UNIVERSITY
OF KENTUCKY
FRATERNITY AND SORORITY LIFE
UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY FRATERNITY AND SORORITY LIFE
Welcome Wildcat! At the University of Kentucky, the opportunities for campus involvement are endless. The fraternity and sorority community affords members the ability to become involved both on and off campus through philanthropy, academics and leadership development – all while building intentional relationships.
Fraternity and Sorority Life (FSL) has been part of a long-standing tradition at the University of Kentucky since the first fraternity was established in 1893. By becoming a member of one of our recognized organizations, you are following in the footsteps of countless accomplished members who came before you. FSL is a part of the Dean of Students Office and works closely with other units in the Office for Student Success to create a positive social culture that supports and promotes academic success and well-being for all members of the fraternity and sorority community to be wildly successful during their time at UK.
GO CATS!
–––CouncilPresidents
FSL CORE VALUES
Community: By joining an FSL organization, you have the opportunity to connect with a community not only in your chapter, but with more than 50 of our organizations. Research shows that fraternity and sorority members are three times more likely to return to the university for their second Fall Semester than those who are unaffiliated.
Academic Excellence: Our chapters place a great emphasis on members being students first. All groups have minimum standards for academic membership within the organization, such as GPA requirements and study hours. Councils and chapters provide opportunities for study tables, academic incentives and tutoring programs.
Civil Responsibility: Treating others with dignity, respect, and acting responsibly are the expectations FSL has for students within the community. Membership development encourages students to make decisions that are productive and make a positive impact on their chapter, community and within the greater UK campus.
Member Wellness: As members of a fraternity or sorority, students have access to countless resources. Councils and chapters provide programming to connect students with campus and chapter partners who can support them with mental and physical health, finances, housing and more.
ORDER OF OMEGA: A leadership honor society for the top 5% of fraternity and sorority life students. Students are eligible to apply after their first year of membership in their organization. OOO provides service and leadership opportunities for students as well as access to scholarships. Students receive a membership pin and graduation cords.
FINANCIAL REQUIREMENTS
Many of the resources provided to individual members of the fraternity and sorority community are made possible through the FSL Fee. This fee is assessed similarly to other student fees, such as lab fees, through the student’s online tuition bill each semester. The FSL Fee, which shows up as “Greek Fee,” is first assessed the semester in which a student joins and continues each semester of their membership. The FSL Fee assessed to individual members of the Panhellenic Council and Interfraternity Council is $65, and the FSL Fee assessed to individual members of the National Pan-Hellenic Council and United Greek Council is $30.
Dues are the financial commitment of being in a fraternity or sorority that covers the cost of participation in chapter activities, dues and fees to the inter/national organization and housing costs for groups with chapter facilities. The amount varies by chapter and each organization will have different options for payment, including payment plans. New members can expect to pay more for the first semester of membership because of national initiation fees and other one-time costs.
ORDER OF OMEGA
HAZING STATEMENT
Fraternities and sororities were founded by students who came together to create a bond and support each other academically. Their goals were intellectual, social and moral growth. Fraternities and sororities at the University of Kentucky expect their members to strive for academic achievement, demonstrate responsible citizenship, show concern for the rights and needs of others and provide leadership by promoting respect for others. As such, hazing in any form will not be tolerated. All second-year members are required to participate in staff-facilitated hazing prevention education and new members are provided with information during FSL 101 in the semester they join.
The University of Kentucky defines hazing as any action or situation created by a member of the university community against another member of the university community for the purpose of affiliation with a group or organization that: (a) is negligent or reckless in nature; (b) is humiliating or endangers an individual; or (c) unreasonably interferes with scholastic or employment activities. If you feel you are being hazed or know of a hazing incident, report it immediately online at go.uky.edu/ReportHazingUK or call the Hazing Hotline at 859-257-8573.
