Welcome to the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, a renowned institution home to over 13,000 students from diverse backgrounds. We are happy to welcome you to your new home, where you’ll be exposed to a wide variety of activities and organizations and breathtaking opportunities. 

Thank you for taking the time to learn more about the many Greek-letter organizations that are recognized on our campus. Joining a fraternity or sorority can greatly enhance your college experience as it has done for us by creating lifelong friendships and developing mentorships, having an academic support network, developing important leadership skills, and taking part in community service and philanthropic activities to give back to our community. 

Fraternities and Sororities are Greek-letter organizations founded on common goals and ideals. A fraternity or sorority is a brotherhood or sisterhood for life, so it is essential to choose the right organization that fits you -- you should be able to envision yourself being brothers or sisters with the existing members in an organization and to share in the organization’s key values. On our campus, Greek organizations are spread across four governing councils, the Interfraternity Council (IFC), the Multicultural Greek Council (MGC), the National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) or Divine 9, and the Panhellenic Association (PHA). To be a member in one of the organizations in these councils is to be an active leader on campus. If you are someone who wants to build your network while having fun and giving back, then you are in the right place. For example, every year NPHC members of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. volunteer at a church in downtown Baltimore on Thanksgiving Day and serve food and distribute clothing/toiletries to the less fortunate.

In order to join a fraternity or sorority at UMBC you need to have completed 12 credits as a full time college student, either here or at another institution, and have achieved at least a 2.25 GPA cumulatively and in your last fall/spring term. Academic excellence is a top priority for our chapters and many chapters require a higher GPA to join. 

Showing interest for an organization is quite simple! The first step is to complete the Fraternity and Sorority Interest Form located at:  https://bit.ly/2Eej9wj.  Next, you can attend chapter events for the organization for which you are interested in, follow them on social media, or connect with individual members to learn more. As mentioned earlier, when joining these organizations, you are creating friendships for life, so it is important to build relationships early, starting with the first few events you attend. The most successful way to join a chapter is by showing continued interest. To do so, maintain relationships, follow us on social media to stay up-to-date and be on time!  You can learn more about a chapter’s requirements on Day 4 of Involvement Fest on September 11, 2020!

We look forward to meeting each and everyone of you. We hope you consider joining our fraternity and sorority community to take part in fun, memorable moments! Learn more at: https://campuslife.umbc.edu/fraternities-and-sororities/. Welcome again to UMBC and have a successful school year!

Go Retrievers!

Patrick Reid - IFC President

Akhil Lingayat - MGC President

Akehnji AchiriMofor - NPHC President

Kori Hardman - PHA President

Happy First Day of Classes UMBC!

Today is August 27th, 2020 and we celebrate our first day of classes at UMBC. The Initiatives for Identity, Inclusion, and Belonging (I3B) would like to take this moment to welcome all of our new students, faculty and staff and say welcome back to those of us that are returning to this new and virtual environment.

This year has indeed presented us with many challenges. As global citizens, we have all experienced numerous and tremendous losses. Many of us are still processing complex emotions mixed with the anxiety and fears of not knowing exactly what is to come.

Even in the most difficult of moments, there is still so much to celebrate. UMBC is quite literally a community of people from all walks of life with varied experiences and interests. We are a growing community of students, faculty, staff, administrators, instructors, scientists, activists, carpenters, economists, advocates, researchers, athletes, mathematicians, artists, musicians, electricians, community organizers, techies, archivists, curators, veterans, counselors, maintenance staff, engineers, gamers, public safety officers, cooks, servers, managers, educators, librarians, magicians (yes, magicians), healthcare practitioners, cashiers, entertainers, lawyers, and so much more.

We know that this is not the first day that any of us imagined. We know that (in this very moment) there are more things that are wrong with 2020, than are right. We recognize that we are all juggling complex emotions and very difficult realities. However, if there is anything you get from this message, it's that we are ALL in this together. You are not alone in this. We hear you. We see you. We welcome you. 

Happy First Day of Classes Retrievers!