Letter from the President
Future Greek Gator,
The tradition of the American college fraternity is one of the proudest and most venerable institutions in American society. Since the modest conception of the first fraternities in the early nineteenth century, the Greek system has grown into a national network of social organizations and embedded itself permanently into the culture of American higher education.
The origins of the fraternity tradition can be traced to the elite ‘literary clubs’ of the mid eighteenth century, such as Thomas Jefferson’s “Flat Hat Club.” As the groups evolved, they began to identify themselves by Greek letters in order to represent their study of classical literature. Eventually, the focus of these organizations shifted from literary study to fellowship and society – establishing the Greek letter, social fraternities that we are familiar with today.
However, it is believed that the creators of the nation’s fraternities did not choose to represent their organizations with Greek letters just to pay homage to classical literature. Just as our nation’s founding fathers were drawing from Hellenism and the classical concept of democracy to establish our government, early fraternity founders identified the purpose of their organizations – scholarship and fellowship – with the principle of the ‘balanced life’ from Hellenistic society. Greek letters were chosen to associate this fundamental tenet of early Hellenism to the culture of the ‘Greek’ college students in modern times.
Today’s fraternities have evolved into dynamic and complex organizations, but all remain committed to the goal of providing academically supportive and social environments to their members. With millions of alumni across the nation, social fraternities have established a significant presence for themselves in American culture.
By providing academic and social opportunities outside the classroom, they have also become an integral part of the college experience itself, and are instrumental in the development of leadership qualities, interpersonal skills, and character among young students. This valuable extracurricular experience is why Greek alumni constitute three quarters of the US congress and lead more than forty three of the nation’s fifty largest companies1.
The University of Florida has a diverse community of twenty seven separate social fraternities. Each one is unique, but all are founded on common principles. If you feel that you belong in a culture where scholarship, service, leadership, and community are paramount – then I encourage you to join us during this recruitment period to see what our community has to offer.
Go Gators!
Ben Caswell
President
Interfraternity Council