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Special needs student finds acceptance and fellowship in Clemson fraternity
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Special needs student finds acceptance and fellowship in Clemson fraternity

Clemson, South Carolina — At Clemson University in South Carolina, the ClemsonLIFE program gives students with intellectual disabilities the chance to learn life skills for independent living.

But assistant Charlie McGee wanted the full college experience, from alpha to omega, as far as the program had to offer. McGee told CBS News he wanted to join a fraternity to “have a great time and experience brotherhood and more joy.”

Unfortunately, rushing fellowship is a process. There are interviews and mixers and even then there is no guarantee of acceptance. In fact, no Clemson fraternity had ever recruited students from the ClemsonLIFE program. This was the first year that program members could run for fraternities.

Last month, when McGee learned he had received an offer from Phi Kappa Alpha, he was so excited that he jumped out of his left shoe and ran into the loving arms of his new fraternity brothers.

“It was one of the best moments we had at Clemson, seeing it right there,” one Phi Kappa Alpha member told CBS News.

Several of the fraternity brothers told CBS News that at first some members were skeptical that a person with Down Syndrome could fit in with the group. However, they were willing to help McGee, only to later find out that McGee was actually the one helping them.

“The joy and light we are missing in our chapter, that we didn’t know we were missing from the beginning, is unreal,” one fraternity member said.

“He kind of broke all the preconceptions I thought a fraternity man should be,” another said.

Other Greek life groups have come to the same conclusion. This year, a total of six fraternities and five sororities at Clemson hosted students from ClemsonLIFE.

According to McGee, this will be a game changer. He believes that something magical happens when you fully accept this by others. Then, when he’s with his siblings, he adds: “I don’t really have a disability.”

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