On Monday night, Florida Atlantic’s Grand Palm Room was filled with sorority girls dressed in the colors of their organizations, men with snapbacks and witty shirts playing on their brotherhood’s title, and enough Greek letters to translate “The Odyssey” in its original text.

Around 6 p.m., Grillin’ with the Greeks, a meet and greet event for students to get acquainted with FAU’s Greek organizations, began.

Never being too knowledgeable of college Greek life and the nuances of each organization, much less on the letters of a dead language, I decided this was a great opportunity to find out for myself what each chapter had to offer.

Time was short though, with 14 organizations present and only two hours to meet them all. I decided to judge them based on what their representatives would tell me and made it a point that if no representative spoke to me, I would move on to the next.

By the end of the event, I came to the conclusion that the Greek organizations were all very friendly, many had a mysterious vibe on how they presented themselves and sadly, a few seemed too occupied to approach a curious stranger.

LAMBDA THETA ALPHA

Moving clockwise and starting with the leftmost table, the Lambda Theta Alpha sorority was first. There was an album on the table filled with pictures of women enjoying each other’s company in social gatherings and what appeared to be volunteer events with children.

There were some seashells on the table and a couple of glass slippers. The symbolism of the objects was left to interpretation. Maybe the glass slippers symbolize femininity and the seashells are a reminder of the chapter’s beach locale.

Flipping to the first page of the album, it read in bold letters that it was a Latin Sorority. Lambda Theta Alpha appears to be a fun sorority with lots of smiling faces and warm embraces in the album. The organization seems to be based on community service – up to anyone’s guess since no one approached me.

SIGMA LAMBDA GAMMA

After snooping around for a minute, a representative of Sigma Lambda Gamma approached me.

Established in 2013, this organization is new on campus and has apparently won Chapter of the Year for two years running. They are a multicultural society and have a really calm demeanor to them, but simultaneously appear to strive for their members to be leaders of the community. They’re friendly, but firm.

This sorority also has a great color scheme, pink colors with bright purple work really well with each other and the sisters wore them well. I’m not sure if a man can join a sorority, but if I could be a part of their organization I would.

DELTA SIGMA THETA

Looking around the Delta Sigma Theta table there is a lot of bright red to catch your eye, along with a trophy as tall as a 5-year old which reads “19th Annual Sunshine State Classic Step Show” in which they won first place.

A representative came up to me and began to tell me how Delta Sigma Theta is a predominantly black sorority but anyone can join, the sorority focuses on community service.

The sisters have a really casual attitude. One was eating Cheetos while she mentioned the clubs history and asked me to leave my information, which I gladly did. As one of the representatives continued telling me about the step shows they took part in, a man who was about 6 foot 5 snuck up behind her and covered her eyes and they playfully began to talk. They seemed occupied, so I moved on.

PI ETA DELTA

The Pi Eta Delta table was really well-done with pictures on a poster board of sisters lined up with strong purple and blue color patterns.

“You trying to join a sorority,” asked a representative. “I’m not sure, maybe, what are you guys about?” I asked.

The sorority is based on education, she mentioned they are the only sorority with canes and they also like to dance. This sorority seems like a lot of fun and could aid me in the future.

There was a quote on the table: “10 pearls 2 rubies.” The representative said she couldn’t divulge on the meaning. This seemed to be a running theme for Greek organizations — a lot of symbols and phrases expressed aloud — but their meaning is only known to members of the organization.

This sorority seemed pretty intense and focused on academia.

KAPPA ALPHA PSI

Next, there was a table with a tall trophy displaying a winged woman with her back towards me as she reached for the sky. On the base of the trophy there was a small painting of the Playboy bunny with the word “yo” on the top left corner.

As I was trying to make sense of the symbolic meaning of this construct, a gentleman with a red and white striped cane approached me. He mentioned that the Kappa’s are a fraternity that focuses on the “achievement in every field of human endeavor” and that they focus on social welfare. Fraternities seem to hold their motto’s dearly, as he was vehement about me writing down in my notepad “achievement in every field of human endeavor.”

Overall, Kappa Alpha Psi seems like a very professional fraternity, but the Playboy bunny threw me off a bit.

THETA PHI ALPHA

Theta Phi Alpha had the most aesthetically pleasing table in the entire event. The poster board was filled with pictures of sisters doing incredible things like rock climbing, drawing Greek letters on the beach and helping the needy.

The table was bejeweled and complemented with pastel colors. Everything was really shiny and colorful, akin to stepping on a winter castle where a queen made of diamonds welcomed you to her buffet of beautiful desserts. There were also a couple of penguin plush toys, I think it was their mascot but I’m not sure if Greek organizations have mascots.

This sorority seems like a lot of fun to be around but no one approached me so I moved on.

PHI MU

Looking at Phi Mu’s table there were a lot of really nice combinations of rose and white around their Greek letters.

I was greeted by a smiling representative who asked me if I was looking to join. Then another sister asked me what I was doing. She was joined by yet another who introduced herself and asked what I was looking for in a Greek organization. Pretty soon, I was surrounded by a huddle of women wearing rose and white colors.