UK sets standards for its student organizations to ensure they engage in responsible behavior that aligns with the Code of Student Conduct. Violations of these expectations can result in an organization receiving restorative action plans to educate members, repair the harm caused by the violation or restore trust within the campus community. This information can be found at, go.uky.edu/StudentOrgConduct.
The chapters with the organization’s Conduct Status, as listed in Revocation of Registered Student Organization Status, are not recognized by the University of Kentucky. We encourage students interested in joining a chapter not to join an organization with this status, as they are not supported by the university policies and resources FSL recruitment process.
Please review THE STUDENT CODE OF CONDUCT
go.uky.edu/StudentConduct
ALCOHOL STATEMENT
The University of Kentucky fraternity and sorority community opposes the misuse of alcohol and maintains that all chapters, all individual members and all guests must abide by state, local and university laws and regulations. Guidelines for social events involving alcohol are established by the University of Kentucky and prohibit students from possessing alcoholic beverages in the houses and on chapter premises. All chapters work to educate and foster a better understanding of social responsibility and alcohol education for their members.
ACADEMIC REQUIREMENTS
Individuals interested in participating in recruitment or intake must be enrolled fulltime (12 credit hours) in a degree-seeking program at the University of Kentucky at the time of joining the organization. Each chapter requires a minimum grade point average for joining. The Interfraternity Council is the only council with a minimum academic requirement for participation in recruitment.
SERVICE REQUIREMENTS
Being a member of a fraternity or sorority involves giving back to the local community as well as to each chapter’s national philanthropy. Every chapter has its own service requirements for individual members that may range from completing individual service hours to attending chapter philanthropic events. Participating in these service events provides members with opportunities to get involved in the community and learn the importance of giving back to others.
HOUSING REQUIREMENTS
Over half of the Interfraternity Council and all National Panhellenic Council chapters have a chapter facility. Living in a fraternity or sorority house is a great transition from living in a residence hall because it has many of the same benefits, plus the opportunity to live with fraternity brothers or sorority sisters. Chapter house living usually includes sharing a room with at least one chapter member and meals served Monday through Friday. Residents also have the convenience of living in the hub of many chapter activities. If a chapter has housing, members are likely to be required to live in the house for at least two semesters. Most fraternity or sorority housing corporations operate much like a landlord and must have all available spots occupied with a signed contract—and possibly a deposit. Most chapters have a house director who lives in an apartment within the house to provide security, as well as supervise meal plans, maintenance, and housekeeping. All chapter housing is different, so this is a great topic to discuss with each organization.
INTERFRATERNITY COUNCIL
The Interfraternity Council (IFC) is the governing body for recognized men’s fraternities at the University of Kentucky. IFC works with member chapters to coordinate programs and activities that benefit the members, as well as advocates for the needs of fraternities at the University of Kentucky.
Alpha Gamma Rho
Alpha Sigma Phi
Beta Theta Pi
Beta Upsilon Chi
Chi Psi
Delta Sigma Phi
Delta Tau Delta
Kappa Alpha
Kappa Sigma
Lambda Chi Alpha*
Phi Gamma Delta
Phi Kappa Psi
Phi Kappa Tau
Phi Sigma Kappa
Pi Kappa Alpha
Pi
Kappa Phi
Sigma Chi
Sigma Nu
Sigma Phi Epsilon
Sigma Pi
Theta Chi
Triangle
Zeta Beta Tau
*Re-establishinginFall2025
Students interested in joining an IFC fraternity must be enrolled full-time (12 credit hours) in a degree-seeking program at the University of Kentucky, as well as meet the academic requirement of either a 2.7 high school GPA (on a 4.0 unweighted scale) for new students or a 2.6 unweighted college GPA for returning and transfer students. Additionally, students must attend the IFC 101 Recruitment Information Sessions hosted prior to IFC formal recruitment. There is a $50 registration fee for all students interested in IFC Recruitment.
