Student with special needs finds acceptance, brotherhood in Clemson fraternity

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

But as much as the program offers, junior Charlie McGee wanted the whole college experience, from alpha to omega. McGee told CBS News he wanted to join a fraternity in order "to have a great time and experience the brotherhood and more joy."

Unfortunately, rushing a fraternity is a process. There are interviews and mixers, and even then, there's no guarantee of acceptance. In fact, no Clemson fraternity had ever taken a student from the ClemsonLIFE program. This marked the first year that members of the program could rush fraternities.

Last month, when McGee found out he had received a bid from Phi Kappa Alpha, he was so excited he ran out of his left shoe and into the loving arms of his new fraternity brothers.

"That was one of the coolest moments at Clemson that we had, was seeing that right there," one of the members of Phi Kappa Alpha told CBS News.

Several fraternity brothers told CBS News that, at first, some members doubted a person with Down Syndrome could fit in with the group. But they were willing to help McGee, only to learn later that McGee was the one actually helping 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 all the preconceived notions that I thought of that a fraternity man should be like," 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 something magical happens whenever you're accepted this fully by others. And then he adds that when he's with his fraternity brothers, "My disability, it doesn't really exist."