The sisters at Phi Mu were incredibly friendly and witty, with one mentioning that they’re the 2nd oldest sorority in America, but that they “still look good for being so old.”

Phi Mu is about love, honor, truth and being there for one another. I was even introduced to an honorary male member of the sorority. The sisters were very accommodating and amicable, but not overbearing and genuinely appeared to care about my curiosity for the Greek life.

If I had to pick a sorority to join, or be an honorary member, it would be Phi Mu.

ALPHA TAU OMEGA

This fraternity appeared to be the most nerdy.

They wore nice blue and gold colors and had a lot of clear awards on their table, three being for recruitment. One can see how they earned them. I spoke to the brothers and they were very cordial. Their end goal is to create leaders of the world with high GPAs – they made sure I knew they had the highest GPAs on campus.

This fraternity seems like a good place to be if I want to focus on my studies.

ALPHA PSI LAMBDA

The Alpha Psi Lambda fraternity had lots of pictures on their table with brothers and sisters having fun in social gatherings and some Greek paddles.

The paddles were a bit intimidating, but I suppose they’re part of the Greek æsthetic. The representative told me they were a Latin co-ed fraternity which seems like a lot of fun.

Their representative was extremely open minded, telling me that I should definitely look at other fraternities and that Greek life is all about finding who you fit in with. They appeared to be a social organization and a very casual one.

As far as fraternities go, this one took second place for me overall. Welcoming and not overbearing, they seem to have my well being as their ultimate goal, not necessarily my recruitment into their organization.

ALPHA DELTA PI

All the sisters in this sorority wore big smiles with blue shirts and white shorts. The uniform showcased unity and they seem to really be an organized club with an award for “Social and Personal Development, Global Citizenship & Engagement and Relationship Building.”.

The members seemed occupied, but just as I was about to leave a representative spoke to me and began to tell me about their philanthropic work with the Ronald McDonald House.

The sisters also made sure that I knew Alpha Delta Pi was the first sorority to be established in America. Alpha Delta Pi seemed like a nice organization and all of the sisters seemed to really share a bond.

SIGMA CHI

This fraternity’s table was very simple with a flag with a cross overlaying a blue and yellow background, two wooden greek letters were in the front.

A brother who was wearing a shirt that read “Sigma Chi,” but in style of the Budweiser logo started speaking to me about the organization. It seemed like a social/philanthropic  fraternity as they focused on friendship, justice and learning.

The brother speaking to me was being told what to say by another brother who was speaking in his ear, I found this slightly odd, but a lot of things about Greek life seem quirky. I assumed he was his mentor and was helping him represent the fraternity in a respectful manner.

He did a great job and made Sigma Chi seem like a cool place to join while possibly violating the copyright laws of beer companies.

DELTA TAU DELTA

The Delta table itself was very Greek in the stoic sense. With just a banner of a T in between two Deltas and a half-eaten bag of Cheetos, they seemed to encompass the belief that material possessions aren’t important.
I mentioned I was curious about fraternities and a brother told another to come talk to me about it. As he spoke, more joined and as I asked about their organization I was surrounded by Delts who were just as interested in telling me about their organization.
While they appeared to be the stereotypical fraternity — as they weren’t shy about their drinking and tailgating — they made sure to mention their philanthropic work including road clean-ups and Movember, which they raised $17,000 for last semester.

If fraternities are about developing a strong bond with others while contributing to society then Delta seems to be the best fraternity to join. The Delts were friendly, but not formally uptight and seemed to genuinely care about the individual while being proud of their collective group, they also were not shy about partying.

SIGMA PHI EPSILON

This fraternity boasted to have the highest GPA on campus, which seemed to conflict with the Alpha Tau Omegas who made the same claim. They also appeared to be a very socially aware organization as one of their representatives mentioned that they have raised over $15,000 for Big Brother, Big Sisters.

Seeing that the end of the event was nearing, the brothers seemed tired, or maybe shy, as they failed to mentioned much about the fraternity. One began to tell me of a get-together where they played paintball together. They’re a small fraternity but pride themselves on being close. It seems like a very easy going organization, but not outstanding.

PHI DELTA THETA

Last table in the event was the Phi Delta Thetas.

While looking over their table I saw plenty of awards and was told by a representative that they won Best Fraternity three years running. They’re apparently one of the biggest frats on campus with 90 active members. The brothers weren’t shy about sharing the fraternity’s history and the advantages of being a Phi Delta Theta.

They seemed to be a fraternity focused on leadership and make trips to Oxford, Ohio — the fraternity’s headquarters — where they meet with brothers around the country and network.

Apparently being a part of this organization has a lot of networking advantages. One of the brothers mentioned attending Ultra while wearing Phi Delta Theta glasses and being constantly stopped by brothers from other chapters. Another brother mentioned a similar event while on a cruise.

Nearing the end of our conversation, one Phi Delta Theta brother mentioned they were going to Hooters. Much like the Deltas this seems like a very casual fraternity to join while a good investment on life after college.