From movies such as Animal House and The House Bunny, it’s easy for many people to get the impression that fraternity and sorority organizations can be a complete joke — sororities are composed of pillow fights and air-headed girls while fraternities are all about getting wasted and hooking up with as many girls as possible.

However, this can be a huge misconception and the presidents of Greek organizations at the University are determined to uphold the values upon which their houses were founded while providing guidance and management over their chapter.

To acquire the position of president, the prerequisites and selection process are different for each chapter. For example, Delta Zeta’s current president, Christina Norman, sophomore in LAS, proved herself to the chapter by holding the position of house manager prior to campaigning for president. On the other hand, Phi Delta Gamma’s president, Ryan Nemethy, sophomore in LAS, simply had to give a speech to the chapter right before executive voting began.

However, what most don’t realize is the total commitment that goes into being president of a fraternity or sorority — a side of the position that isn’t portrayed in the movies.

“As president, you have a legal responsibility for the whole chapter,” said Courtney Ross, former president of Alpha Phi and junior in Political Science. “That’s probably the scariest part about it because if anything were to happen, then I would be held responsible.”

To help ensure that their legal responsibility isn’t jeopardized, guidelines such as sober sisters or brothers are implemented at social events. For more risky events, such as barn dances, formals or Unofficial, the president typically makes it a point to stay sober and completely responsible themselves.

“On Unofficial, from about 7 a.m. to 2 a.m., I was on the first floor of the house just making sure that everyone was doing okay and that nobody was getting too out of control,” Nemethy said.

Aside from legal responsibilities, presidents are also responsible for upholding the moral values of the Greek organization. This may come off as an easy task, but when friendships become involved, this isn’t so.

“The worst part is confrontation with members. They’re in your fraternity and even though they’re your friends, you still have to play good cop bad cop,” said Sam Chon, president of Lambda Phi Epsilon and junior in LAS. “I just try to see where they’re coming from if they have a problem.”

The main job of the president is to manage the executive board that’s below them while making sure that the entire house is communicating. Instead of being involved in a single aspect, the president overlooks different sections of the organization such as philanthropy, social, programming, communication, social standards, recruitment, finance and other categories depending on the individual chapter.

Also, the president is the communicator between the chapter and outside organizations. According to Ben Logli, the president of Phi Delta Theta and sophomore in Business, one of his biggest responsibilities is keeping Phi Delta Theta accountable to the University, the fraternity’s International Headquarters and the chapter’s alumni.

For professional business fraternities, such as Phi Gamma Nu, the responsibilities of the president vary somewhat from that of an Interfraternity Council (IFC) or Panhellenic Council (PHC) president. Alex Hepp, junior in Business, explained that because his fraternity is business based, the need for involvement is greater. In Greek life, it’s possible to be an uninvolved member of a fraternity or sorority while still benefiting from social aspects. However, this is untrue in a business fraternity because you must be involved to benefit.

“That changes my responsibilities because I have to make sure that these opportunities are there for them to grow professionally,” Hepp said. “I think that you just have to keep people happy because there’s more on the line because people use this as a way to get a job or a way to develop.”

This holds true for both Alyscia Vincent, president of Zeta Phi Beta and senior in LAS, and Chon because of the different connotation that their chapters hold. Zeta Phi Beta is a Black Greek Council sorority and Lambda Phi Epsilon is a United Greek Council fraternity — each places greater emphasis on the business aspect of being a sorority or fraternity member.

The amount of time each week that a president puts into their organization definitely varies. For presidents that live in the fraternity or sorority house during their presidency, it makes it easier to stay connected to the house. For those presidents who aren’t living in, it’s fairly typical to see them at the house each day.

Ultimately, the overall commitment of a president is definitely not for the faint of heart and the decision to campaign shouldn’t be taken lightly.

“It’s not something that you can do just for the title or to put on your resume. It’s something that you have to want to do and want to put the time into,” Nemethy said. “But in the end, it’s a great feeling and it’s definitely rewarding.”

With all of the commitment, it can become hard to find a balance between the pressure of being president and keeping up with regular life.

“There were definitely times when it was hard to balance it with school,” Ross said. “It’s not necessarily that I regretted it, it’s just that it was like having a full time job and being a full time student.”

However, as a result of all their hard work, presidents are able to feel more prepared for the real world after all the experience they gain from the position.

“If nothing else, I think it’s teaching me organization and how to work with people,” Vincent said.

In the end, becoming the president of a fraternity or sorority is a stressful position to hold. However, the Greek community wouldn’t work as smoothly as it does without the dedication of these individuals.