Greek life in colleges often get mixed reviews. It is important to note that the primary intention of a fraternity or sorority is to serve the community in a positive way one way or another as well as form a lifelong bond between members that can last beyond the collegiate years. There are countless negative stereotypes smacked onto members of these groups, but they don't always apply. Some of these hurtful stereotypes include being disrespectful towards women, violently hazing new members, and binge drinking. It is also commonly believed that fraternity boys are “daddy's money” in that they don’t have pay for themselves and are supported by rich parents. There is nothing further from the truth regarding the Zeta Theta chapter of Alpha Sigma Phi at UNC Asheville. In order to get the truth, I went on a mission to gather data and evidence about fraternities at UNC Asheville.

After interviewing several members of Alpha Sigma Phi, I learned about all kinds of things that put those stereotypes to rest. These range from the varying socioeconomic backgrounds of the members (many of whom pay for their tuition and dues out of pocket) to their staunch stance against free flowing booze. The chapter was founded in 2010, so being a relatively new chapter they want to set the precedent for Greek life on UNCA’s campus. But in spite of all this, some students at UNCA stick to what they've heard about fraternities and their members to form a bias that hurts the efforts of fraternity members to gain traction within the community. One incident was at the Student government meeting, where someone stated that, “Greek life is not representative of UNCA students, in that minorities are not welcome within their group.” This came from someone who received a bid from Alpha Sigma Phi, denied the bid, then called the fraternity racist. Some brothers even reported that students stopped speaking with them because they chose to affiliate with Greek life. One member of Alpha Sigma Phi received a handwritten note calling him an “imperialistic bastard" just because he was a brother in Alpha Sigma Phi. I know the person this was directed towards and have been friends with them for a while, and he is not in any way "imperialistic." Not only is that a false insult, but it's a very strange insult as well. You don't see UNC Asheville fraternity members going around sending hate mail, it's people who have flawed stereotypical views of fraternities who do the hating. When someone sends hate mail to someone in a fraternity because of what they think a fraternity is like without truly knowing the person what does that say about the sender of the hate mail? Not very good things. Frankl,y it’s shocking that some people in an open-minded community such as UNCA would refuse to even listen to someone because of their affiliation with greek life. While I am not personally involved with Greek Life, I am still friends with people who are, and they are not any less of a good person because of their involvement. The majority of the young lads in Alpha Sigma Phi did not plan on being in a fraternity in college, and are the furthest thing you would expect from a so-called “frat boy,” I talked with many of the members and all of them were polite and courteous.

Specifically, in Asheville the community lifestyles are different, and the fraternities at UNC Asheville are different as well. People often get blindsided when they hear "fraternity" or "Greek Life" and associate those people with reckless, dominating or foul behaviors, and they don't allow for the exceptions.

Alpha Sigma Phi was founded on five values, and all members are expected to hold themselves to them. These values are silence, charity, purity, honor and patriotism. The fraternity also recently announced a new partnership with Aware Awake Alive which is dedicated to educating teens of the dangers of alcohol poisoning. This obviously counteracts the reckless drinking stereotype associated with most fraternities. Asheville fraternities are different from say Zac Efron's in "Neighbors." The young men in this fraternity hold themselves to high standards, although they do not act like they are entitled. When they wear their letters in public, they are not flaunting their status, they are actually being brave and standing up for their belief of the goodness of their group while many people may see the Greek letters and avoid them altogether due to the tainted history of fraternities.

Here are some things they have been actively doing to serve the community.

Hopefully, this article will help to spread awareness that Greek life doesn't have to be tainted by negative stereotypes. It really discredits the good people within in them when you assume. At UNCA, all of Greek life simply wants to do their best to make a positive impact on the community.