When I first visited and toured K-State's campus, I sought out to join a fraternity. I was excited to be apart of something bigger. A lot of my family had been in a fraternity. Almost everyone I knew encouraged me to join a frat. Even after visiting a few different chapters in Manhattan, I felt like I was meant to be apart of one.
As I waited and waited in May to hear if I got a bid or not from a house, I became anxious. I found myself wondering why I hadn't heard back from anyone. Today, as a sophomore at K-State, I still have yet to get that phone call.
And so because of that, by default I became a "GDI," or, a goddamn independent, as a few of my friends have so graciously explained.
As a campus tour guide, I would always get questions about fraternity and sorority life at K-State. The statistic we are given as tour guides is that 20 percent of student body makes up Greek life; however, I've been told that 80 percent of leadership positions on campus are held by members of Greek life. In my opinion, there's something wrong with this statistic.
How are we supposed to showcase proportional representation on our campus when the power is skewed in favor of one division that doesn't even construct a majority of the student body?
Coincidentally, as I'm writing this, I had a friend reply to a picture I had posted on my Snapchat story asking, "What frat are you in tho?" I'm assuming he made the joke because I'm wearing a Patagonia jacket in the picture, which adds to my frustration. So now it seems that I can't even wear a certain piece of clothing without people assuming I'm in a fraternity.
The purpose of this article isn't to talk bad about Greek life, or paint a negative picture of those involved, but I think it's important to address the elephant in the room: K-State is a heavily Greek-influenced campus, and when that begins to limit what those who aren't involved with Greek life can do or get involved with, that's where I see a problem.
Example 1: I've heard about some students who were told they couldn't be on the team to play in a sports tournament simply because they weren't in a fraternity or sorority.
Example 2: A friend of mine, who's a GDI, joined the University Homecoming Committee this year and out of about 50 positions on the committee, they were one of approximately six who weren't affiliated with Greek.
Example 3: This summer I worked in a Greek-heavy office on campus. What I mean by that is that out of the approximately 50 student employees, there was about only a handful of us that, you guessed it, weren't in a sorority or fraternity.
This is what I mean when I say there's something wrong with that statistic.
I can count multiple times where I have felt left out because I'm a GDI. And now as an RA, I hear my residents saying the exact same thing. A few have even chose to move out at semester into a fraternity because they want more out of their K-State experience. Who can blame them, though? Hell, if I had gotten offered a bid at the end of my senior year, I would've jumped at the opportunity, and well, I probably wouldn't be writing this article right now.
I've even so much as been asked, "How do I get involved on campus when I'm not in a fraternity?" I think this is a question that a lot of GDIs have asked themselves. I know I did.
You see, to me it feels like an uphill battle. I feel as though I have to work harder to prove myself to these people that even though I'm not in a fraternity, I'm just as qualified as any other K-Stater for the position, whether it be as a Wildcat-Warm Up Leader or Orientation Leader, a member of Student Alumni Board or Student Governing Association or even in my place of employment from the summer.
Greek life encourages exclusivity. We see this when a male GDI walks into a frat party but is asked to leave within five minutes of being there because he's a "liability". That male GDI was me during the first week at K-State.
We see this exclusivity during homecoming week when every event is geared towards anything and everything Greek. Meanwhile every other group participating, whether it be a residence hall or club scrambles just to get representation and participation from their organization. But again, who can blame them?
So, what's next?
I think it's necessary to have conversations like these and explore the root causes of why Greek life continues to dominate K-State's campus. My hope is that we see more representation from all over campus. I hope that my residents can find involvement on campus without having to move midway through the year into a house full of guys or girls. Finally, I hope to see more inclusivity on campus. I think once that becomes prevalent, we'll begin to see a huge shift on campus.
