I’m from the south and at many of the universities in my state there are spirit groups which are very similar to sororities in that they have social and philanthropic components, and are competitive to get into. I was wondering if there were spirit groups at uw that I could join in lieu of a sorority.
I have not heard of ‘spirit groups’ but there are countless student organizations that you can join which indeed have social and philanthropic components. Be sure to attend the Student Org Fair at the Kohl Center on September 8th and 9th from 5pm to 8pm. See the link below for a video on 'How to Attend the Student Organization Fair"
https://win.wisc.edu/organizations
Click on this link to the Wisconsin Involvement Network (WIN) to browse through UW-Madison’s registered student organization (RSO) listing.
This does include the social fraternities and sororities. On the directory page, you can click on the ‘categories’ link on the left to further define your search (categories include Academic/Professional, Arts Media Music, Cultural Ethnic, International, Living Community, Political Environmental Advocacy, Religious, Service, Social Fraternity/Sorority, University Student Governance.