Dawn Wiese, Ph.D.
I spent many years working on college campuses with my final role as a vice president of student affairs at a campus with a majority of students participating in Greek Life. While considered a “Greek friendly” vice president, the conversations one often hears on campuses, “The school is trying to get rid of Greek Life,” continued to swirl on my campus. When advocating for the Greek experience, the one talking point I would hear again and again from Greek alumni and students was, “Greeks give back more to their college than all other graduates.” While true, I often replied, “To help you advocate for the experience, I need more data. Those who may call for the extinction of Greek Life simply don’t care that these graduates give more.”
Following a multi-year, interfraternal effort to provide fine-tuned research questions and partnerships with well-known higher education researchers, fraternities are now armed with a war chest of valuable data that supports the fraternal experience. So, whether you’re on a campus that invests heavily in the Greek experience or a school where you feel like Greek life is under attack, knowing the data behind the experience is critical so, if called to advocate, you know what to say.
I made an elevator pitch for myself that I can turn to whenever needed. If you’re unfamiliar with an elevator pitch, it’s simply a concise summary of points you want to quickly make about a subject. So, here’s my Greek Life elevator pitch – all grounded in data. Take it, use it!
When compared with non-affiliated men, fraternity men are:
– More likely to be retained (Pike & Wiese, 2024)
– More likely to graduate (Pike & Wiese, 2024)
– More likely to be engaged inside and outside the classroom (Pike & Wiese, 2024)
– More likely to have had an internship (Pike & Wiese, 2024)
– More likely to have had an advisor who has served as a key mentor (Pike & Wiese, 2024)
– More likely to be engaged in their communities when they graduate (Gallup, 2021))
– More likely to give back in both time and treasure to their alma maters (Gallup, 2021))
– Less likely to experience depression or anxiety (Grace, Assalone, et al, 2022)
– Less likely to demonstrate hypermasculine beliefs (Corprew & Mitchell, 2014)
And,
– More likely to intervene in bystander intervention in the following areas(Grace, Wiese, et al, 2024):
* A friend/peer was behaving in an unsafe manner
* A friend/peer was violating campus policy
* A friend/peer was breaking the law
* A friend/peer was engaging in hazing behaviors
* Related to a friend/peer’s health and safety
* Related to a friend/peer’s use of alcohol or other substances
* Related to a friend/peer’s professional goals
* Related to a friend/peer’s academics
* Related to a friend/peer’s dating or romantic relationships
* Related to a friend/peer’s sexual relationships
All of us involved in the fraternal experience KNOW fraternity does so much for young men, and for the men who support the experience after graduation. Arm yourselves with these talking points for the next time you have an opportunity to advocate for the experience!
Works Cited
Corprew, C. S. III, & Mitchell, A. D. (2014). “Keeping it frat: Exploring the interaction among fraternity membership, disinhibition, and hypermasculinity on sexually aggressive attitudes in college-aged males.” Journal of College Student Development, 55(6),
Gallup. (2021). Fraternities and Sororities: Understanding Life Outcomes. At: Fraternities and Sororities: Understanding Life Outcomes | Gallup
Grace, M., Assalone, A., Johnson, H., Svoboda, B. and Biddix, J. P. (October 2022). “The Role of Fraternity/Sorority Affiliation in Supporting College Student Mental Health and Wellness.” Journal of Fraternity and Sorority Research and Practice.
Grace, M., Wiese, D., and Foran, W. (Summer 2024) “Perspectives and Practices of Peer Accountability Among College Men.” Journal of Campus Activities and Practice.
Knox, L. (December 11, 2024). “A long way down the demographic cliff.” Inside Higher Education.
Pike, G. and Wiese, D. (2024). “The Fraternity/Sorority Experience Revisited: The Relationships between Fraternity/Sorority Membership and Student Engagement, Learning Outcomes Grades, and Satisfaction with College.”Journal of Campus Activities Practice and Scholarship, v6 (1).
Author Bio:
Dr. Dawn Wiese is a researcher, strategist, and writer. Wiese currently serves as Chief Operating Officer, FRMT, Ltd., an insurer for men’s fraternities, advises the fraternal industry on its research agenda, and teaches in the department of economics and business at Virginia Military Institute. She authored the piece “Fraternities are a cure for what ails higher education,” (Wall Street Journal, May 9, 2024) which went viral after fraternity men worked to protect the US flag at UNC-Chapel Hill during campus protests. Wiese is married to KA’s executive director, Larry Stanton Wiese.
