watsonmd@lopers.unk.edu
38 high school seniors and their family members attended UNK’s Greek Preview Day on March 7. The event was hosted at Martin Hall by Fraternity & Sorority Life in conjunction with Admitted Student Day.
Greek Preview Day gives prospective students a glimpse into what FSL is like at UNK.
“Greek Preview Day is really important for the community to help not only students understand what sorority and fraternity life is at UNK, but I think it also gives them a look at how UNK is different than other schools,” said Karlee Nuttelman, Assistant Director for Fraternity & Sorority Life. “It really can be a value add to the experience and knowing that we have a lot of great things to share and to show, and sometimes during the recruitment process, it’s just not long enough. So giving folks an early insight to that is really important.”
The free event was held after Admitted Student Day from 2-5 p.m. Attendees participated in three breakout sessions: a tour of Martin Hall, a “why and how to go Greek” presentation and a chapter meet and greet.
“They’ll get an overview of all the chapters and an idea of what fraternity and sorority life is like,” said Austin Jacobsen, graduate assistant for Fraternity & Sorority Life. “They’ll know what chapters are here on campus, they’ll know how to be able to be recruited when they get into that process, and they’ll also get to be able to see the new Martin Hall fraternity housing and what kind of the expectations, what the living state situation will be like when they move in.”
After the breakout sessions, parents attended a question-and-answer session with Nuttelman and Jacobsen. High school seniors listened to a panel of current FSL members.
The student panel was organized to give attendees a personalized look at FSL by hearing from current members.
“I’m helping give a more personal experience to the students that are transitioning from high school to college,” said panel member Joey Orellana, a sophomore majoring in recreation management and a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon. “Advocating for Greek Life with also you know, answering any questions they might have. And just making it a fun day to be able to ask first-hand questions to a person that’s already involved in Greek Life.”
This event was specifically for high school seniors, but FSL will host another Greek Preview Day for juniors on April 19 following Junior Day at UNK.
Greek Preview Day is not only important for fraternities and sororities to meet potential new members to grow their chapters, but also to give prospective students the opportunity to connect to the FSL community before coming to UNK.
“[High school students] are allowed to kind of see what Greek Life stands for, what it’s about before they even get here,” Orellana said. “It gives them an early idea of what it’s like to be a part of Greek Life here on campus and how important it is to UNK. So it kind of just allows them to get like a first-hand experience before they even are enrolled to classes.”
