Greek life

Greek life

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Some of the first fraternities in the country were formed at NYU. Greek life first formed on the NYU campus in 1837 when Psi Upsilon chartered its Delta Chapter. The first fraternities at NYU were social ones. With their athletic, professional, intellectual, and service activities, later groups sought to attract students who also formed other groups. Since then, Greek letter organizations have proliferated to include 25 social fraternities and sororities. As of 2014, approximately 13% of NYU students are members of fraternities or sororities.

Four governing boards oversee Greek life at the university. The Interfraternity Council (IFC) has jurisdiction over all twelve recognized fraternities on campus. Eight sororities are under the jurisdiction of the Panhellenic Council (PhC), which features seven national sororities , ΑΣΤ, ΠΒΦ, KKΓ, ZTΑ, ΔΓ) and two local sororities . Five multicultural organizations maintain membership in the Multicultural Greek Council (MGC), including two fraternities and three sororities. All three of the aforementioned boards are managed under the auspices of the Inter-Greek Council.

Greek organizations have historical significance at NYU. Delta Phi Epsilon, Zeta Psi, Alpha Epsilon Pi, Tau Delta Phi Alpha Kappa Psi and Delta Sigma Pi were founded at NYU. Zeta Psi Fraternity of North America was chartered in 1847, Delta Sigma Pi in 1907, and Alpha Epsilon Pi in 1913. Delta Phi Epsilon was founded in 1917. The NYU Gamma chapter of Delta Phi, founded in 1841, is the longest continuously active fraternity chapter in the world, having never gone inactive since its establishment. Delta Phi is also the oldest continuously active fraternity in the United States, being the only organization in the original Union Triad to remain active since its institute. The NYU Gamma chapter of Zeta Beta Tau is the oldest active ZBT chapter in the country.

NYU does not have an ROTC program on campus. However, NYU students may participate in the U.S. Army ROTC program through NYC Army ROTC, headquartered at Fordham University.

NYU's sports teams are referred to as the NYU Violets, the colors being the trademarked hue "NYU Violet" and white. Since 1981, the school mascot has been a bobcat, whose origin can be traced back to the abbreviation then being used by the Bobst Library computerized catalog—short: Bobcat. NYU's sports teams include baseball, men's and women's varsity basketball, cross country, fencing, golf, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis, track and field, volleyball, and wrestling.All of NYU's sports teams participate in the NCAA's Division III and the University Athletic Association, with the exception of fencing, which participates in Division I. While NYU has had All-American football players, the school has not had a varsity football team since 1952.

NYU students also compete in club and intramural sports, including badminton, baseball, basketball, crew, cycling, equestrianism, ice hockey, lacrosse, martial arts, rugby, softball, squash, tennis, triathlon, and ultimate. The Coles Sports and Recreation Center serves as the home base of several of NYU's intercollegiate athletic teams. Many of NYU's varsity teams play their games at various facilities and fields throughout Manhattan because of the scarcity of space for playing fields near campus. In 2002, NYU opened the Palladium Athletic Facility as the second on-campus recreational facility.

Main articles: List of New York University alumni and List of New York University faculty

NYU has 470,000 living alumni as of 2015At least thirty-six Nobel Prize winners winners are affiliated with NYU. Notable graduating classes include among others, 1941, which graduated three later Nobel Prize laureates (Julius Axelrod, Gertrude B. Elion and Clifford Shull), Olympic Gold Medalist John Woodruff, sportscaster Howard Cosell and sociologist Morris Janowitz; 1951 included professor emeritus at MIT and former DARPA director Jack Ruina and Cathleen Synge Morawetz, first woman recipient of National Medal of Science; 1957 included Pulitzer Prize winning author Frank McCourt and president of Technion-Israel Institute of Technology Josef Singer; 1964 included former Chief Engineer of NASA Johnson Space Center, Jay Greene and film director Martin Scorsese; and 1977 included: former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan; IRS Commissioner Mark Everson; INSEAD Dean Gabriel Hawawini; Pulitzer, Oscar and Tony Award winner John Patrick Shanley; NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman; NASDAQ CEO Robert Greifeld; Ma Ying-jeou president of Republic of China (Taiwan); Guillermo Endara president of Republic of Panama, Clive Davis music industry executive, and Cathy Minehan, Federal Reserve Chairman Boston.

NYU ranked 7th among the World’s top 100 universities for producing millionaires, as compiled by Times Higher Education World University Rankings. NYU ranked 5th globally among universities with the highest number of alumni worth $30 million or more, as compiled by ABC News. CNBC ranked NYU 4th globally among universities with the most billionaire graduates.