Unaffiliated Organizations

The affiliation process helps ensure that students are joining university-recognized and supported organizations that offer safe fraternity experiences, provide well-established programs and resources and have a formal relationship with USC.

Affiliated fraternities are organizations where students can find a sense of belonging, have fun at social events and make lifelong friendships. The following groups are NOT AFFILIATED with USC. They are not subject to oversight by university staff, and have elected to forgo support resources and other benefits provided to recognized student groups. Some groups undertake unauthorized recruitment. Students are STRONGLY RECOMMENDED to not join or affiliate with these organizations.

Statement on Disaffiliation

We are disappointed that some USC fraternities are following an unfortunate national trend by disaffiliating from the university – against our strong recommendations. This decision seems to be driven by the desire to eliminate university oversight of their operations. The members are chafing at procedures and protocols designed to prevent sexual assault and drug abuse and deal with issues of mental health and underage drinking. They also object to not being able to rush freshmen in the fall – a practice that has been repeatedly shown to be unsafe for new students. In addition, they are pushing back at the time it takes to investigate serious issues like sexual assault. These investigations and their length are regulated by the state and federal government.

Like members of all unaffiliated organizations, their members will still be held to the same high standards of behavior as the rest of our students, but they will no longer receive the privileges afforded to university sanctioned groups. Of course, as individuals, each USC student will continue to receive our full support. While disaffiliation of these fraternities affects a very small percentage of our student population, we care deeply about the well-being of our students. This decision is detrimental and goes against 130 years of tradition. We strongly urge students not to join these unaffiliated organizations or attend their events, and we will continue to uphold our high expectations for behavior in our neighboring communities.

Questions about affiliation/disaffiliation are addressed in our FAQ.