Being a part Greek life, you are immediately associated with the stereotypical thoughts and comments that go along with it. Most of these comments are misconceptions that the we need to set straight. Here are the most common ones I hear:
“Greeks buy their friends."
This is false. Yes, we do pay a lot of money to be in these organizations. But no, we are not all friends with everyone in our house just because we are brothers/sisters. You cannot buy friends with money. If you don’t like someone and aren’t friends, money will not make you friends. What makes us friends are the bonds we form through our involvement in our chapters and in our communities. Words like sisterhood and brotherhood are more than just words to us.
“All Greeks do is party.”
Once again, false. Greeks party but so do a lot of other people … it’s college. Greeks do place importance on the social scene, but that doesn’t mean that that’s the only thing we do. Nearly every chapter hosts a philanthropy event sometime throughout the year benefitting a charity or organization. We also do lots of community service throughout the year. In fact, most of us are required to log service hours to be members.
“Greeks don’t care about their grades.”
Surprise — this one isn't true either. We all came to college for the same reason: to get a degree. Just because we are Greek does not mean that we have given up on anything related to school. In fact, Greeks have a higher overall average GPA than non-Greeks at Purdue and most chapters have a minimum GPA requirement for membership.
“People don’t have friends outside their house.”
As anyone reading this knows, we all have friends outside our own house. Some of my best friends are in different sororities or not even Greek. Your letters don’t define who you can and can’t be friends with.
“All sorority girls do is make shirts and craft things.”
From my own personal experience, I can tell you that this is not true. I am not a crafty person, but I still manage to get by. Whenever anyone needs help crafting, there are certain girls in the house that everyone goes to for help. Not everyone is crafty, but luckily, crafting isn’t everything in a sorority. After all, it’s the thought that counts, right?
So next time you hear a misconception about Greek life, defend it and be proud to be part of such a great organization!
