Unrecognized Student Organizations


Membership in Recognized vs Unrecognized Student Organizations

An unrecognized student organization may have chosen to decline affiliation with EMU or may have had its recognition revoked by the institution. Students who choose to be a part of an unrecognized group do so at their own risk. Therefore, students should carefully consider potential risks before associating with an unrecognized group.

Unaffiliated organizations may continue to operate despite not being recognized by Eastern Michigan University. Operation of these groups is not sanctioned or supported by the university; EMU has no formal oversight of these groups. 


Membership in Recognized vs Unrecognized Fraternity/Sorority Organizations

Recognized fraternities and sororities are monitored for performance related to University policies and standards, including the anti-hazing policy, anti-discrimination policy and the social policy. EMU employees advise these chapters and support their ongoing development. 

Unrecognized groups might use Greek letters, and may have affiliation with a local or national organization, but they have no affiliation with or supervision by the University, do not agree to follow all requirements and  policies put in place for social fraternities and sororities (including the social event policy and mandatory risk management training), and do not disclose membership rosters to the University. Without roster verification, the university has no record of who is in the organization and cannot verify if members are in good standing or even if they are students at Eastern Michigan University. 

A list of recognized fraternal organizations can be found here.
A list of all recognized student organizations at EMU can be found here.
A list of known unrecognized organizations can be found at the bottom of this page.

Benefits of Joining a Recognized Student Organization:

    • Access to university funding for student organizations;
    • Use of EMU facilities for meetings and events;
    • Use of authorized event boards and student bulletin boards for posting fliers about organization activities;
    • Access to and recognition on the student organization web portal EagleSync, including management and recruiting tools for their organizations;
    • Access to student organization office space inside the Student Center;
    • The ability to participate in EagleFest and WinterFest, EMU’s student organization recruitment fairs;
    • Access to the Student Government copy machine and other resource materials in the Center for Student Involvement;
    • The ability to participate in University sponsored workshops and training sessions for student organization leaders;
    • The ability to hold fundraisers on campus.

Benefits of joining a recognized fraternity or sorority include:

All of the benefits listed for Recognized Student Organizations, and:

    • Support from the Office of Fraternity & Sorority Life Staff;
    • Programming and leadership development training and materials from the Office of Fraternity & Sorority Life (FSL);
    • Involvement in the EMU Interfraternity (IFC) Council, College Panhellenic Council (CPC), National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC), or Multicultural Greek Council (MGC);
    • Involvement in FSL community-wide events and programming sponsored by the Office of Fraternity & Sorority Life and/or the governing councils;
    • Eligibility to be considered for FSL Awards.

Please contact the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life at [email protected] or the Student Organizations Team at [email protected] if you have any questions about whether or not the group you want to join is recognized or if you learn about an unrecognized group operating at EMU.

If you are currently associated with one of these unrecognized groups and have experienced a harmful incident involving EMU students, please complete an incident report.

Known Unrecognized/Unaffiliated Organizations in Operation at EMU (as of September 2022):

  • Alpha Sigma Phi