By Karl McCreary
Title: Greek Life Office Records, 1918-2015
Predominant Dates: 1988-2015
ID: RG 223
Primary Creator: Oregon State University. Office of Greek Life
Extent: 10.5 cubic feet. More info below.
Arrangement: The Greek Life Office Records consists of 15 series: 1. Correspondence, 1949-2013; 2. Reports, 1961-2011; 3. Committees, 1954-2011; 4. Chapter Files, 1918-2015; 5. Statistics, 1924-2009; 6. Newspaper Clippings, 1970-2015; 7. Handbooks, 1968-2011; 8. Publications, 1971-2015; 9.Surveys, 1970-2009 ; 10. Speeches and Presentations, 2000-2015; 11. Event Registration Lists, 1999-2007; 12. Subject Files, 1968-2011; 13. Photographs, 1945-2013; 14. Artifacts, 1976-1985; and 15. Judicial Sanction Files, 1996-2008.
Languages of Materials: English [eng]
The Greek Life Office Records document the administration of this office, which regulates and provides support services to the fraternity and sorority community at Oregon State University. These materials were primarily generated by the Greek Life Office and reflect administrative activities such as the development of training workshops/classes, the compilation of membership statistics, collaboration with law enforcement agencies in educational programming, and the evaluation of annual rush activities. The Greek Life Office was established in 1998.
Access to the Judicial Sanction Files in Series 15 is restricted due to the presence of confidential information. For more information about access to restricted materials, please see our Guide to the Special Collections and Archives Research Center. Reference access to the born-digital materials in this collection is available upon request.
The Greek Life Office Records document the administration of this office, which regulates and provides support services to fraternity and sorority chapters at Oregon State University. These records were generated and assembled by the Greek Life office and include: annual review forms, articles of incorporation, artifacts, brochures, bylaws, constitutions, correspondence, digital files, handbooks, meeting minutes, newsletters, newspaper clippings, photographs, reports, statistics, and survey materials.
These records primarily reflect administrative activities by the Greek Life Office that document interaction with chapter leadership, compilation of Greek membership statistics, the evaluation of annual rush activities, the development of training workshops/classes, collaboration with law enforcement in educational programming, policy clarification, response to student conduct issues, and the survey of students regarding their perceptions of the Greek community.
Materials relating to particular Oregon State University fraternity and sorority chapters can be found in Series 4, which is made up of a combination of annual review forms, articles of incorporation, bylaws, colonization proposals, constitutions, correspondence, flyers, newsletters, newspaper clippings, and policy reports.
Activities organized by the Greek community are reflected in event registration lists, newspaper clippings, photographs, and chapter files.
Born digital materials in this collection are in a variety of formats: Word documents, Excel Spreadsheets, and PowerPoint presentations. Reference access is available upon patron request.
The beginnings of Greek letter social organizations at Oregon State University date back to the formation of the Gamma Delta Phi fraternity in 1905. This group was organized at a local level as more of a club than a recognized chapter and soon inspired the establishment of other local greek letter organizations such as Kappa Sigma Nu (1906), Phi Delta Sigma (1914), and Gamma Upsilon (1913). In 1915, two fraternities, Alpha Chi Omega and Sigma Alpha Epsilon, became the first at Oregon State Univerity to receive official recognition as chapters of national fraternal organizations. After these chapters set the groundwork for establishing a Greek presence at Oregon State University, the fraternity and sorority community grew rapidly. This growth is reflected in the 1925 Beaver Yearbook which lists 50 established Greek chapters (34 fraternities and 16 sororities) on campus that year.
The Panhellenic and Interfraternity Councils were established in 1917 and 1927, respectively, to serve as the student governing bodies of the Oregon State University Greek community. All sororities and fraternities have representation on the councils, which have the authority to offer direct recommendations to the university and regulate areas not covered by institutional policies.
Membership in the Greek community at Oregon State University has fluctuated over time owing to a number of factors. Chief among them has been the competition posed by the post-World War II growth in campus residence halls and a changing college culture emergent in the 1960s activist movements.
Until 1970, university administration of the Oregon State University Greek community resided in the hands of the Dean of Women and the Dean of Men. With the closure of these gender based student administrative offices, Oregon State University placed the management of fraternities and sororities under a single office, the Assistant Dean of Students. In 1998, an administrative reorganization that eliminated the Assistant Dean of Students position resulted in the establishment of a new office, the Greek Life Office. With the formation of this office, Oregon State University for the first time had an administrator devoted solely to the management of the Greek community. The Greek Life Office, in turn, served as one of the six "functional areas" managed by the Office of Student Leadership and Involvement. In 2015, the office was renamed the Center for Fraternity and Sorority Life.
Greek Life Coordinators have been Clay Torset (1998-2000), Robert Kerr (2000-2015), and Leslie Schacht-Drey (2015-present).
More Extent Information: 103 photographic prints; 11 boxes, including 1 oversize. 3.13 Gbytes and 711 files.
Statement on Access: Access to Judicial Sanction Files in Series 15 is restricted due to the presence of confidential information. All other materials in this collection are open for research. For more information about access to restricted materials, please see our Guide to the Special Collections and Archives Research Center.
Acquisition Note: These materials were transferred to the Special Collections and Archives Research Center between 2004 and 2017.
Related Materials:
Other collections documenting the administration of the Greek community at OSU prior to the formation of the Greek Life Office in 1998 include: the Dean of Women Records (RG 57), the Dean of Men Records (RG 134), and the Dean of Students Office Records (RG 285). Documentation of the Greek Life Office can also be found in the collection of its administrative parent, the Office of Student Leadership and Involvement Records (RG 232).
Records of the student management of Greek life through the governing bodies of the Interfraternity Council and the Panhellenic Council also represented in the collections of SCARC.
Images of Greek activity and chapter houses are featured in a number of photographic collections including: Harriet's Photographic Collection, the Fraternities and Sororities Photograph Collection (P 034), the Gamma Phi Beta Sorority Photograph Collection (P 277), Smith-Western Company Photographs of OSC (P 164), and the Gwil Evans Photograph Collection (P 082).
Film and video footage of two Greek events at OSU are available streaming online, these are the 1999 performance of the annual Interfraternity Council (IFC) Sing concert and a feature about the 1963 sorority rush.
Preferred Citation: Greek Life Office Records (RG 223), Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.
Processing Information: As a result of full physical processing, the volume of this collection has been reduced by 1.5 cubic feet.
Oregon State University. Office of Greek Life
College students--Alcohol use--Oregon--Corvallis.
College students--Oregon--Corvallis--Social life and customs.
College students--Oregon--Corvallis.
Greek letter societies--Oregon--Corvallis.
Minority college students--Oregon--Corvallis.
Oregon State University--Student housing.
Oregon State University--Students.
Oregon State University. Office of Greek Life
Student activities--Oregon--Corvallis.
University History
Born digital.
Photographic prints.
Posters.