Bonds formed span miles, last lifetimes
Fraternities and sororities are most often associated with the collegiate years, but for many people, the bonds formed as an undergraduate in a Greek organization last for a lifetime and span miles, decades and generations.
They can also become a lifelong network of social and professional support.
Carol Yannuzzi was a member of the sorority Gamma Chi at Grove City College in the late 1970s. But the connections she formed during those years are still with her and impact her life today. As part of the sorority's 90th anniversary last year, she helped to organize a reunion of alumna in Cranberry.
"There is a legacy to an organization like that," said Yannuzzi of Ingomar. "It's important for women across the decades to meet and hear the stories. ... There was a lot of laugher and a few tears. It was great."
Not only did Yannuzzi's involvement in Gamma Chi provide a social outlet while a student at GCC, it also paid off in a very tangible way years after her graduation in 1979. It was through a sorority sister that Yannuzzi found her job as a development officer at Grove City. Networking, she said, is just one of the lifelong benefits of being Greek.
"That's the reason I found this job a little over two years ago," she said. "I have a sorority sister who was a very good friend. It was her husband who heard that this position was open and recommended me. So when you hear about how it works with networking, that's how it works."
For Slippery Rock graduate student Justin Dandoy, his fraternity association has also translated into professional opportunities. As an undergraduate at Clarion University, he was a member of Phi Delta Theta.
"I actually went to work with my fraternity after graduation," Dandoy said. "I traveled and went to work with the leadership of the chapters for a couple of years."
Now, studying student affairs and higher education at Slippery Rock, Dandoy serves as an adviser to the Greek Life Council and to the school's individual Greek chapters.
"One of the benefits of being Greek is that you remain connected with the university," Dandoy said." You know that you always have something to go back to."
Dandoy also has maintained strong personal friendships with his fraternity brothers over the years. He will be serving as the best man in a fraternity brother's wedding next year, he said.
"Every alumnus is going to have stories like that. Even though we may have graduated from school five or six years before, we've remained close."
It's future professional opportunities like that that senior Shane Ellis, president of Pi Kappa Alpha, points out to incoming members.
Pi Kappa Alpha, Ellis said, is one of the leading national fraternities in offering continuing support and education to its alumni. The organization sponsors national summits, called Pike University, after the fraternity's nickname.Summits are open to alumni and offer workshops like leadership skills, managing personal finances, building a resume and dressing for success.Ellis said he has attended three such national conferences and hopes to be able to attend more in the future. He plans to attend a summit Philadelphia in November."At each leadership summit, there are maybe 500 Pikes and about 150 alumni," he said. "The amount of CEOs at these conventions is mind blowing."Ellis said attending the conventions has allowed him to connect with many business leaders, including the chief executive officer of Nationwide Insurance."It's cool because these guys are multimillionaires and they don't talk to you like they are millionaires. They talk to you like you are a friend they have known for years."
