College student with Down syndrome joins fraternity: ‘Joy and light that we were missing’

Like many college students, Charlie McGee wanted to join a fraternity. But McGee is not your typical college student; he has Down syndrome. But that didn’t keep him from being a part of Greek life on campus.

McGee toured Clemson University in South Carolina, and immediately wanted to know the process for joining a fraternity. While some other students with intellectual disabilities were involved with campus frats, they hadn’t gone through the entire rush process, which McGee wanted. He hoped for the entire experience.

“Charlie has two older brothers and he has always followed in their footsteps,” his mom, Alana McGee, told TODAY. “They both went to college and were in fraternities, so he expected to do the same.”

Clemson frat opens its arms to student with special needs

McGee told CBS News that he wanted to join a fraternity “to have a great time and experience the brotherhood and more joy.” He is part of the ClemsonLIFE program, which helps prepare students with intellectual disabilities to get jobs and live independently. Though the opportunity is great for students like McGee, when it came to Greek life, it made things harder. No fraternity has accepted a ClemsonLIFE student before.

Yet McGee didn’t just make it through the rush process; he was one of the most popular pledges among all the campus fraternities. He received bids from four fraternities, including his first choice: Pi Kappa Alpha (PIKE).

“Charlie is really popular,” PIKE treasurer Zach Freeman told TODAY. “We were worried. We were thinking, ‘This kid isn’t going to (choose) us.’”

Footage of McGee accepting the bid to join PIKE quickly went viral; in it, a joy-filled McGee ran to his new brothers, even coming out of one of his shoes in the process. “That was one of the coolest moments at Clemson that we had, was seeing that right there,” one of the PIKE brothers told CBS News.

One of the rules of the ClemsonLIFE program is that participants can’t attend Greek events where alcohol is served. But McGee can participate in his fraternity in other ways, going to activities like the weekly Bible studies, parents weekend, and the homecoming float build. And, of course, there’s just the ability to be with his new brothers. “I like watching sports with my brothers and hanging out with them and forming connections,” McGee said.

“I was so excited,” McGee told TODAY. “They do great things. I wanted to be a part of that.”

While some initially were skeptical that a student with intellectual disabilities could thrive at a fraternity, McGee is proving them all wrong. “Charlie brings the light to our chapter house,” Freeman said. “He’s so knowledgeable in all areas of football and just life in general. He brought the happiness we didn’t know we were missing.” He also said that McGee embodied “the four Pillars of Pike” – Scholars, Leaders, Athletes and Gentleman – “to a T.”

“He kind of broke all the preconceived notions that I thought of that a fraternity man should be like,” another PIKE brother said. And evidently, more people agree; a total of six fraternities and five sororities at Clemson have since welcomed students from ClemsonLIFE this year.

McGee said he’s accepted just for who he is when he’s with his fraternity. When he’s with them, he says, “My disability, it doesn’t really exist.”

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