How NYU Greek Life Can Make a Big School Feel Small

My sorority, Delta Gamma, has around 156 members. This is a fairly typical size for an NYU sorority. Of course, with this many people, it’s impossible to know everyone on a personal level. Still, we’re always there to help each other out because, after all, we’re all sisters. I’m confident that even with DG girls I barely know, I could approach them for help with anything, and they’d be more than willing to give it.

We have a very active group chat that every sister is included in. Typical messages will be things like: “does anyone in Bobst right now have a USB-C charger?” or “does anyone have a red leather jacket I can borrow this weekend?”. Almost always, someone responds quickly offering their help. Sometimes, people will offer up extra tickets they have to an event for whoever is interested in going. This is a win-win for everyone and allows people with similar interests to meet. We also love to support our sisters in performance-based majors by promoting and attending their shows & events.

Aside from social life, being in a sorority can also provide great academic support. Almost every day, sisters will message questions about classes, exams, homework, or other school-related topics. Since DG is so big, there’s bound to be someone who’s taken the class that you find challenging. Sisters in similar programs can give each other advice about their favorite class sections, professors, etc. Our leadership also offers to match members in the same major so that we can form study groups.

Overall, pretty much everyone in sorority life joins for the same reason: to find true friends & a support system in an unfamiliar setting. Because of that, everyone is empathetic to each other and always wants to look out for others. If someone is having a hard time, it won’t go unnoticed. Our leadership makes sure to emphasize that we’ll always have them if we need someone to talk to. This attitude extends beyond leadership, too, to all of our members.

I am from the Midwest, where not many NYU students come from. When I meet someone who’s also from there, it’s always very exciting for me. However, since Midwestern students are a small percentage here, it can be hard to find others. Through DG, a smaller circle as opposed to a grade of thousands of students, I’ve met plenty of sisters from similar backgrounds to me. We have members from all around the Midwest, including Illinois, Minnesota, and Ohio.

One of my former sisters who’s no longer in the sorority was actually from my hometown of Indianapolis and personally knew one of my best friends from high school. Coincidentally, my “big sister” ended up taking her as another “little sister”, so she became part of my sorority family! Even crazier, one of our new member’s in this year’s class actually went to my small Indiana high school. Being in Greek life has definitely allowed me to have many of those “it’s a small world” moments.

On the flip side, being in DG has also expanded my mind by allowing me to meet people from a super diverse set of backgrounds. I’m aware that Greek life has a reputation for not always being inclusive, but NYU really makes an effort to emphasize diversity. Our sisters are from around the world, from NYC to Georgia to Hong Kong. I’ve been able to learn a lot about a wide variety of upbringings & cultures. We’re also all able to connect over commonalities we share despite coming from such different backgrounds. I’m grateful to Greek life for allowing me to meet amazing people that I probably would never have ran into otherwise.

The connections I’ve made through NYU Greek life certainly don’t stop with DG. Our Greek community is super tight-knit. This has allowed me to meet people from many different organizations.

We have a Panhellenic council, or “Panhel” for short. This council oversees all seven NYU sororities with leaders chosen from various organizations. At NYU, “Panhel love” is super strong. All of our sororities love to support each other. This can mean attending other sororities’ philanthropy events or organizing fun social events together. Most girls have best friends in other organizations. For example, two of my best friends are in Zeta Tau Alpha, another NYU sorority. I met them during a weekend trip hosted by a group of sororities & fraternities. We’ve gotten super close since then, and I couldn’t imagine my NYU experience without them. I’ve been able to attend Zeta events with them and meet many of their sisters as well.

As I briefly mentioned before, we also collaborate with often with fraternities & multicultural Greek organizations. This has allowed me to expand my network even more and connect with people I never would have expected to. It’s great to have so many familiar faces to see around campus. Meeting so many people in this way has really allowed me to grow my NYU community more. We’ve even collaborated with Greek organizations from other schools like Columbia & Harvard. Again, I’ve made so many unexpected new connections even beyond NYU through this.

While Greek life includes tons of fun events like museum trips, movies, formals, and picnics at the park, that’s definitely not all it is. In addition to holding social & educational events, all of our organizations serve a different philanthropic organization.

DG’s philanthropy is Service for Sight, an organization that helps the blind & visually impaired. We volunteer at Goalball every Sunday, which is a sports league designed for people with visual impairments. It’s very rewarding to help with something so positive & inclusive. We also host big events like Anchor Games each year, which are super entertaining, but also raise tons of money for Service for Sight.

As I said before, each organization serves a different philanthropy. Other examples include National Eating Disorders Association (Delta Phi Epsilon), Think Pink (Zeta Tau Alpha), Military Heroes (Kappa Sigma), Active Minds (Kappa Kappa Gamma), and One Love Foundation (Zeta Psi). During recruitment, an entire day is dedicated to learning about each organization’s philanthropy. You can then rank the organization whose philanthropy resonates most with you the highest.

Additionally, all Greek organizations at NYU come together to support NYDM & the B+ Foundation. These organizations raise money to fight childhood cancer. Each organization has a “B+ Hero”, or a child that they directly support and hold events with. During the annual Dance Marathon, all of our B+ Heroes visit campus for a day filled with games, food, dancing, and more. We also hold many smaller events throughout the year, such as Mr. and Mrs. FTK. The great part of NYDM is that while it’s for a great cause, the events are always super fun as well. They’re also another great opportunity to connect with people in different organizations.

All philanthropy associated with NYU Greek life really helps with finding a sense of purpose & community. It is super rewarding to connect with others over a good cause while helping those in need.