Oklahoma State University prides itself on being one of the largest and most involved Greek systems in the United States, and that pride has been extended to high school students for two weekends of Greek Discovery.
Greek Discovery Day allows juniors and seniors in high school to learn about the fraternities and sororities offered at Oklahoma State University, and share their reasons why students should look into Greek life and how it’s been beneficial to themselves.
With over 5,000 students involved in Greek life– making that over a fourth of all undergraduates– fraternities and sororities are a popular place to find community and make life-lasting friendships.
For Harrison Themer, a member of Farmhouse Fraternity, GDD is an opportunity to experience firsthand what the Greek community has to offer and what the people involved are truly like.
“Getting a chance to witness that first hand and see what houses are a good fit for you is something I would absolutely recommend to high school students,” Themer said.
Themer has seen the impact Greek life has had on the lives of himself, his family and friends, so being an active part of why a student may go Greek is something that he just had to be a part of.
“I am an assistant recruitment chair for Farmhouse, so this weekend I went and ran the table for my fraternity,” Themer said. “The tabling event allowed groups of about a hundred high school students to rotate between the different fraternities and see what each house valued and stood for, what their philanthropies were, and really just getting to know the different houses.”
Sammie Smith, a freshman member of Chi Omega Sorority, is most excited about getting to be a part of the representation of her house and helping interested high school students get specific questions answered.
“My role is to talk to potential new members and just answer any questions they may have about anything related to Greek life in general,” Smith said. “I get to help out with this second weekend of Greek Discovery Day and I couldn’t be more excited to be helping, especially after hearing how well the first weekend went.”
Understanding that Greek life isn’t for everyone, Makinley Kennedy, a freshman in Chi Omega Sorority, wants everyone to feel welcomed and excited to be a part of the cowboy family.
“The biggest takeaway I want everyone to have is that the Greek community is one that really wants people to succeed in whatever they do,” Kennedy said. “We want to show love to them, however, we don’t want to force them into a Greek house either.”
Oklahoma State University has something for everyone, and Greek life is just a part of all the options on campus. However, Greek Discovery Day is a great place to look into if involvement is important to you.
“Oklahoma State as a whole, whether you are in the Greek community or not, is a great place to grow and thrive,” Kennedy said. “But at the end of the day, I just want everyone to really, really love this University.”
