While active on campus and increasing in membership, the Bicultural InterGreek Council is largely unknown to those who are not directly involved with the organization.
The 12 BIG-C chapters primarily cater to minority groups on campus and follow a very different process of acquiring new members than the more mainstream InterFraternity and Panhellenic councils.
The organization does not have a formal rush; each chapter handles its own recruiting process. The individual chapters work very closely with regional alumni boards for advice and guidance.
These boards -- or graduate chapters -- determine whether or not a chapter is eligible to acquire new members. Additionally, many graduate chapters accept new members at the post-undergraduate level.
Students interested in joining a BIG-C chapter attend a "rush meeting," and then participate in events held by the chapter to express a desire to join the organization.
College senior and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. president Kiel Berry called his rush process "nothing like" IFC rush, where fraternities try to court new members while they try to pick a fraternity.
Berry said that when he joined his fraternity in the spring of his sophomore year, the focus was largely on the history of the chapter.
"It's almost cultivating you to get ready to do the work of the organization," Berry said, mentioning community service as a major part of his chapter.
BIG-C chapters are citywide, including members from other campuses in the area such as Drexel, Saint Joseph's and Villanova universities, Haverford and Swarthmore colleges and the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia.
"Dealing with multiple campuses is very different" from dealing with a group on one campus, said Larry Moses, program coordinator for the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs. He added that the system is "one of the most diverse ... in the nation."
BIG-C membership has "grown extensively over the past eight years," Moses said. Positive "attitudes towards Greek life in the minority community ... [have] increased tenfold."
While the majority of new members are freshmen, many upperclassmen join BIG-C chapters as well.
Wharton junior Cintya Ramos joined Sigma Lambda Upsilon Senoritas Latinas Unidas Sorority, Inc., just this fall.
"I felt I could better relate to a Latina organization, rather than a Panhel organization," Ramos said. She noted that the chapter's attention to academics and community service was especially appealing.
College senior Enny Peguero joined Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority, Inc., in the spring of her sophomore year and is currently president of the BIG-C board.
"I feel that there's not much going on for minorities in general," Peguero said. "Lambda Theta Alpha provides that."
Berry said that BIG-C organizations focus on the long term, as opposed to undergraduate years.
"I've noticed [with the IFC] it's often all about the house and the college experience," Berry said, adding that his fraternity was "a lifelong commitment" for him.
