Clemson, South Carolina — At Clemson University in South Carolina, the ClemsonLIFE program gives students with intellectual disabilities the opportunity to learn life skills for independent living.
But as much as the program offered, junior Charlie McGee wanted the whole college experience, from alpha to omega. McGee told CBS News that he wanted to join a fraternity to “have a great time and experience the brotherhood and more joy.”
Unfortunately, rushing a brotherhood is a process. There are interviews and mixers, and even then there is no guarantee of acceptance. In fact, no Clemson fraternity had ever taken a student out of the ClemsonLIFE program. This was the first year that members of the program could rush fraternities.
When McGee found out last month that he had received an offer from Phi Kappa Alpha, he was so excited that he ran out of his left shoe and into the loving arms of his new fraternity brothers.
“That was one of the coolest moments we had at Clemson, to see that there,” one of the members of Phi Kappa Alpha told CBS News.
Several fraternity brothers told CBS News that some members initially doubted whether a person with Down syndrome would fit in with the group. But they were willing to help McGee, only to find out later that McGee was the one who actually helped them.
“The joy and light that we were missing in our chapter, that we didn’t know we were missing from the beginning, is unreal,” said one fraternity member.
“He kind of broke any preconceptions I had about what a fraternity man should be,” said another.
Other Greek life groups have come to the same conclusion. This year, a total of six fraternities and five sororities at Clemson welcomed students from ClemsonLIFE.
According to McGee, this will be a game changer. He believes that something magical happens when you fully accept this from others. And then he adds that when he’s with his fraternity brothers, “My disability doesn’t really exist.”
Steve Hartman
