Parents
Frequently Asked Questions
Student Life
- Can you give me some background about Greek life on your campus?
The University currently recognizes 30 fraternity and sorority chapters with slightly less than 700 active undergraduate members. The size of the chapters range from a handful to more than fifty members. Albany's Greek community is self-governing with each fraternity and sorority reporting to one of five governing councils. These councils receive guidance and direction from the Office of Student Activities with regard to specific academic, programmatic, and operational requirements and to ensure the groups are aware of and adhere to University rules and regulations.
Students considering Greek life participate in either a fall or spring recruitment or "rush" period where each fraternity or sorority chapter seeks to interest potential new members in their organization. The actual membership intake process is limited to eight weeks and must end no later than three weeks before final exams. Approximately 250 students become affiliated with Albany's fraternities or sororities each year, but first semester freshmen are specifically prohibited from participating in new membership intake activities until their second semester.
The Greek community annually contributes over 5000 hours of community service to the University and the surrounding community. In addition, many fraternity and sorority members serve in elected student government positions and/or as resident assistants, judicial board members, and officers of other student organizations. However, there are occasional instances of alcohol abuse or hazing that come to the University's attention.
The University does not tolerate any actions by recognized student groups that jeopardize the safety or well being of its students. Nevertheless, not all instances of misconduct by our fraternities and sororities come to our attention and the willingness of some students to remain silent about alcohol abuse or hazing violations is a concern to us. Therefore, if your son or daughter is currently a member or is considering becoming a member of a fraternity or sorority, we encourage you to discuss with them , and to bring to our attention, any concerns you have that their experience is negatively impacting their physical, emotional, or academic well-being. We will do our best to resolve the problem.
