By Rylee Baker, Assistant Opinions Editor: Heart Beat
Greek life is one of the most notorious and controversial parts of college, but to some, it’s also the most fun and exciting. Over the past few decades, Greek life has faced hundreds of news stories due to hazing, sexual abuse, and social exclusion. It’s no secret that many people, especially students, have strong opinions about Greek organizations and what they stand for. Attendance for Greek life on Susquehanna’s campus has dwindled. But the pressing question is why.
College enrollment is suffering all over the country, according to the Wall Street Journal. With a drop in birth rates comes a drop in college attendance. “The largest number of Americans born in a single year arrived on campus in the autumn of 2025,” says WSJ, proving a forced declining trend in college attendance in the foreseeable future, with forecasts saying that enrollment will drop 13% by 2041. This gives Greek organizations unprecedented challenges when it comes to recruiting students. Especially at Susquehanna, as they’re facing the smallest freshman class since 2007.
Through no fault of anyone’s, Greek organizations have a smaller pool of students to recruit from, creating all sorts of challenges. Senior and president of Delta, Joel Perez-Oliveras, talked about Phi Mu Delta’s struggling attendance rate. “I’ve definitely seen a fluctuation in attendance since I’ve started going here,” he explained. In the fall semester of 2024, Delta gained four new members, and that spring another seven for a total of 11 members. Far less than in previous years for Delta, but from 2025 to 2026, Delta recruited 16 members; this past fall semester, Delta recruited three new members. “I feel like the decline has been recent,” Perez-Olivaras says. Sororities are also facing similar problems; the president of Susquehanna’s Kappa Delta, Jenna Roush, said she’s also noticed a decline in Greek Life attendance. Fall recruitment, on average, brings inaround 15 new members, but this past spring, they only gained seven.
So, why is this happening? “Everyone has personal reasons for not joining,” Perez-Oliveras said. “I’ve heard many different ones.” After anonymously interviewing Susquehanna students on why or why not they would join a Greek organization, three large topics kept being brought up. The biggest one was money; Susquehanna increases its tuition a little bit every year, with the Education Data Initiative showing that private institutions have increased by 2.4% over the past three years, a trend that’s predicted to climb. Roush acknowledges this and explained, “Seeing the number for dues can be scary, but the most you’ll pay is your first year dues and they decrease every semester after that…we also offer specialized payment plans for girls who may be struggling.”
It’s a valid concern. With the rise in tuition, the cost of college textbooks, the cost of moving in and out of a dorm, food and other necessities, and the overall economy, it’s hard to blame anybody for turning away from an organization that will require even more spending, especially when there are so many clubs at Susquehanna that are free.
Another reason students gave for not wanting to join a Greek organization is the time commitment. Susquehanna, in general, has a lot of opportunities for students to pick up executive titles, join clubs, and be as involved as possible. With the cost of Greek life and the work environment of college, adding another responsibility on top of everything can seem very overwhelming.
Roush explained, “You get what you put into it.” There are only a handful of events that are mandatory for members to participate in; the rest is up to you and how involved you want to be. This is a nice notion, and I do believe it holds true, but I also believe it’s not that black and white. In any club or organization, there’s always going to be pressure to do more. Even if someone isn’t directly telling you to work harder or come to more events, there’s always going to be a ‘what if?’ feeling, a silent judgement, even if it’s from your own brain.
And then there’s the elephant in the room, specifically for fraternities: hazing. So many stories have surfaced of fraternities around the country participating in hazing and having catastrophic things happen to students, like death, due to the hazing. It’s scary, and social media doesn’t help make frats look any better, with the comical representation of what a frat boy is. Usually sporting a backward hat, drinking a beer, and degrading women. This is an overall generalization and not true for every single fraternity boy. Not that there aren’t people like that on Susquehanna’s campus; there are, but I don’t think it’s fair to assume every frat boy must be like that.
Susquehanna’s fraternities are affiliated with the campus, with their houses also being on campus property. This gives Susquehanna much more control over Greek life and what happens inside the chapters, and it has taken action before over allegations of fraternity hazing. “We are completely against hazing,” Perez-Oliveras says about Phi Mu Delta, “But I understand why someone may choose not to join because of the stigma.”
Despite all the concerns over joining Greek life, there are positives to being part of a Greek organization. “You get real-world experience in running an organization firsthand,” says Perez-Oliveras. With all the executive positions and events put on by members, there are lots of opportunities for the Delta members to take leadership positions and be active members in the chapter. “Greek life is a professional workshop as a whole,” he goes to say, “You get real-world experience running the org firsthand.” Greek life indeed gives opportunities for students to take on professional leadership positions, practice interviewing, and hold students accountable for their academics. “I also feel that Delta is a safe environment; I’m comfortable going to my brothers and confiding in them,” Perez-Olivaras explained that Delta was meant to be a safe environment for their members where all their voices can be heard no matter the position or year.
Roush explained the benefits of joining sororities, “There is so much hands-on philanthropy work.” Kappa Delta’s philanthropy is the Girl Scouts, and they often aid in local troops in the community. “It feels very rewarding.” She goes on to talk about positions and the leadership opportunities given to members through the sororities. “But I think a really important thing that joining Greek life does is help students break out of their shell.” There is so much communication and interaction going on in planning events and doing philanthropy work; it pushes students to strengthen their communication and talk to others. “There’s also so much mentorship from our national chapter and alumni who helps the girls through college and also in life,” Roush explained.
Greek life, like anything in life, has its ups and downs, and nobody should feel ashamed for disagreeing with another. I don’t think Greek life is going anywhere, especially not at Susquehanna; it will most likely continueto go through phases of higher and lower attendance as the economy and society change. I believe that both sides are understandable, and the choice is ultimately up to you.