Top 9 Universities For Greek Life In The United States Of America
We’ve seen this debate rage on for quite some time. This topic has sparked heated discussions amongst the masses. Which school has the best Greek life and which schools are the most likely to don cargo shorts and Crocs? It’s a fight that has left families divided, and friendships ruined. But alas, I am here to settle the score, just as I did with the schools with the hottest females.
After doing some hard research, I narrowed my list down to a handful of schools. Without further ado, I present to you the nine schools with the best Greek life, based on all the most important scientific data in the world.
Honorable Mention: Oklahoma State, Arkansas, Indiana, Arizona, Kansas State, Clemson, LSU, South Carolina, Texas, Miami (Oh), North Carolina, Ohio State, East Carolina, College Of Charleston
9. Southern Methodist University
On the surface, this may seem like a homer pick, but I can assure you that it is not. Deep in the heart of Dallas, nearly thirty-three percent of the students will join one of the ten fraternities or eight sororities. On the weekends, you can find Greeks at Homebar, Avenu, or Milos. And let’s not forget the SMU girls are blonde, blue-eyed, and beautiful.
When you combine our partying ability with the idea that throwing money at any problem will solve it, you’ve got yourself a very solid base for Greek life. The alumni network is also huge. Not only are you connected to successful people from your SMU chapter, but you’re in Dallas and have even more successful people at your fingertips.
8. University Of Oklahoma
The houses are gargantuan and absurdly nice. There’s probably been $20 million poured into their fucking houses in the last five years alone. Probably the nicest in the country, to be honest. Fiji, Lambda Chi, Beta, ATO, and Kappa Sigma all either have brand new houses or just dropped millions on renovations. Ever since OKC Thunder owner (Fiji alum) donated $4M for their $8M house in 2009, there has been a giant dick measuring contest from wealthy donors to out-do each other.
The percentage of the student body that is greek-affiliated is ridiculous. If you’re not in a fraternity or sorority, you’re screwed. The fraternities themselves are massive — biggest ones probably have around 220-ish members and house around seventy.
Add all of that up, and the fact that the football program has a good tradition, it’s a really, really tough atmosphere to beat. Probably the most underrated Greek campus. The sorority houses are like old Southern mansions full of serious talent from Tulsa, OKC, Dallas, and Houston.
7. University Of Southern California
I hit up my girl, Abby Hornacek for a little inside scoop on USC Greek life. Unfortunately, due to some standards thing, she didn’t want to risk getting in trouble for talking about her sorority. She’s a keeper. However, I have seen their housing, women, and social scene. Greeks here are loaded with cash, spend it lavishly, and have an all-around good time doing it.
When they aren’t spending their money at the bars, or on parties, they are giving away truckloads of cash to charities. Their philanthropic efforts pull in roughly $300,000 a year from the houses. The only thing that keeps them from being higher, besides the quality of the next six schools, is the whole Cali-bro situation.
6. University of Virginia
Despite what Rolling Stone will tell you, UVA’s Greek life is outstanding. It’s very elitist, and when you go Greek, an aura of greatness is automatically applied to you. They have it all from the way they dress for success, the parties, the philanthropies, and the women. UVA has an interesting dichotomy because they are too far south to be considered the Northeast but are too far north to be fully embraced by the Southern culture. This gives them the best of both worlds if you will.
Charlottesville is also one of the best college towns in the nation. Greeks make it that way, where nearly 30 percent of the student body goes Greek. They also provide many benefits to their community. A typical academic year will have Greeks completing over 56,000 hours of community service, $400,000+ raised for different charities, and numerous awesome socials. You can’t go wrong with being part of Greek life at UVA.
5. University Of Georgia
Athens is the best college town in the nation, and Greek life at UGA has a big part of that. One of the coolest things is that the football players ride down sorority row during bid day. Always hilarious. UGA chapters boast huge member numbers and their houses match the big numbers. Think Greek revival architecture and Colonial style.
The social scene is just as big as the houses. One of the big events is Frat beach aka the world’s largest cocktail party. There’s usually at least 4-5 thousand people that flood St. Simons Island for the UGA/Fl game. It’s like spring break except there aren’t trashy people from everywhere. It’s UGA, locals, and trashy Florida fans — mainly UGA though. This is just one example of the awesome shit show that is UGA Greek life.
Greek grind is a huge philanthropic event hosted by Sigma Delta Tau that benefits child abuse prevention. It’s an event in October where all 17 sororities come together for a campus-wide dance competition. It’s always been one of the most popular events and raises a ton of money. Also, both sorority and fraternity members have higher GPAs than the average undergrad at UGA.
4. Penn State University
Penn State boasts an astounding fifty fraternities, or so I’m told. Either way, they have a huge Greek scene and everyone seems to have a badass house. THON headlines their philanthropy efforts, which pulls in millions of dollars for a good cause every year. They don’t skimp on the social aspect either.
