Parents and Families

Joining a fraternity, sorority, or independent living group (FSILG) offers a unique way to build connections and find community. By becoming part of an FSILG, your student is joining hundreds of other new members in their search for a sense of belonging at MIT.

Fraternities, Sororities and Independent Living Groups (FSILGs) are one of many resources MIT offers to help students transition to a new environment. Each one offers a well-established, close-knit community of dedicated, intelligent, and hard-working individuals engaged in leadership, service, and academics.

Membership in the FSILG community provides a strong support system, fosters lifelong friendships, and opens doors to a network of fellow students and alumni that will serve them throughout their lives. Each FSILG offers a unique sense of community where your student can feel at home.

We aim to provide you with all the information needed to support this important step in your student’s MIT experience.

Benefits of Your Child Joining an FSILG

FSILGs have a history on campus dating back to the school’s founding. These organizations are rooted in founding principles that foster academic achievement, student involvement, community service, and life-long friendships. FSILGs are groups of men and women who come together to form a personal network of individuals with similar ideas, interests, and a mutual pursuit of a well-rounded college education.

Advantages include:

  • A support group to help make the adjustment to college easier.
  • Scholastic resources to help student achieve their academic goals.
  • Leadership skills acquired through hands-on experience.
  • Encouragement to get involved and maximize their potential on campus.
  • Opportunities for active participation in community service projects.

Academic Support

FSILGs have a long-standing tradition rooted in academic success and camaraderie, a commitment that remains strong today. Recognizing the challenges of MIT’s rigorous academic environment, FSILG members are dedicated to helping new students adjust and succeed. Through structured support like study hours, mentoring, and tutoring programs, FSILGs provide a solid foundation for members to excel in their academic endeavors.

Financial Obligations and Housing

Like many opportunities for involvement in college, there is a financial commitment associated with a joining an FSILG. The costs go toward the inter/national fees, chapter operating expenses, social functions, and housing costs. Financial obligations differ among individual chapters. The semester your student joins often has a few one-time costs, generally making dues as a new member slightly higher than as an active member.

Additional costs throughout the semester will go toward chapter meals, pictures, gifts, tee shirts, etc. There are payment plans available for students via their individual chapters, as well as opportunities to apply for chapter and council-based scholarships. While your student is participating in the recruitment/intake process, make sure that your student asks about the financial obligations of membership.

Financial Assistance

The financial assistance process is handled by individual chapters and/or councils. While some offer financial assistance, not all chapters and councils have scholarships available to members. There are no guarantees that should a student receive assistance that such assistance would be continual.

Housing Options

Some FSILGs do have a housing requirement of their members. Each housed organization has their own method to decide who lives in an organization’s facility for the year. All but three FSILG houses are owned and operated by the chapter and are overseen by a chapter House Corporation that consists of either paid or volunteer alumni members of the organization. As MIT views all FSILG houses as Institute Approved Housing the FSILG Office provides some oversight and support to the organizations. In addition, each housed FSILG has a Graduate Resident Advisor (GRA) who lives in and is hired, trained, and supervised by the FSILG Office staff.

Should questions arise about costs, room selection, whether there is a housing requirement for members or life in the house, the organization president is able to answer any and all questions your student may have.

Frequently Asked Questions

MIT does not condone hazing behaviors and has an anti-hazing policy that is consistent with Massachusetts state law. Hazing is contrary to the purposes of the FSILG community and the Institute. Hazing is not tolerated. If you sense your student may be participating in inappropriate activities as a result of membership in an FSILG, it is important that you talk to your student about your concerns. You can contact the FSILG Office to discuss any questions or concerns that you may have. You can also report any concerning behaviors via the online reporting system.

Individual organizations elect officers from their membership to manage the day-to-day operations of the organization. These officers are assisted by alumni who act as advisors. Each organization that is nationally affiliated is also responsible to their inter/national organization, which offers support, advice, and direction through paid professional staff and regional volunteers. At MIT, the FSILG Office staff serve as the primary contacts and campus advisors for the FSILG community.

We recommend that you support your student throughout the joining and membership process. Joining an FSILG can be overwhelming, and we recommend that you serve as a sounding board for your student. It is important to be supportive and ask questions to your student about what they are looking for in an organization, and allow them to determine where they feel most comfortable.

Please remember to keep an open mind. Just because a parent or family member was affiliated or not affiliated, does not mean that your student needs to make the same decision.

Please recognize that the chapters are different on every campus. FSILGs at MIT may not have the same values or expectations as where you attended school. It is important that students choose the organization that feels right for them.

Talk to your student beforehand about the financial obligation. Determine who will pay for what and where the limits are.

Finally, keep the FSILG Office contact information on hand if you have any questions or concerns about FSILG Life on MIT’s campus.

While our hope is that everyone who joins our community is able to leave this MIT as an alumnus of their organization, we know that there are times when a member chooses to leave their organization before they graduate. In the event that a member wants to leave the organization that they have chosen to join, they should contact the President of their organization who can help direct them through the steps of completing this process. As students join individual organizations, the FSILG Office has no involvement in the cancelling of membership, but our staff can help support members interested in leaving connect with the organization as needed.