Recently, I have noticed an influx of stories, articles and actions that have been occurring across college campuses and social media that bash Greek life. As a member of a fraternity, I’m used to getting some odd reactions from people and the usual stigma that surrounds fraternities in general, but it’s gotten much worse in the past year. I understand why people have preconceived notions of what a fraternity is like. I’ve seen the movies, too, and heard the stories but that’s not the reality of what they are today.
Fraternities, today, are much calmer and grounded than what most imagine what they are which is rather outdated. "Animal House" and similar movies all show the crazy and ridiculous things that happened in fraternities, but that’s from a period where society, in general, was much more rebellious as a whole. Yet as outdated as that image might be, we are still seen as the hell-raising and uncontrollable mass of testosterone filled young adults who have nothing better to do than party until the sun rises and skim by in our classes. I don't think that thought could be more wrong when looking at fraternities today.
As a senior, I have seen three previous classes graduate before me that have all carried a different view on what being in a fraternity means and none of it was what you can call Animal House-esque. In fact, fraternities are actually starting to become alcohol-free, such as my fraternity Phi Delta Theta. We celebrated 15 years of being an alcohol-free fraternity organization last year.
Not only are some deciding to go alcohol-free, they’re working to improve their image in both the community and the eyes of those who all have the stereotypical image of fraternities. Having more brotherhood events centered around getting out in the community and helping those in need to beat the stigmatized view of those who are members of fraternities. Personally, my fraternity runs a relay ball from Wabash to DePauw -- or vice versa -- for the past three years to raise money for ALS research. Now tell me, is that anything the fraternities in movies and shows would do? I don’t think it is, and that’s why we need to mold our new image in the eyes of the public.
Even recently we are being given a bad image with James Franco’s new movie, "Goat" starring Nick Jonas where they claim that the story they show is the story of every single one of those young men when it clearly isn’t their experiences at all. I can assure you that every fraternity man I know well has never had to endure the treatment they depict in the movie. If you want to make a movie about fraternities, how about you show what they are today instead of what happened in the past. Show the camaraderie and the sense of pride that comes with each member, the way they have somebody to rely on at all times for academic help or when they’re in a pinch. Show that side of fraternities instead of what they were when my grandparents were in college if you want the true story, then we can begin to reshape how society and universities see us.
