Greek Life at Lafayette!

Hi!! I was just wondering if anyone can tell me how significant greek life is at Lafayette. I am considering this college and was just wondering if it’s a big part of student life and if a lot of the students join thanks!!

About 30% of the total student body is involved with Greek life at Lafayette. Its more common that girls are in sororities than guys are in fraternities. One thing that is nice about greek life at lafayette is they have delayed recruitment, so you aren’t eligible until your sophomore year. This gives you some time to decide if its something youre interested in. There are six sororities and six fraternities to choose from. Lafayette is small enough that you will have some friends that are in sororities and fraternities and some friends that arent in either.

@beachgirl1019 Are you a student at Lafayette? If so, did you go (or planning to go) Greek?

Yes I am a student at Lafayette. I went through sorority recruitment and then dropped out during the process. I don’t drink and so I did not want to have to commit to more of a party culture lifestyle. I have been much happier with close friends who also aren’t interested in partying. I do have a number of really good friends though who have joined sororities, and they are still very studious, despite enjoying going out more frequently. To each his/her own, but Lafayette definitely gives you a choice of both.

thank u sm! im not a big party person either lol are you happy with lafayette overall? @beachgirl1019

@beachgirl1019 I am in a similar situation, I love Lafayette (I will be going to Accepted Students day on the 14th) and I like the option of joining a sorority but I don’t want to be forced too in order to have a social life. I am not a party person. Thanks for the feedback.

I am very happy with Lafayette overall! I have had tremendous opportunities and experiences as a student here that have been both enjoyable and have prepared me for post-grad life. I do want to make it clear that there are ways to have a party social life that is greek, a party social life that isnt greek, and a social life that isn’t related to parties at all.

My D is a recent Lafayette graduate (absolutely loved he school) and here are her comments about Greek Life.

–As a poster noted above, nobody can pledge for a sorority or fraternity until sophomore year. This has two major benefits. First, my D formed very strong friendships freshman year (through her dorm, classes, ECs) that she retained throughout her four years at Lafayette (regardless of if people went Greek or not). The second benefit is that by the time it comes to rush or not rush students have a reasonable sense of what (if any) fraternities/sororities might be a match for them.

–My D did not go to Lafayette intending to rush for a sorority. However, she ended up with a few friends from one of her ECs who were in a very low-key (not partiers) sorority. She did go through sophomore rush with the idea that if she did not get into the one sorority she targeted that she would drop out of the process and happily things worked out as she hoped. The sorority did not dominate her social life at Lafayette – she seemed to spend a great deal of weekends with freshman year friends, friends from her ECs, friends from a living-learning community she was in etc.

–Students are absolutely able to have an active social life with or without going Greek at Lafayette. And as @beachgirl1019 noted above people can find all different types of social outlets.

@Happy1 & @beachgirl1019 Thank you so much for the feedback. It is very reassuring to hear from people connected to Lafayette who have direct experience with the school. Lafayette appears to be a perfect fit both academically and social. Can’t wait to visit in April

thank you so much @beachgirl1019 and @happy1 such great advice! @Jaspers I visited Lafayette today and everyone was super nice and the campus looks so pretty and the new science center also looks great!!

@samiam1 I visited today. Spoke to a bunch of students randomly throughout campus and it was great to see how passionate everyone is about Lafayette . They also broke ground last month for a new dorm that will have a diner. I think the bookstore is relocating to the new building. It’s supposed to open in the Spring of 2021. The school is definitely on the rise - beautiful campus, happy students and top flight facilities. Very excited about Lafayette!!