Senior Andrew Thompson ’18, who is a brother in Delta Tau Delta and the chapter’s Director of Recruitment, believes a lot of students go to college with negative perceptions of what Greek life is about.

He’s one of several people working to change that.

Social media campaigns showcasing the real side of Butler’s Greek Life have caught on over the course of the last year, tackling the negative stigmas associated with fraternity and sorority life.

“Social media is an easy medium to get a glimpse into what Greek life is all about,” Thompson said. “Our campaigns can provide a window into what the chapter looks like to those who are on the outside.”

Thompson’s campaign, #DeltOfTheWeek, showcases individuals within the chapter each week doing amazing things like studying abroad or working at an internship. Similar campaigns include Sigma Nu’s #SNUOfTheWeek, Phi Delta Theta’s #PhidayFriday, and Beta Theta Pi’s Founding Father Spotlight.

Public Relations Chair for Sigma Nu Dave Mizsak ’20 said that he took a more comedic approach to the campaign by utilizing another fraternity’s photo that included a brother of Sigma Nu in the background. It’s a way to “bring a different eye to the person of the week, put fun into it, and show people the real side of Sigma Nu.”

As for the sororities, most showcase their chapter by having the sisters utilize a hashtag on their individual accounts so that it can feed into the sorority’s main Instagram or Facebook account. Hashtags include: Kappa Alpha Theta’s #ThetaThursday; Kappa Kappa Gamma’s #TravelTuesday, Delta Delta Delta’s #TDTuesday; Delta Gamma’s #WhyIWentDGWednesday; and Phi Beta Phi’s #UniquelyPiPhi and #PiPhiFriday.

Laiyla Grayson ’18, Director of Formal Recruitment for Alpha Phi, took their campaign one step further by creating a “Sisterhood of the Traveling Jacket” of sorts.  An oversized jean jacket that says: Alpha Phi Doesn’t Define Me, I Define Alpha Phi, travels from sister to sister every day, and members write one word describing what Alpha Phi means to them.

“When we were looking for recruitment ideas we were trying to think about the negative stereotypes that people use to define us, but we stopped and realized we weren’t going to let other people define Alpha Phi, and we also weren’t going to let Alpha Phi define us—which really ties into the whole Butler experience,” Grayson said.

Once a sister gets the jacket and writes one word, she then posts to social media with the hashtag #AlphaPhiToMe and shares the one word. Posts on #AlphaPhiToMe have included compassionate, bold, lady bosses, and even edgy.

Butler’s Greek life social media campaigns and Alpha Phi’s jacket project are ways to show students that college and Greek life are what you make it, and each fraternity and sorority will encourage you to be exactly who you are.

“There are so many different experiences you can make your own,” Grayson said. “You can be a part of something bigger than yourself—whether that’s Greek life, Alpha Phi, or Butler—but you’re still an individual and you still fit in to this bigger experience.”