Exploring the Experiences of Members of a Social Co-Educational Latino Fraternity: A Narrative Study of Sense of Belonging

Abstract

Media is in our lives daily and what we see or hear tends to stick with us (Appel & Weber, 2017). However, when anecdotal commentary cast generalizations across all members of a community it becomes problematic (Ortiz & Thompson, 2019). Greek life is no exception to criticism, stereotypes, and or other generalizations but there is more to these organizations than is portrayed in social media and other media outlets. Media attention has put Greek life and its relevance into question leaving outsiders with an incomplete narrative. Selective media coverage leaves an impression that all Greek life organizations are uniform when they are more ambiguous. As an alumna of a co-ed fraternity and in an effort to shed light onto the imbroglio of Greek life, I undertook a narrative inquiry into the experiences and feelings of belongingness as expressed by members of a Social Coeducational Latino fraternity. This narrative project utilized a semi-structured, one-on-one interview protocol to address the following questions: How do students who belong to a Social Co-educational Latino fraternal organization describe their experiences as members of the organization? The second, how do students who belong to a Social Co-educational Latino fraternity describe their sense of belonging on a college campus? In balance with the demands of the life as a student, the literature on student engagement suggests that participation in extracurricular activities contributes to feelings of belongingness both among peers and within campus culture (Astin. 1999; Baker, 2008; McClure. 2006; Nunez, 2009; Strayhom, 2012). In-depth interviews were conducted with five members of the same Social Coeducational Latino Greek organization from several colleges and universities in the Mid-West region of the United States. While each member found their way to the fraternity at different times and through various avenues, the interviews revealed the rich and unique experiences among participants. Listening to five diverse stories of Greek life membership and unique college experiences supported findings in the literature on student involvement and sense of belonging. This project concludes with recommendations for future programming, policies, and future research in higher education.