There are twenty-four letters in the Greek alphabet. If every Greek organization only had two letters, there could be 276 different organizations. If they all had three, we would have 2,024 different organizations. Our letters are different, but the reason we have letters, the reason we wear them and the reason we put every ounce of pride in them is anything but different. When we compete in intramurals, the competitive nature creates the illusion that we probably hate each others guts...for 60 minutes. During Greek Week and Homecoming, we might be at each others necks pomping little pieces of tissue paper, perfecting a four-minute dance and texting all 100 members of your fraternity or sorority to get their brothers and sisters to a place for participation points. If we erase our minds of the negativity, anger, frustration, and put everything in perspective, we can look beyond the differences in letters, colors, "throw what you know", personalities and mottos. What do you see? I see scholars, philanthropists, volunteers, perseverance, strength, purpose and most of all...fraternity.

Fraternity is defined as a group of people who share a common perfusion or interest. Even our own Alpha Delta Pi, Pi Beta Phi, Alpha Phi, Zeta Tau Alpha, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Chi Omega and Delta Gamma were all founded as fraternities. Whether it is a brotherhood or sisterhood, it is fraternity. When we lose perspective, we can sometimes lose sight of that idea. For example, during competitions, we lower our guards to the idea of fraternity and how important it truly is. We get caught up in being the best on campus, which is perfectly fine, but answer this question: Who truly wins homecoming and Greek week? Team 4? Team Rho? No. Who wins homecoming? The Denton community! Who wins Greek Week? How about the kids at Cook's Children Hospital? In our competitive fire, we ignite hope and service to our UNT community. Though we lose sight of that idea, good still comes out of it. We continue to look into better ways to use competition to our benefit, but if you look closer and refuse to lose that perspective on the purpose of these competitions and festivities, we are left with Greek Unity personified in the brothers and sisters of UNT Greek Life.

Now there are times where our perspective intensifies, especially in times where it is all we have. Never in my life would I have imagined seeing three of our sisters in our Greek community lose their lives within a year. The loss of Marilynn Alvarez, Meera Thomas and Sara Mutschlechner was difficult to bear. Sara, who most recently passed away, was shot while making sure her friends got home safely as the designated driver. Sara, Marilynn and Meera represented their letters well, which can be recognized in the values of Greek Life. Despite the loss of these young women, I've witnessed something strong, resilient and beautiful that not even death cannot change. If Greek Unity was absent, the ladies of Kappa Delta, Delta Kappa Delta, and Zeta Tau Alpha would have cried within the security of their own houses. Instead, we cried with them, we walked with them, we stood with them. We dropped our guard and stood by our sisters and expressed our feelings not as individuals, but as one voice. Standing around the flag pole outside of Willis, the Campus Green in front of Sage Hall to release balloons, and holding a candle outside the Greek Life Center, we stood together as one. In times of loss, Greek Unity is all we had. It was all we could lean on and it was all we could appreciate in times of mourning.

If we lean on Greek Unity, why do we question its existence? Why can we not accept that Greek Unity is what allows our Greek system to grow and flourish? We are simply afraid of what we do not understand. I don't understand the secrets and brotherhoods of the other IFC, MGC and NPHC fraternities. I don't understand the origins of strolling and stepping from an Alpha Phi Alpha Inc. or Zeta Phi Beta. I don't understand the idea of a probate of a Kappa Delta Chi or Sigma Lambda Beta as well as some of the customs and traditions of my own IFC council fraternities. However, every problem in this world has this same notion. When we fear what we don't understand, it sparks conflict, prejudice and eventually discrimination. From racial tensions between authority and poverty to religious persecution against Muslims or of other faiths, fear from the lack of understanding has led to these issues. As Greek students at UNT, we hold prejudice against those who are different. For example, one may not understand why Chi Omega uses the owl as one of their symbols, why Delta Sigma Theta and Iota Phi Theta begin strolling and taking over Library Mall and why FIJI doesn't ever use their actual Greek letters Phi Gamma Delta. We believe Greek Unity cannot exist because of all these secrets and differences. Since we do not understand, we simply hold slight prejudice and create our own perception of these "other people." We simply lose sight of what is important and what is right and discriminate to make ourselves feel more comfortable. But what if we have a better understanding? Entering recruitment, you may have had your own judgments on the fraternity and sorority you were initiated into. All you obtained from pledgeship was an understanding of the secrets, history, symbols and brothershood/sisterhood of your organization. Why can we not learn more about other brotherhoods and sisterhoods? Why not give an effort to understand those that are different? Think about it. If we did this in our own society with the conflicts such as Muslim discrimination, maybe we would be more understanding of Muslims and their customs as if we would be more understanding of FIJI and that their letters cannot be inscribed on anything that cannot be easily destroyed.

Whether you believe it or not, Greek Unity is there. It may be clouded by the false judgments and lack of understanding, but behind it, it is there. We are strong and united as one voice. Fraternity is our common interest. Our competitive nature aids those who give us everything. The loss of one organization's brother or sister is the loss of a whole community of Greek organizations. Do not allow yourself to be caught up in the idea that one chapter is better than the other nine or so in your council. We are unified under brotherhood/sisterhood, scholarship, service and leadership.