This is not your parents’ greek life: Trends in the ongoing evolution of fraternities and sororities

Critiques of traditional American institutions as the “Greek system” have underscored their conservative patterns of behavior, begrudgingly evolving at a glacier’s pace. Greek interest and the attraction to fraternities and sororities by new members must have been seriously damaged. This chapter explains how the old system came to be, and details what this new, current Greek system looks like. Greek evolution can be roughly divided into four stages. The first stage, which began in 1836, must inevitably be defined by the formation and configuration of the system. The second stage, beginning in post-war America in 1945, can be defined by the growth and democratization of its chapters. The third stage, which began in 1980, can be reduced to the excesses of its membership. Finally, the fourth and current stage of this narrative, which began in 1995, can easily be defined by the efforts of myriad shareholders to regulate and reform Greek life in America.