Frequently Asked Questions

Intake is the process of membership selection and initiation used by fraternities and sororities belonging to the National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC).  Each organization conducts their process at their own specified time within a given fall or spring academic term. Undergraduate students who wish to affiliate with NPHC fraternities or sororities must meet specific GPA, credit hours, and service hours minimums. 

For more information, please check the individual organizations’ websites or learn more on our our How to Join page. 

Clemson's Interfraternity Council (IFC) and Clemson Panhellenic Association (CPA) have registration processes to go through recruitment. CPA and IFC both plan and manage the recruitment process for the chapters within those councils. To participate in the recruitment process, you must register.  Check out the How to Join page or visit each council’s website. CPA has one formalized primary recruitment process in the fall, and IFC has both a fall and spring recruitment.  

While each new member process varies for each fraternity and sorority, no new member period should be more than 8 weeks. The new member period/process is time for new members to learn about the organization they are joining, the students joining with them, values, history, and expectations before becoming a full member.  

NPHC organizations hold Interest Meetings in which they discuss their national and chapter’s history, service initiatives, and requirements to become a member. For more information on when each will be holding an Interest meeting, contact the Fraternity and Sorority Life Office at 864-656-7578.

There is a minimum GPA to go through the recruitment process/join an organization affiliated with the Interfraternity Council (IFC), National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC), and Multicultural Greek Council (MGC). A student must have a cumulative 2.7 GPA to register for IFC rush or apply for NPHC or MGC membership intake. Grades will be verified by Clemson University staff. There will be no exceptions to this policy. For the Clemson Panhellenic Association (CPA), there is no GPA requirement to participate in recruitment. However, each CPA sorority has their own GPA requirement to join their organizations.

Act like yourself! You want to know what the fraternity or sorority is like as much as they want to know the real you. Look at all the chapters with an open mind.  Remember, the group you decide to join should be the best choice for you, not based on others.

If you are serious about joining a fraternity or sorority, you must be serious about your financial obligations to that organization. The cost varies with each organization. However, you should ask about these costs during the recruitment times. The first semester of joining a fraternity or sorority will be the most expensive due to new member fees with an average cost of $788.  For initiated members, the average cost per semester is $533.

University Housing & Dining provides dedicated chapter living space in on-campus housing to enhance the fraternity and sorority experience.

Panhellenic (CPA) organizations occupy spaces in Smith, Barnett, or the Fraternity and Sorority Quad.

Interfraternity (IFC) organizations occupy spaces either on-campus in the Fraternity and Sorority Quad or off-campus which are independent of Clemson University and managed by the chapter.

National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) and Multicultural Greek Council (MGC) organizations do not currently occupy any spaces on-campus. Any “chapter” housing for these organizations is independent of Clemson University and managed by the chapter.

• Chapters with on-campus Chapter Halls likely require their newest members to live on the chapter hall their sophomore and/or junior year, as each organization is financially responsible for maintaining the occupancy of their chapter hall. Sign-up processes for on-campus chapter housing for the following year starts at the beginning of October and is facilitated by University Housing & Dining. We encourage you to start talking about where you are living the following year soon after recruitment has ended.

• Chapters with off-campus chapter houses likely require their older members to live in the chapter house their junior and/or senior year, as each chapter is responsible for the management of this property, and cannot bill through the University Billing system.

• Learn more about Barnett Hall
• Learn more about Smith Hall
• Learn more about The Quad
  • Bowen Hall
  • Bradley Hall
  • Donaldson Hall
  • Norris Hall
  • Simpson North Hall
  • Simpson South Hall
  • Wannamaker Hall

• For current room rates please visit University Housing & Dining’s Contracts, Rates, & Policies webpage.

• Fraternity Sorority Housing features three different room occupancy types:

  • double occupancy (2 residents in a room)

  • single occupancy (1 resident in a room)

  • designated single occupancy (1 resident in a larger room)

• Fraternity Sorority Housing offers chapters and individual residents living on the chapter hall the opportunity to contract out a double occupancy room for a single resident. The chapter or the individual resident will pay for each of the two bed spaces in the room. The buyout charge will be applied to the resident’s student account for the Academic Year, and will be billed per semester. The total bill will be charged at a rate of two times the double occupancy room rate each semester, and applied through the University Billing system.

Chapter members must have completed one semester at a college or university before they are eligible to live on the Chapter Hall. New freshmen may not reside in Fraternity Sorority Housing their first semester. However, new freshmen who become chapter members during their first semester may move onto the chapter hall for their second semester per the Chapter’s Hall Assignments Roster for Mid Year Room Changes, no earlier than January during the prescribed room change period. At any point in the semester, within the Room Change dates, if a current chapter member would like to move on the Chapter Hall, they would need to speak to the House Manager to be approved and added to the Chapter’s Hall Assignment Roster.

Wanting to leave your chapter hall looks different for everyone, and the Fraternity Sorority Housing Leadership Team are here to support you. Below are some common reasons we see, but we are also here to discuss in person if you have any questions or need any support, just stop by the Fraternity Sorority Housing Office in Norris Hall.

• To far to commute for Co-Ops, Internships, or even further... Studying Abroad!
  Housing contracts may be cancelled due to school-related events that prevent
  you from living on campus such as academic probation, co-op, graduation,
  internship, military, student teaching, study abroad, transferring, or non-
  enrollment/withdrawal prior to the semester.
  Go to the Housing & Dining Cancellations webpage to learn more.
• I am dropping the chapter/ I am not a member in good standing / My chapter
  membership has been terminated:
  Contact your Chapter President and indicate your intent/requirement to leave
  the chapter. Fraternity Sorority Housing Staff will not move a resident out of
  Fraternity Sorority Housing as long as the member is still affiliated with the
  organization.
  The Chapter President will first need to remove you from the University’s Greek
  Roster system. Once this removal is complete, please contact Fraternity Sorority
  Housing staff at fshousing@clemson.edu to request a room change from the
  chapter hall.
  *Change in membership status does not cancel your housing contract, your
  contract would be reassigned to another available space on-campus.