Seahawk Retreat
With students returning to campus this month, many first-year students are experiencing life on a college campus for the first time.
With that comes a slew of new people, experiences, and challenges that make one’s time in college so memorable. This includes exploring Greek life and involvement in a fraternity or sorority for many new students.
Greek life is new to many incoming first-year students and a source of anxiety for students trying to find their way through college. To help understand the sororities’ role in campus life at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, here’s a rundown on some common questions we hear from UNC Wilmington students.
Around 10% of undergraduates at UNC Wilmington participate in Greek life during their time in college.
These figures are based on the most recent statistics available from the Fall 2021 enrollment numbers and Spring 2020 Greek membership numbers, which showed 1,484 students in fraternities and sororities out of an undergraduate enrollment of 14,488.
Sororities among Greek chapters on campus tend to be more popular than fraternities. Sororities within the Panhellenic Council totaled more than 840 members, while fraternity members in the Interfraternity Council numbered around 550. Sororities at UNC Wilmington have an average of 77 members and accept an average of 22 members each fall.
There are many benefits to joining a sorority at UNC Wilmington.
Since sororities are primarily social organizations, the first significant benefit is friendship and opportunities to meet other students with similar interests and backgrounds. Many Greek students find that the friendships they make in their sorority last long past their time at UNC Wilmington.
Another significant benefit is academic success. Students who participate in a sorority tend to do better academically than those not in a Greek organization. This is because many chapters have grade point average requirements to join and maintain membership, encouraging members to stay focused on their academics and time in the sorority. This has the added benefit of developing leadership skills since members balance chapter work outside their classroom to supplement their studies.
The primary benefit of joining a sorority is getting involved in community service projects with your chapter. Greek chapters at UNC Wilmington have recorded over 25,000 hours of service and more than $332,000 in donations raised in support of their chapter, university, and the local community.
Greek chapters at UNC Wilmington have recorded over 25,000 hours of service and more than $332,000 in donations raised in support of their chapter, university, and the local community.
There are 15 sororities and women’s fraternities at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.
These include a mix of traditional Greek sororities and cultural organizations specific to different racial, ethnic, and social groups. At the University of North Carolina Wilmington, the traditional Greek sororities are governed by the Panhellenic Council. The 11 sororities within the Panhellenic Council are:
In addition to the Panhellenic Council, there are also sororities governed by the National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC), a national organization that manages historically black sororities and fraternities. There are an additional three sororities governed by the NPHC, which are:
The other governing councils for Greek life on-campus at UNC Wilmington are the Interfraternity Council (IFC), which governs most fraternities, and the United Greek Council, which regulates culturally-based and religious fraternities. The members of the United Greek Council are:
Sorority rush, also known as recruitment, is managed by the governing councils of the sororities.
The Panhellenic Council hosts recruitment once a year in the fall. The process begins with online registration to express interest in joining one of the 11 chapters within the Panhellenic Council while ensuring the interested student meets the grade point average and credit hour requirement to join a sorority.
Following registration, prospective members attend a Q&A night for information about sorority life at UNC Wilmington, followed by an orientation. There are then reserves of four rounds – Academic Round, Philanthropy Round, Sisterhood Round, and Preference Round, whereby prospective members visit each sorority and begin narrowing down their selections. The recruitment process ends with Bid Day when future members are offered a bid to join a sorority.
This process varies for other councils, some of which offer a spring recruitment period in addition to the primary recruitment period in the fall.
Students who join a sorority at UNC Wilmington can expect to pay at least a couple hundred each semester for their chapter.
New members tend to pay higher fees than active members since there are added costs for joining a sorority for the first time.
Many UNC Wilmington students find the cost of joining a sorority to be a major consideration when deciding whether or not to pursue Greek life. Prices vary by each chapter, but members can expect to pay the following expenses:
In addition to these dues and fees, many students also have additional costs for social events hosted by their sorority throughout the year.
Seahawk Retreat offers five different floor plans to accommodate your needs and budget. Furnished and unfurnished options are available.
No, sororities at the University of North Carolina Wilmington do not have their own chapter houses on campus. Some designated on-campus housing options specifically for sororities are members of the Panhellenic Council. The University Suites on-campus housing reserves 9 of its 11 pods for sorority members of a Panhellenic chapter. These pods accommodate ten students in a shared suite, providing housing for 90 sorority members within the on-campus housing community.
To supplement these housing options, many sorority members rent off-campus apartments or homes to live with other members of their chapter. These houses and apartments offer additional opportunities for chapter members to live with one another during their time in college, even though they are not designated as chapter residences by UNC Wilmington or the sorority’s national chapter.
For Greek and non-Greek students looking for off-campus housing that provides convenient access to campus and an array of housing options, there’s no better choice than Seahawk Retreat.
Seahawk Retreat offers one, two, and three-bedroom apartments in a community full of amenities. Apartment homes with furnished options are the perfect selection for friends looking to live together in a community close to the UNC Wilmington campus. The community offers residents two outdoor pools, a 24-hour fitness center, study rooms, a resident lounge, a dog park, and onsite management & maintenance team. For availability, roommate matching, and pricing information, contact the team at Seahawk Retreat today at (910) 756-3642📞!
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