October 12, 2022
Of the 28 fraternities registered under the Interfraternity Council for 2022, only four of them display the cost of joining in an easily accessible location. Sixteen fraternities have no mention of fees whatsoever on their social media accounts or websites. Five recognize the existence of fees but offer no numerical data. Of the three remaining fraternities, two do not have websites, and one requires an account and password to access the full expanse of information.
In general, fraternities in the MU IFC offer little to no information on the financial obligations of joining their organization before students commit to recruitment.
In contrast, the Panhellenic Association lists the costs of joining any of its sorority organizations in its booklet, found on the first page of its website.
The absence of information about fees in IFC is not due to a lack of fees. The IFC requires a $50 payment to participate in formal or informal recruitment, regardless of the student’s future decision to pledge to a fraternity officially. Before paying this recruitment registration fee and entering the recruitment process, pledges typically cannot access information on the fees to come via the fraternities’ websites. These usually include initiation fees, insurance or safety fees, social fees and the cost of living in the fraternity house should members decide to do so.
There is no clear reason for the lack of transparency, which varies from chapter to chapter. However, with the current information offered, the vast majority of fraternity recruits have very little financial information for fraternities before they begin the recruitment process.
Uriah Orland, associate director of the MU News Bureau, gave a statement to The Maneater on fraternity finances on behalf of the IFC.
“Each chapter’s finances are internal business and, as such, are unique to each organization,” Orland said. “Each local chapter, housing corporation and International/HeadQuarters or National Office oversee their internal business operations. Chapter alumni contributions will vary, and all IFC budget comes from chapter dues paid directly to the IFC.”
Orland also said chapters often offer financial assistance to members, though this information is not publicly available.
“While the IFC and university may not have access to the financial support systems in place for chapters, it wouldn’t be accurate to presume that support structures are not currently in place for members seeking assistance,” Orland said.
Beta Sigma Psi is one fraternity that does not list membership costs on its website or social media.
Beta Sigma Psi’s treasurer, sophomore Caulin Drago, manages the fraternity’s funds, which include handling checks and managing reimbursements from alumni for house expenses. Drago said the cost is $5,250 for members who pay their fees in installments, or $5,000 if they pay all at once at the beginning of the semester. Additionally, Drago said members pay a social fee that ranges from $50 to $200, decreasing with seniority.
“We more or less don’t have it on our website just because, especially for this house, our dues change a lot,” Drago said.
Drago said that Beta Sigma Psi is “extremely upfront” about fees and that potential recruits are informed of the costs “as they go through the [recruitment] process.” Drago did not say at exactly which point during the recruitment process recruits are informed of the costs.
Sigma Phi Epsilon also does not publicly list its membership costs. Zach Lovelace, senior and vice president of the SigEp Learning Community, gave a statement to The Maneater about his fraternity’s financial system.
Lovelace said recruits are informed of these costs “very early on in the [recruitment] process” and that “it is a part of initial recruitment conversations.”
“There’s probably a couple reasons for [not publicly listing recruitment costs], but [it is] something we haven’t given much thought to,” Lovelace said in the statement. “As we attract potential members to our chapter, we’d hate to push anyone away or discourage people from joining because of the price alone. If the price of dues is something that people are asking for, we would consider making them public.”
Edited by Zoe Homan | zhoman@themaneater.com
Copy edited by Amelia Hurley and Jacob Richey | jrichey@themaneater.com
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