Business meetings of today and tomorrow are likely to involve secret handshakes as part of the meeting. This is a possibility, given that about a quarter of all chief executives on the Forbes Super 500 list of American’s largest corporations were members of college fraternities.

According to data released by the National Interfraternal Conference, fraternities are building social skills and connections that advance members to the CEO level of companies. This data suggests that there is more to fraternal life than what was touted in the movie “Animal House.” If not just for the social skills learned, members of fraternities are able to network to other “brothers or sisters” in who are already in high-level positions in major companies in the business world.

The suggestion that being in a fraternity can contribute to success is supported by more than just the Forbe’s magazine article. Further data released by the Interfraternal Conference shows that reputable people through history have had fraternal ties. Fraternities nationwide are responsible for spawning 48 percent of all U.S. presidents, 42 percent of U.S. senators, 30 percent of U.S. congressmen, and 40 percent of U.S. Supreme Court justices.

Two of UTM's IFC fraternities ranked among the top five fraternities in the nation for producing CEOs of companies. Among them were Sigma Alpha Epsilon, who tied for second place with nine CEOs. Alpha Tau Omega came in fourth place nationally with seven members being CEOs of companies.