On Wednesday, September 9, 2015, at Harwood Arena, Greek Senate hosted the popular event Meet The Greeks (MTG) between the hours of 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. 

Hundreds of people strolled into the gym eager to meet, and possibly start the new member orientation process for Greek organizations.

By 7:30 p.m. the gym was packed, the bleachers were filled and the floor was like a never ending maze as people walked from one Greek organization table to another. It was a successful night filled with unexpected events.

Kean University students came to MTG  “to receive more information on the organizations that I would like to rush for,” comments Vineatra Lewis, who is currently a junior majoring in business marketing.

During the first couple of hours attendees were able to walk around the gym, which was filled with approximately 20 Greek organizations. Some of the organizations went big for their table display, for example one sorority had a chocolate fountain, while others had a themed table. But the Greek organizations weren’t there to just hand out chocolate. The reason for MTG was to promote each fraternity and sorority allowing students to learn what being a Greek is all about.

As Sydnie Rodrigues, a member of the sorority Theta Phi Alpha and a junior majoring in public relations, says, “Greek life is more than just partying. It is friendship, love, community, positivity…it impacts your Life in many ways. ”

“I came to [this event] because I really want[ed] to see what [Greek life] is all about,” comments junior biology major Nakia Powell, “I don’t know if I will join, but being a part of Greek life is like having your own little family.”

That is what it is about. Greek life, as Jordan Cahill, Greek life specialist at the center for leadership and service (CLS) and senior fine arts major, describes, is founded on five pillars and one of those pillars is brotherhood and sisterhood. Katyana Deleon, sister of sorority Omega Sigma Psi and a junior public relations major, comments that a majority of her free time is spent going out with her sisters, or studying with her sisters.

But the main question a lot of students ask is what Greek life is.  Many people answered “family”, while others, like Conor Gugliotta, bother of fraternity Nu Sigma Phi and a sophomore biology physical therapy major, said that

“Greek life is about team work, getting involved on campus and creating strong friendships.”

Many people have the wrong idea of what Greek life truly is, and MTG is an event that is meant to clear those ideas up.   

There are a lot of reasons why people join a Greek organization. Greek Senate President Whitney Wanton, a senior communication and Spanish education double major, comments that at first “I didn’t want to join [any Greek organization]. For six years I was dancing…and one day I saw the Greek organizations strolling. And that is when I decided I wanted to join.” Wanton is part of the sorority Chi Upsilon Sigma National Lain Sorority incorporated.  She didn’t just join this sorority because of the strolling that she saw. She joined Chi Upsilon Sigma because of their motto on education, which is Wisdom Through Education. “I also joined because of all the good things they were doing and I wanted to be a part of that,” Wanton states.

At 7:30 p.m. the Greek organizations, one by one, began to come on stage and introduce themselves to the growing crowd. After the introductions the performances; with the sorority Lambda Theta Alpha kicking it off. Once the strolling began the crowd went wild. Everyone was into all of the performances, singing along to the songs they knew and dancing along with the fraternities and sororities that performed. In between the performances, students had a chance take the stage themselves to participate in a dance competition and show off their skills.

All proceeds collected at MTG will go towards the Kean Dance Marathon (KDM), which raises money for the Children’s Specialized Hospital. For more information about Greek life please visit the CLS page on Kean University’s website. On the right side of the page there will be a section with the name of related links. There one can find the link to the Greek Life page. To find more information about the Greek organizations, one can find information on Cougar Link under the “Organization” tab.  Currently, there are 28 Greek Organizations on campus, 14 fraternities and 14 sororities. There are a lot of organizations to choose from, so a student should choose one that best fits him or her and choose wisely because as Cahill, says, “you are not just joining for four years, you are joining for life.”  

MTG happens every spring and fall semester. There is no set date for the 2016 spring semester MTG, but keep a lookout for it. 

Enjoy the video below highlighting Meet The Greeks.