Maryville College opens discussionon reviving Greek fraternities, sororities
In efforts to enhance campus life and student engagement, the Campus Life Exploratory Committee (CLEC), composed of students, staff and faculty representatives, is exploring the reintroduction of fraternity and sorority life, commonly referred to as “Greek Life,” to Maryville College.
This exploration proves unexpected, given that fraternities and sororities are currently prohibited by the College’s board of directors, with the ban in place since 2002. Because of this, the CLEC is taking time and undergoing significant deliberation before determining the future of a fraternity and sorority presence on MC campus.
However, the CLEC has chosen to defer additional sessions and recommendations related to Greek Life until the fall semester of the 2026-27 school year to dedicate more time to research and consider the opportunities and challenges associated with its reintroduction.
The CLEC hosted a series of listening sessions on March 12 aimed at all members of the campus community, which garnered a wide variety of perspectives, questions and recommendations, according to Dean of Students Dr. Ben Stubbs.
To properly oversee this potential change, Maryville College partnered with Dyad Strategies, a “nationally renowned fraternity and sorority life consulting firm.” Dr. Gentry McCreary from Dyad Strategies has facilitated all listening sessions that MC offered and coordinated a survey aiming to capture the opinions of students, which was sent to students by email.
Fraternity and sorority life aim to theoretically enhance campus life for MC students. In an email released by Stubbs, potential benefits for the establishment of Greek Life include immediate involvement in connection opportunities for newer students, increased campus engagement coming from Greek Life members and leadership and philanthropic experiences that align with the College’s mission. Along with those reasons, Stubbs points out that generations of students involved with literary societies and secret societies are present in the Maryville College community.
“Given that many of our peer institutions have fraternity and sorority communities, we [the CLEC] felt that it was important to consider it,” Stubbs said. “At this point, we are focused on facilitating a campus conversation on the topic.”
However, there are many potential downsides to the reintroduction of Greek Life and many people oppose the idea. Stubbs has explained that potential challenges include these organizations not being inclusive, with membership dues posing a barrier to participation. Additionally, fraternities and sororities could potentially strain campus resources and research shows that hazing, substance use and sexual assault occur at higher rates among fraternity and sorority members than the student body at large. Noting these negative consequences, Gianna Mantegna (‘27) created a petition for students who are against Greek Life being reintroduced.
“There are a lot of people who want to express their opinion,” Mantegna said. “For example, my petition got over 90 signatures in 72 hours, affirming that lots don’t want Greek Life on campus. The students who signed my petition came from all different identities on campus, with the consensus being that this was a hasty decision being forced on us with very little input from us.”
With a seemingly endless list of pros and cons of Greek Life, the focus shifts to the CLEC and its methods of conducting this grand change for Maryville College. However, there have been grievances with this process as well.
“Speaking with the Dyad representative, there seemed to be little plan for how Greek Life would occur on campus, and what he stressed to us was that Greek Life could look like anything we wanted,” Mantegna said. “While it sounds good in theory, certain facts about Greek Life will always remain true, like the fees needed to participate, the culture and the rush/recruitment.”
“The source of my frustration is more with the staff who chose to advance meetings with Greek Life consulting firms before asking students if they even wanted Greek Life on campus,” Mantegna added.
Even with the downsides of Greek Life, Stubbs and the CLEC will remain involved with the idea.
“While many students would not be interested in joining a fraternity or sorority, the Campus Life Exploratory Committee feels that there are many other students at the College who may benefit from this new option for involvement,” Stubbs said.
“Fraternities and sororities also look very different at small liberal arts colleges. For instance, at smaller institutions, fraternities and sororities meet and host events in the same rooms as all other student organizations and recruit new members in similar ways as well,” Stubbs added.
No decision has been made related to Greek Life at the College, and all listening sessions and recommendations have been postponed until next semester.
“We [the CLEC] look forward to continuing this conversation,” Stubbs said.