorority” are Latin derived? Do they serve Mediterranean cuisine?
While we wish we could give you every single answer, some of it will be up to you to decided. Greek orgs in the Ivy League are some of the oldest in the country, and some schools seem to be WAYYY more into it than others. Some of the most recent info we could find out about Greek life at certain schools was from 2009. 2009!! There’s no centralized source to learn about Greek life at some schools, and dedicated websites at others. But let’s break down what we did find.
Brown
If you really, really, really want to get into Greek life at Brown, it’s there. Something tells us it’s not the hottest option on campus. According to one page, Brown has 10 residential fraternities and sororities, with two being co-ed. They also said Brown recognizes 14 orgs on campus, while the Club website says they recognize 13.
Brown estimates that 11% of the school is in Greek life and says membership in their orgs ranges from 5 to 115.
Columbia
Thankfully, Columbia’s info was a little more organized. The Greek life is organized under three councils: The Inter-Fraternity Council, The Multicultural Greek Council, and The Panhellenic Association. This is a much more traditional organizational breakdown. However, this is what we found on their website, so not sure if we should trust it.
Columbia has 28 chapters total, with 16 fraternities, 11 sororities, and 1 co-ed organization. It’s also hard to find hard numbers on the percentage of students in Greek life here. Estimates range from 20-33%.
Cornell
Okay, NOW we’re getting somewhere! The first Ivy League on this list with an actual website dedicated to telling us about their Greek life!!! About 30% of students at Cornell are in Greek life, and according to an article we found from 2012, “in terms of sheer numbers it is one of the largest Greek communities in the country.” Somehow, we doubt that this was true a decade ago and definitely doubt it’s veracity now.
Cornell has 28 Interfraternity Council frats, 12 Panhellenic Association sororities, and 11 Multicultural Greek & Fraternal Council fraternities and sororities. It’s been a big part of the school since its inception, with co-founder Andrew Dickson White being a promoter of that #fratlife lifestyle. Just kidding, he liked it as “a means of teaching self-governance to young students.” lol.
Dartmouth
Greek life is HUGE at Dartmouth. It’s like, one of their things. To be fair, New Hampshire can get a little boring in the winter. There’s even a massive Wikipedia page dedicated to Dartmouth College Greek organizations. Dartmouth has 28 recognized Greek organizations from the National Panhellenic Conference, the North-American Interfraternity Conference, National Pan-Hellenic Council, and the Multicultural Greek Council.
Estimates of engagement with Greek life at Dartmouth sit at around 45%. One report from 2005 said over 60% of the eligible student body is in a Greek org, although we also found it cited in this 2021 article from The Dartmouth. Why that hasn’t been updated in 17 years, the average age of a person reading this post, we have no idea.
Harvard
A quick search of Harvard Greek life turns up a concerning bevy of search results:
From what we’ve gathered, Harvard attempted to ban single-sex organizations on campus in 2016. But then a bunch of sororities and fraternities and final clubs (Social Network, anyone????) sued Harvard for sexual discrimination and now they’re allowed to have single-sex organizations. However, Harvard has not recognized any Greek life organization or single-sex organization since 1984. But they still kinda have them. This Crimson article from 2016 surveying the class of 2020 says 37% of the class was “interested” in Greek life, but it is extremely hard to find hard data on what currently exists as an option at Harvard, especially since it is not sanctioned by the school.
Princeton
I wonder what Princeton’s statement on fraternities and sororities says!
Well, there you go. They take this very seriously and there are consequences for engaging in outside of school Greek life as a freshman, for recruiting on campus, and official sorority or fraternity events. We did find evidence (an aesthetic Instagram account) of three sororities operating at Princeton.
There is something called “eating clubs,” which has “bicker” instead of rush. The history of eating clubs goes back to 1879, when Princeton did not provide meals to students – so they created their own dining halls. These eating clubs are completely independent of the school, and each has their own house. There are 11 clubs total and some are open to all, and some are selective. They are all co-ed. 68% of upperclassmen at Princeton are a part of an eating club. Seems like this is their fun side-step to Greek life.
Side note: we found this very funny Tumblr post that advised incoming Princeton students to watch The House Bunny, Legally Blonde, and Monsters University as a primer in what Greek life is like.
Penn
Ah, back to something normal. Penn has 48 Greek life organizations with over 3,000 members across the school. They even have a school-sanctioned website! Their organizations are part of three larger councils -- Panhellenic Council, Interfraternity Council, and Intercultural Greek Council. 25% of students at Penn are involved in Greek life, and 32 of the organizations have official chapter houses on Penn’s campus.
There does seem to be a small movement to abolish Greek life on Penn’s campus, which has become a growing organizing effort across many college campuses. From our research, Penn definitely seems to have one of the more cohesive and functional Greek systems, so take that as you will.
Yale
Okay, another complicated Greek life tale. In 2019, three students sued Yale along with nine fraternities over sexual harassment and creating a hostile environment, which led to a big change in how Yale dealt with Greek life. It was (and still is) one of the biggest social outlets on campus, with well over 10% of campus being involved in one way or another. 10% is what is widely reported, but a Task Force report in 2018 states that over 10% of students are in sororities alone, so that number cannot be accurate. Think pieces in the Yale Herald seek to reconcile the image Yale puts out on tours and visits with the reality on campus, and Yale seems to really want to downplay Greek life.
There are four sororities at Yale, documented by this pretty Instagram account. Unfortunately the fraternities do not seem to have the same resource, but we did find this article about Sigma Nu getting in trouble for sexual misconduct. Former fraternity Sigma Phi Epsilon recently unaffiliated from their national chapter and opened up to women. There also seems to be an active community within multicultural fraternities and sororities at Yale as well.
And that’s Greek life in the Ivy League! Way more complicated than you anticipated, probably, but those are the nuts and bolts. If you’re interested in joining Greek life at an Ivy League, do your research, follow the policies in place, and make sure you’re comfortable in those environments. Greek life can be a hotbed for sexual assault, racism, discrimination, and classism – but it does kinda seem like some of these schools have taken steps to distance themselves from this culture or attempt to fix it.
If you’re interested in applying to an Ivy League school and have no idea where to start, or how to write your essays, or need help determining what schools are the best fit for you, reach out to us today to talk to one of our counselors.