Prior to coming to college, I would marvel at my older, college-aged friends and their matching Greek-lettered t-shirts and flower crowns, their "throw what you know" persona and their seemingly perfect Big/Little relationships. I loved the idea of having a group of girls to call my "sisters" and to attend fancy formals and wacky theme parties with; not to mention all of their intricate crafts adorned with their respective group's letters.
"Do you go to the Frats?" Nope, we do not, because my college does not have Greek life. I attend a small, Benedictine college, and, no, it does not bother me one bit. Going to a college whose Greek life department is non-existent has allowed me to focus more on my school work and making friends, and other social opportunities, than whether or not I will get in to a certain sorority.
Instagram accounts like Total Frat Move and Total Sorority Move give us outsiders a glimpse of the wilder side to Greek life. With a total of one million followers between both accounts, they successfully show crazy parties, broken bones and innumerable games of dizzy bat. Not having Greek life at my college may be the administration's attempt at preventing those actions listed above from happening. Potentially, not having Greek life may be for the benefit of my college's reputation. There have been many stories of Greek Organizations chanting obscene, offensive things, and even hazing incidents that result in serious injury or death. Incidents like these can cause defamation of the college or university, which oftentimes leave a negative mark for a very long time.
However, very few Greek organizations have such a cloud of a negative reputation surrounding them. Many Greek organizations participate in large amounts of philanthropic work each year, spending hours upon hours volunteering and fundraising. Such work results in the contribution of millions of dollars of donations to various groups, such as Service for Sight (Delta Gamma) and Make A Wish (Chi Omega) and, for that, I commend you.
In the end, I love my college, with or without Greek life, and I would not change a single thing. I have found my own "sisters" without being involved in Greek life, and I couldn't be happier.
