Fraternity and Sorority contributions

I think that if town and gown issues are discussed in any length, fraternity and sorority involvement must also be examined. A major part of each greek society, at least at the University of Georgia, is philanthropy contributions. Philanthropies are a very important part of the greek society and many pride themselves on how much they give back to the society through their fundraisers and philanthropic contributions. Organizations such as ugaMiracle and Heros are run primarily by Greek societies and raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for these causes. ugaMiracle is the philanthropy for Phi Mu, a sorority at the University of Georgia, and has expanded to become a campus wide organization to benefit Children's Healthcare of Atlanta.

Each sorority and fraternity has its own philanthropy they sponsor and donate generously through out the year to their specific cause. 23 percent of the students at UGA are members of a greek society. The Greek Society even has a Greek Life office at the university to handle all greek issues, events, and encourage positive influence from its members.

Even though in many cases the greek society strives to be positive influences within the campus and community, they also are known for hazing, excessive drinking, and parties that often have very negative impacts on the community.

Despite the negative sides to the greek societies, philanthropically speaking, they do help contribute a great deal of money and support to good causes.