Welcome



On behalf of our students, alumni, and organizations, we bid you welcome to the home of Greek Life at Southern Miss. In this welcome, we hope to address our community from three very important perspectives:  Why, How, and What.  After we elaborate on those very important facets, we hope you will have a greater understanding of the role and influence Greek Life can have on an individual.  We believe in being involved as a collegian.  We also believe that Greek Life offers the premiere way to do that at USM!

 

WHY?  . : Why do we exist? : .

Like the bullseye of a target, the core of our purpose is to take young men and women and make them better citizens, students, friends, and successful graduates.  We seek to provide a distinguished experience among our peers and believe that you should care because Greek Life enriches the college experience by making it fun and meaningful while adding value to Southern Miss through service, leadership, and academic performance.  We are but one way to become involved at Southern Miss, and we believe one of the best ways.

 

HOW?  . : How do we do this? : .

We challenge the status quo and pursue excellence and distinction in all we set out to accomplish. This work is hard, but a code of values exists to help to make this a little easier.   As chapters, our purposes were written down years ago. These ceremonies remind our members what it means to live a higher standard than the average college student.  Similarly, the Office of Greek Life has a road map in our strategic plan and various programs. Most of what we do as an office and chapters attempts to connect personal values with leadership development.

 

WHAT?  . : What exactly do we do? : .

Change is an inherent part of our culture, and we balance that change with a reverence for tradition and ceremony. There are numerous things we engage in:  programming, training, social, friendship, and friendly competition, that serve to remind us of what it means to live a higher standard.   When our WHY and HOW are in harmony, you can expect the following things from membership:


  • An awareness of values and how those align in society to affect the world
  • An ability to demonstrate working with diverse people
  • A positive affect on intellectual development and personal learning
  • A network of person and professional relationships rooted in meaningful connections and support
  • Leadership skills to invoke action and elevate communities
  • An inclination to serve within the community and financially support charities
  • An appreciation for difference through diverse interactions and relationships
  • Healthier living environments were positive choices are made relative to mental and physical health
  • Loyal and committed alumni to Southern Miss and their Greek-letter organizations
  • A sense of continued responsibility after graduation

 
Who wouldn't want to be a part of something like this?  

 

Before you go any further, take a second to familiarize yourself with our 'jargon' . . .

  • CPC is the College Panhellenic Council.  You may also hear it called "Panhel" or "Panhellenic".  It is the collection of women's sororities who partipate in "formal recruitment."  All of these groups are members of the NPC, or National Panhellenic Conference.

 

  • IFC is the Interfraternity Council.  It is the collection of men's fraternities who participate in "rush." All of these groups belong either to the NIC (North American Interfraternity Conference) or the FLA (Fraternal Leadership Association).

 

  • NPHC is the National Pan-Hellenic Council.  It is the collection of historically African-American fraternities & sororities who participate in "membership intake."  All of these groups belong to the NPHC, Inc., and are collectively referred to as the "Divine 9".

 

Now that you know that - You can take the following next steps . . .

  1. Visit the pages on this site.  We pride ourselves in habving a lot of information that we believe is organized rather intuitively.
  2. Visit individual chapter pages.  These are all maintained by the students and not the University.  We are not responsible for the accuracy of information or content contained on these pages.
  3. Connect with us socailly!  We have a Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest page.
  4. Register for recruitment!  Take the next steps today!