The basement of the Rhatigan Student Center was bustling with conversations and activities on Tuesday night as Meet and Greek took place in Shocker Sports Grill and Lanes. This event, hosted by Student Involvement, takes place near the start of each semester.
Rani Somers, Coordinator of Fraternity and Sorority Life, said that Meet and Greek is a chance to show new students what Wichita State Greek Life is like.
“This type of event is a large part of being in a fraternity or sorority,” Somers said. “It’s hanging out with your brothers and your sisters, getting to know each other; playing card games, eating popcorn, going bowling – this is a large part of who we are and we want to be able to show that to our campus.”
The entire event was free for WSU students and allowed them to mingle with the fraternities and sororities on campus and learn more about becoming involved in Greek Life.
“If you’re interested in fraternity and sorority life and you come to this event, you can meet someone and talk to them and get their contact information and get a schedule of different recruitment events,” Somers said.
For James Snyder, a freshman and member of Sigma Phi Epsilon, the Meet and Greek event was his first exposure to Greek Life at Wichita State.
“This event is actually what made me want to go Greek in general,” Snyder said. “It happened right after freshman orientation and I came down [to Shocker Sports Grill and Lanes] and was thinking that I didn't like Greek life at all and when I left the event I wanted to be in a fraternity.”
Snyder said he was hesitant to join a fraternity before attending Meet and Greek because of how chapters are associated with negative stigmas. Attending the mixer allowed him to learn more about the high level of involvement the WSU chapters have both on campus and in the community.
“It was an eye-opening event for me about fraternities and Greek life in general,” said Snyder.
Kelly Wappelhorst, a junior and member of Alpha Phi, said this event allowed her to take note of students who show an interest in joining Greek Life.
“I want to know the girls who took the initiative to come to this event,” Wappelhorst said. “Knowing that they want to meet everybody, even though it’s super intimidating to meet all the Greeks all at once, is heartwarming to me.”
This event is not only a time for Greek chapters to recruit new members, it is also an opportunity to develop deeper bonds between the various organizations and councils.
“We have seen an enormous amount growth in Greek unity over the past couple of years,” Somers said. “I think historically, our three councils, who are very different, have been divided and in the past couple years that has changed.”
The three councils, Multicultural Greek Council, Panhellenic Council, and Interfraternity Council, were all represented at the Meet and Greek event.
Sophomore Danny Nguyen, a member of Chi Sigma Tau, said that he loves seeing each chapter wear their letters and show pride, but also likes to see how the groups come together for events.
“After visiting other campuses, I’ve noticed that everyone here in the Greek community is really close-knit and we all show support for other councils,” Nguyen said. “I think the Greek community we have here shows love for each other.”
Looking toward the remainder of the spring semester, Wappelhorst said this event is a strong way to start the events which will be taking place.
“We have a lot of great events for the spring and I’m super pumped to see how they turn out,” said Wappelhorst. “As a whole, for the Greek community, I’m excited to see what we bring to WSU with our events as well as the awareness of Greek unity.”
Nguyen said he is also excited about the rest of the activities this spring.
“Every semester yields new opportunities and I think it’s really nice to see what we accomplish each semester,” Nguyen said.
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