Gifted University Males in a Greek Fraternity: Creating a Culture of Achievement

Abstract

The gifted education community has called for more research examining gifted students during their collegiate experience. The study described in this article examined gifted university males involved in a Greek fraternity. Through a qualitative case study research design, the investigation examined the collegiate careers of 5 gifted, high-achieving university males to understand how their fraternity experience influenced their achievement. Major findings uncovered in chronicling the university careers of the 5 gifted males included the following: focusing on athletics rather than academics during high school, recruitment to the fraternity as high potential contributors, the fraternity as a bridge to student leadership on campus, and the benefits of a culture of well-rounded achievers striving for self-improvement. Implications of the findings are presented, as are suggestions for meeting the educational needs of gifted males in university settings.