I went to a big southern (US) university and sororities were definitely in full force. That was mid- late-80s. Although the statistics said that only 20% of the student body were members of sororities and fraternities, it seemed like much, much more at the time.

I did not join one despite having a multi-generational legacy claim to Chi Omega. I was a bit of a rebel and thought that joining a sorority was conforming or something. I dunno, it might have been a good experience in some ways. I kindof got lost in such a big university, with no subset of people to belong to. I have no friends from my university days, for what it's worth (I had friends then, but we've all lost touch). I have friends still from high school and grad school, but not from undergrad. Strange.

I did finally join a co-ed artsy/literary fraternity, but that was an entirely different experience.