IFC RECRUITMENT
NATIONAL PAN-HELLENIC COUNCIL
The National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) is the coordinating body of nine historically Black fraternities and sororities at the University of Kentucky. NPHC organizations were established during the early 1900s and were created to promote equality, service, scholarship and fellowship among the black community. Today, these organizations continue to embrace the ideals of unity, achievement and service to the community.
SORORITIES
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc.
FRATERNITIES
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.
Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.
Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc.
Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc.
NPHC organizations recruit new members through a process called membership intake. This process is organized by each chapter individually. This includes selecting candidates and educating them about the organization, which leads to initiation and results in full membership. Chapters work with their inter/national organizations to schedule membership intake when it best suits their membership needs, which may not be every semester. Students interested in joining any of the NPHC organizations are required to attend NPHC 101 once an academic semester, which is held at the beginning of the fall and spring semester.
PANHELLENIC COUNCIL
The Panhellenic Council is the governing body for the 14 National Panhellenic Conference sororities at the University of Kentucky. Panhellenic’s main goals are to create community-wide standards and relationships through leadership opportunities, educational and social programming, as well as oversee fall primary recruitment.
Alpha Chi Omega
Alpha Delta Pi
Alpha Gamma Delta
Alpha Phi
Chi Omega
Delta Delta Delta
Delta Gamma
Delta Zeta
Gamma Phi Beta
Kappa Alpha Theta
Kappa Delta
Kappa Kappa Gamma
Phi Mu
Pi Beta Phi
Primary recruitment in 2025 will be hosted on Labor Day weekend. A mandatory orientation session, known as PNM Orientation for women participating in recruitment will be held during the first week of classes, depending upon their recruitment counselor group.
PRIMARY RECRUITMENT SCHEDULE
• Wednesday, August 27 and Thursday, August 28
• Friday, August 29 and Saturday, August 30
• Sunday, August 31
• Monday, September 1
• Tueday, September 2
PNM Orientation/View Open House Videos
Philanthropy Round
Sisterhood Round
Preference Round
Bid Day
Primaryrecruitment
participantsmustbe enrolledfull-time(12credit hours)undergraduate students,inadegree seekingprogramatthe UniversityofKentuckyfor theFall2025semester.
PANHELLENIC RECRUITMENT
UNITED GREEK COUNCIL
The United Greek Council (UGC) at the University of Kentucky is the governing council for special-interest and culturally based fraternities and sororities and is the fastest growing council at the University of Kentucky. The main focus of UGC is to support a welcoming community by creating a culture of respect and empowerment for its organizations.
SPECIAL INTEREST
Kappa Beta Gamma
Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia
Phi Sigma Rho
Sigma Alpha
Sigma Alpha Iota
Sigma Phi Lambda
CULTURALLY BASED
Delta Phi Lambda Sorority, Inc.
Sigma Lambda Beta International Fraternity, Inc.
Sigma Lambda Gamma National Sorority, Inc.
Fraternities and sororities within the United Greek Council individually coordinate their recruitment and intake opportunities by chapter. Special interest groups have a recruitment week, whereas culturally based groups do membership intake. This process is organized by each chapter individually and includes a selection of candidates, education about the organization, initiation and full membership. Our fine arts organizations, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia and Sigma Alpha Iota offer dual membership, which can allow students to be affiliated in a fraternity and sorority in another FSL Council.
Fraternity and Sorority Life Office
406 Administration Drive 101 Frazee Hall
Lexington, KY 40506-0027
859-257-3151
CONNECT WITH US!
@ukyfsl
@ukyfsl
fsl@uky.edu
go.uky.edu/FSL FALL 2025 EVENTS
July 31
Panhellenic Recruitment Registration Closes
August 20 - 24
K WEEK
August 22
Rock The Block
August 23
National Pan-Hellenic Council Minority Student Welcome
United Greek Council Fall Kickoff
August 24
Interfraternity Council Main Lawn Mingle
August 27 – September 2
Panhellenic Recruitment
August 21 – September 13
Interfraternity Council Recruitment
October 17
NPHC Homecoming Step Show