I’m told that their weekends are booked from Thursday thru Saturday. Saturday begins with a mixer with one of the fine sororities that Penn State has. A huge party ensues, typically thrown with another fraternity and the sorority they had a mixer with. Penn State Greek life also holds the infamous “daylongs” in the spring, where parties begin early in the morning and rage on into the nights. During the fall, a combination a five to ten fraternities throw huge tailgates before headed to Beaver Stadium to watch tradition-laden Nittany Lions. Great college town, even better Greek life.
3. Texas Tech University
Lubbock is a shithole. I’ll come right out and say it. It’s not a shithole if you’re in Greek life because it’s a good college town and Greeks run it. If you’ve ever been on Broadway, then you know exactly what I’m talking about. If you haven’t, hit up Chimys and take down a few margaritas and chat up a few Zetas or Pi Phis. Tech has a huge Greek presence, and most of the houses reflect that with chapters of 100+ — at least most of the ones on Greek Circle 1 or 2.
Some of the houses are really nice, and I’ve heard that every house on Greek Circle is getting some sort of renovation — with some of their wealthy oil donors. The girls, however, do not need any renovation as they are full of babes. Before the Administration dicked Greek life over in regards to Raidergate, the Greek tailgates were a must on fall Saturdays. They still are, just they don’t associate with Raidergate. Make sure to bring your tortillas to the game.
2. University Of Alabama
A trip to Tuscaloosa is like visiting a Greek oasis. You’ll never have a bad time hanging out with these motherfuckers. Twenty-nine IFC fraternities and 18 Panhellenic sororities. They come from all over too, Texas, Georgia, Virginia, Alabama, Mississippi, etc., so you get a good mix of cultures and women.
Their gaudy houses match their gaudy lifestyles. Since 2005, twelve existing fraternity houses have been renovated or constructed. In fact, my boy Danny Regs had the opportunity to chat with Chancellor Witt during a visit. Witt went on to tell him that he wanted kids to come to Alabama for their Greek life. Having the support from your University’s Chancellor means that your Greek life is one of the best in the nation.
1. Ole Miss
Ole Miss is the cream of the crop, the school your school wants to be when it comes to Greek life. Being a part of the Ole Miss Greek community gives you an identity on campus, and because of this, the Greek community is very close and they are able to pull together on many issues. This creates a very strong voice on campus. In addition to this, they all contribute greatly to philanthropies, upward of $40,000 per house.
Large plantation-style houses, The Grove, the Ole Miss belles, and the overall party scene puts Ole Miss over the top and into the number one spot. I’ll admit that I went back and forth between Bama and Ole Miss during multiple versions of this article. In the end, I couldn’t let Bama fans win because we’d never hear the end of it, and I just can’t have that sort of responsibility weighing on my conscience..
College of Charleston as an honorable mention? Unquestionably bottom of the barrel in terms of D1 southern public school Greek life. Taking nothing away from Charleston as a city, but CofC Greek life is a joke compared to the company you put them in.
10 years ago at 2:06 pmI think in terms of private schools they are definitely one of the best (though, then you would be comparing them against Greek life at Harvard, Yale, and other private schools)
10 years ago at 2:23 pmCollege of Charleston isn’t private dipshit
10 years ago at 3:19 pmWell, I’ve gone the past 5 years thinking it was a private college and you just had to go and ruin it… I’m retarded.
10 years ago at 3:30 pmWhy isn’t University of Phoenix on this list?
10 years ago at 2:11 pmTits or GTFO
10 years ago at 12:07 amFuck off, Paige.
10 years ago at 12:17 amUniversity of Wisconsin has 55 Greek houses and is one of the biggest party schools in the country. Maybe an honorable mention?
10 years ago at 6:19 pmAs a Wisconsin Sig Chi, I’ll be the first to admit our Greek life consists of ourselves, maybe 5 or 6 other houses and then like 5 sororities. Yea, as a whole we party hard, but I can honestly say I learn of a new chapter we have every week or two, the amount of irrelevance most of Wisconsin’s Greek houses carry is astonishing. The good Greek life here is definitely a bubble, but it’s a damn fine little bubble to be in. I’m gunna guess you’re a tke?
10 years ago at 10:55 amUniversity of Florida didn’t even get an honorable mention……..let alone a single Florida school?? Bold move TFM.
10 years ago at 2:13 pmI’m going to lap this comment because Florida is shit other than like 4 of its 900 beaches.
10 years ago at 3:40 pmGoing to give this article the ole fonzie thumbs-up for leaving out all Florida schools.
I’m gonna give you the ole thumbs down for whatever the fuck you said
10 years ago at 3:49 pmThat’s funny because this article has nothing to do with geography of Florida. This is simply about the best schools for Greek life. It’s apparent that you’re too stupid to comprehend that.
