With all the recent Greek hazing incidents happening across the country on college campuses, it is easy for a college student or anyone for that matter to question the purpose of Greek Life at colleges.

When joining a Greek fraternity or sorority, most students join for the friendships, experiences and memories that they will carry with them for years and years after their college career has ended. Not one student joins with the thought that they may be putting their life or well-being at risk just to be accepted in the organization. Being Greek is about making connections and a difference within the community.

Across the country, several universities such as Florida State and Texas State have shut down Greek Life all throughout their campuses. Another university making headlines across the nation is Penn State and its suspension of Greek Life in reaction to the death of a fraternity pledge, Tim Piazza. The family of Tim Piazza has been very focal about their loss and has taken members of the Penn State fraternity to court.

Recently, at the University of Texas, the Greek Council has shut down one of its fraternity chapters for four years due to hazing claims. This incident occurred after other universities across the nation were forced to shut down Greek Life completely. UT has not shut down Greek Life in its whole but has taken this hazing claim seriously. When talking to the Texas University Panhellenic Council, the executive board expressed how they are constantly working to “prevent and have zero tolerance for hazing” within the UT community.

Members of Greek Life are required to complete Risk Management, which is made to inform Greek students about hazing, alcohol and more within the Greek community. While every Greek student is required to complete this, how many students actually sit and pay attention to the information?

When digging deeper into this topic, talking to a non-Greek student was interesting in gathering how someone views Greek Life from the outside. Johnny Goodwin, a non-Greek student at UT, has expressed how UTs Greek Life community is not any different from other Greek Life communities across the country.

When I asked Johnny if he thought UTs Greek Life community was taking the steps to prevent hazing incidents to occur he said, “It’s easy to say that UT has ‘taken a stand’ against hazing, but ultimately it doesn’t seem effective in preventing situations like this since it doesn’t guarantee an intrinsic change in culture.”

Myself being a part of the Greek community, it has never been a concern of mine that I would have to worry about being hazed or participate in any hazing activities. I do believe the hazing policy in sororities is taken much more seriously (in most cases) than fraternities. But recently with all these occurrences within fraternities, I could see the culture of fraternities being forced to change dramatically to stop these incidents from happening again and again.

The Texas University Panhellenic Council did admit that, “the current situations have shed a negative light on Greek Life and some of the credibility of the actions of Greek Life members has been lost,” but the executive board did go on to say that all in all, Greek Life students have dedicated their college life to “scholarship, philanthropy, personal leadership development, and friendship, and are campus leaders, community givers, and world changers.”

I was the first person in my family to ever go Greek, so going into the recruitment process I had very little knowledge of what to expect when pledging a sorority. I believe that after finding my chapter and being apart of this community, Greek Life does have some incredible things to offer that a college student will carry with them years after their college career is over. I have been able to learn things that will equip me for the real world while making connections.

Greek Life's reputation as a whole has definitely been questioned after recent events. Johnny Goodwin went on to state that he believes that “Greek Life at UT hasn’t been affected too much. However, it does place a greater emphasis on the negative aspects of Greek life, especially for those not involved.”

Greek Life will always have a negative image in some peoples' minds but with these recent events, the increase of negativity is current. When looking into fraternities and sororities one must ask themselves why is it that people join? Additionally, the Greek Life community as a whole needs to question whether enough is being done to prevent deaths or injuries from hazing.

For years, joining a fraternity or sorority has been more than just parties and friendships. Rather, it has been about learning leadership skills while doing good for a cause or philanthropy. I know that being Greek is more than all that is being discussed in the news. Being a part of Greek Life, we need to be more cautious and care about the reputation of our organization.

“Although unfortunate events can occur in the Greek Life community, outstanding members make up the community, and lessons are learned so that these incidents can be avoided in the future.” -Texas University Panhellenic Council