While she wasn't living according to her Catholic faith at the time, Summerford said that Moran's friendship and bible study transformed her outlook on how she could live as a Catholic on a college campus.
"FOCUS helps us prioritize God into our college schedule and...talk to other college students about God without feeling uncomfortable," she said. "It's been really helpful to get students together to talk about God and how to live out your faith on a day-to-day basis."
Now a senior, Summerford is putting her nursing career on hold for now and will join FOCUS as a missionary, where she hopes to continue to do more outreach with Greek college students.
"I'm excited to help college students live out their faith...because I needed that when I was in college," she said. "Becoming a part of FOCUS Greek taught me way more (about living as a Catholic) than I would have ever been able to learn on my own."
Alex Sanchez is a FOCUS Greek missionary at Kansas State University, and has served as a FOCUS Greek missionary on other college campuses for the past four years. While he was not Greek during his own undergraduate years, Sanchez says he thinks the FOCUS Greek ministry model is successful because it meets students in their natural environment and takes advantage of some of the positive aspect of Greek life.
"It just leverages what's already in place," he told CNA. "It's a college-based ministry so the ministry looks at how the college campus is structured and it sends its missionaries strategically into these places as well. It acknowledges that the Greek world is really big on campus so it's kind of like St. Paul, becoming all things to all people."
Greek students, while they might not be in the most morally virtuous environments in their sororities or fraternities, are typically highly committed and loyal people, which are natural virtues that can be built upon in the Christian life, Sanchez said.
"A lot of Greek students go all out for their fraternity or sorority - they wear the letters, they go to the meetings, they're committed to showing up to all the events, they're committed to recruiting...and they're contagious as well, they want to share what they have and bring other people to it, which is just a very natural foundation to build discipleship," Sanchez said.
This year, Sanchez also got to serve as the master of ceremonies for a Legacy conference, the first conferences offered by FOCUS specifically for Greek students.
"It was for all Greek students but especially those on the fringe," Sanchez said, "so it was cool because students who wouldn't necessarily come to other conferences felt like this was a true open door. We had a lot of students who hadn't gone to a bible study all year, had never gone to a conference, be open to coming."
The conference was based on the basic questions of "What is the Christian life?" and "What does it look like to live the Christian life on a college campus?"
(Story continues below)
Subscribe to our daily newsletter
Summerford also attended a Legacy conference, and she said it was inspiring to be surrounded by Greek students who were all seeking God in some way.
"Just looking around when we're in adoration and seeing other college students on their knees praying and realizing that you're not alone when you're living out your faith is really cool," she said, "and I think that the conferences do a really good job of teaching us but also bringing us together."
While Greek students often have the natural virtues of leadership and commitment, Sanchez added that FOCUS missionaries also address with their students what they call "The Big Three": chastity, sobriety, and excellence.
"Obviously it can be a stereotype, but it's also a reality that when you have a whole bunch of men or women living together there can be a lot of partying, drinking, the hookup culture, just really poor relationships in general," Sanchez said.
There's also the tendency to prioritize Greek life above all other commitments and to give in to moral temptation in order "to fit in, rather than to follow the relationship with the Lord," Sanchez said.
But once Greek students start becoming friends with missionaries and seeing the fruits of the Gospel in their houses, they can become some of the most powerful evangelizers, Sanchez added.