10 years ago at 5:38 pmFlorida has nothing but beach boys and kids that act like they are from jersey shore
10 years ago at 3:48 pmUF kids try way too hard to be put on this. They came up on a road trip and I felt secondhand embarrassment
10 years ago at 4:16 pmChicanerous and deplorable.
10 years ago at 4:19 amNot even an honorable mention for Illinois? 19 to get into bars, most houses easy walking distance from green st, enormous Greek population, and minimal school oversight? The east and west of campus is even segregated for the most part to gdis and frats. Get your CoC out of here.
10 years ago at 2:15 pmNot to mention the largest Greek system by membership (HuffPo or some such nonsense tried to give that title to Alabama last fall, but their total membership number was still significantly lower than U of I’s.
10 years ago at 2:41 pmThe University of Illinois office of Dean of Students website lists that there are a little over 7,300 undergraduates involved in greek life. The University of Alabama has a little over 9,500. Sorry about not being the biggest but nice try.
10 years ago at 9:04 amcofc nf
10 years ago at 11:37 pmAs a Greek at cofc I agree our school shouldn’t of made honorable mention. But the fact that were are even mentioned shows that not all liberal art schools completely suck.
10 years ago at 5:04 pmWhy the fuck didn’t DeVry make the list, you low-tier state schooler?
10 years ago at 2:15 pmAs someone who was raised in Georgia and moved to LA after junior year, I can say that USC does not deserve to be that high up. Baton Rouge, hell, even fucking Georgia tech, is a much more enjoyable and correctly “Greek” experience. USC chapters have some money, but a decent chapter should have money; that isn’t a unique thing. And I don’t consider Californian “brahhhs” to be a true reflection on traditional Greek life.
TL;DR – a Californian attitude ruins USC. Lap me, west coast pansies.
10 years ago at 2:19 pmI agree. Most of them are just guidos wearing Greek letters, or in many cases, tattoo’d Greek letters.
10 years ago at 2:25 pmHey man fuck you. I have my letters tattooed on my body. So what? You know you’d do it too if you weren’t such a fucking pussy.
10 years ago at 5:19 amWait, now I get it, Boulevard. You just put USC up there so you could name drop the broad and try to get some pussy out of it. You sly bastard.
10 years ago at 2:52 pmTo be fair, she is currently #1 in the wife-material power rankings. She went beyond the privilege of being IBOTD and got her own personal column written about her. That’s pretty powerful. It’s hard to blame the guy.
10 years ago at 4:13 pmOh wait, Boulevard wrote the column. Well, maybe he is a little obsessed. Whatever, her ranking is still warranted.
10 years ago at 4:37 pmNot disagreeing, but to jeopardize the integrity of a list to pander? Nah man, that ain’t right.
10 years ago at 4:38 pmBro, jeopardizing integrity to get laid is a TFM or so people on this website would think
10 years ago at 5:12 pmSFPL makes better lists than this.
10 years ago at 2:20 pmDon’t say that he’ll think about coming back
10 years ago at 2:25 pmI was hoping he’d respond so I could make fun of his hair and/or weight.
10 years ago at 9:11 amNah it’s rare to get a #JabbaSighting these days
10 years ago at 11:36 amMaybe if I say his name 3 times he’ll appear.
SFPLtheHut SFPLtheHut SFPLtheHut
10 years ago at 11:41 amMeanwhile in Las Vegas..,
10 years ago at 2:20 pmWhat the hell are you babbling about, you idiot?
10 years ago at 3:07 pmWhen talking about UGA Greek life, I think mentioning the football team going down milledge is completely irrelevant. If the football players wanted to be “frat” they would join a fraternity like they used to back in the day.
10 years ago at 2:28 pmScholarship players aren’t permitted to. Team rules.
10 years ago at 2:46 pmI know but plenty of non-scholarship players should still do it, if its allowed, and if not then those with influence should still try to bypass the rule. A lot of the greatest UGA alums were both Greek and played sports. But I guess thats a bygone era. Knowing plenty of older alumni in my fraternity, I’ve seen the impact and importance of people who played sports while belonging to a fraternity.
10 years ago at 3:38 pmI agree. However I think the bigger issue is that football used to be less…dark
10 years ago at 5:17 pmIt’s obvious that Greek life in the SEC is truly unmatchable. Surprised that Tennessee didn’t even get honorable mention. I’ve spent a week in Knoxville, all around great time with a solid Greek life. Very comparable to Athens and UGA
10 years ago at 2:43 pmDowntown Athens is where Georgia leave Tennessee in the dust
10 years ago at 2:46 pmI think Oklahoma and Texas just need to join the SEC and get it over with already
10 years ago at 3:42 pmYou shut your mouth
10 years ago at 3:52 pmno bid.
10 years ago at 11:38 pmKnoxville isn’t on the same level as Athens
10 years ago at 9:56 am