The Influence of Fraternity and Sorority Involvement

ON APRIL 19, 1996, The Chronicle of Higher Education published an op-ed titled The Questionable Value of Fraternities written by three prominent researchers, George Kuh, Ernest Pascarella, and Henry Wechsler. Their indictment of fraternal organizations was supported by considerable research confirming years of media accounts relating detrimental fraternity behavior. Absent in the op-ed was research demonstrating the alternate perspective-that fraternity membership is also beneficial for student development and supports institutional retention and development efforts. At the time, advocates had no documented evidence to the contrary, resulting in efforts to substantiate the value of membership. Subsequent research efforts have broadened our understanding. Despite negative connotations and empirical evidence to support detrimental aspects of membership, decades of nationally representative data show students remain interested in joining fraternities and sororities. This monograph reconsiders the value question based on scholarly research published since 1996 in the following ways: (1) through identifying behavioral, psychosocial, and educational outcomes of fraternity/sorority involvement; (2) by differentiating outcomes between and among organizations, when possible; and (3) through recommending implications for policy and practice based on research. Findings revealed an unexpected amount of scholarly research interest on fraternity and sorority involvement, and membership correlates in the last two decades from a variety of disciplines. Despite a disproportionate focus on behavioral correlates, such as alcohol use, hazing, and sexual assault, researchers in the past decade have slowly added psychosocial and educational considerations, building toward a more holistic understanding of outcomes related to involvement.