Story co-produced with Jake Harkey.
When we talk greek life or especially fraternities, most of the time it is about partying, drinking or hazing.
Now, there are a lot of valid reasons people think that.
We see stories all the time of fraternities getting in trouble for underage drinking and throwing parties that may have gotten out of hand. Or “hazing” future brothers to test their desire to join the brotherhood.
Often the media only reports on the bad and the unfortunate mishaps of these fraternities.
However, what we hardly ever see is the other side of these fraternities. The bonds created, the community service that is done, and the joy it brings into students’ lives.
“I think my favorite thing is the community it brings and the connections that it brings after school. I have made lifelong friends here and I think there is a stigma that is not very true,” said Brayden Myers, President of the Kappa Sigma Chapter at WCU.
Tony Sgro, current member of Kappa Sigma, added “everyone joins a fraternity for a different reason, I wanted to be a part of something bigger than just a classroom and have something deeper than just a friendship with somebody.”
The Kappa Sigma chapter is currently one of 14 fraternities provided at Western Carolina. Western Carolina has about 650 students involved in Greek life and 31 of those are in Kappa Sig.
Not only did the members of Kappa Sig talk about why they joined a fraternity, but they also opened about what they do for the community and the Western Carolina campus.
See what they do and what they have to say about their frat.
“Every single group always has that one person who is not up to par whether they are a part of a sports team, social groups, or even Greek life. Sororities and Fraternities are so much more than just that one person who may ruin the reputation” said Director of Greek Student Engagement and Development, Linda Carmody.
One of the many benefits of being in greek life as the members of Kappa Sig touched on is community service.
“Every member is required to do a minimum of 5 hours of community service, which is low but if you think about it, if you have a football player or a women’s softball player and we set it at 20 hours then you may have some people that may not make it,” said Carmody.
One very common answer you hear when talking to fraternity brothers and sorority sisters is how they were able to really build their network and connections in the world.
“Networking is an incredible opportunity for people who join Greek life. I was talking with 3 Greek alumni who participated in Greek life here at Western and they talked about how their fraternity connections helped them get a job and have even been able to help refer fraternity brothers to certain people to help them find jobs,” said Carmody.
Rush season and weeks vary for each Greek organization. If you would like to learn more about Kappa Sigma, you can click here to view their Instagram. If you would like to learn more about the fraternities on Western’s campus, you can click here.
