Carrie Sheffield,
Normally, I wouldn’t feel the need to address something said about Greek life in the news. Everything that is shown to the public regarding Greek life, tends to put a negative light on it. I’m not going to lie to you, there are negative aspects of Greek life, and those tend to be the main points of interest for the media. And unfortunately, our reputation has been ruined by a few. However, your hurtful words about a community of hardworking young people just add to the problem. Nobody ever seems to share the incredible things these people do in and around their community every single day.
While you talk about binge drinking and partying, 40 new potential new members chose to join a sisterhood of 100 girls that will eventually become their bridesmaids, roommates, study buddies, and most importantly life long friends. You also probably didn’t realize that when these girls have a problem, and need a strong support system behind them, they would have those 100 sisters to be there every step of the way.
While you talk about wasting the taxpayer’s dollar, hundreds of chapters of different sororities and fraternities are holding campus wide events to raise money for their respective charities, (St. Jude, Children’s Miracle Network Hospital, Service for Sight, Autism Speaks, Make-A-Wish Foundation, the Susan G Komen Foundation, and the Ronald McDonald House, just to name a few).
While you talk about academics, and how the students not involved in Greek life put more emphasis on them, aspiring nurses are studying for their big chemistry test, and journalism majors are writing their articles about the first week of classes. A chapter is celebrating their achievement as the highest GPA in Greek Village. A sister was put on probation because she failed Econ, but her sisters are helping her get back on track so that her probation can be lifted next semester.
So yes, you’re right; Greeks do party, and yes, some people may binge drink, just like every other college student. We party hard, but we work hard too. Every Greek has a creed that we strive to follow every day. We have fun, but we also study hard, and strive to make the community we live in a better place. We have a little saying: those on the outside will never understand it, and the people on the inside will never be able to explain it.
Before you make a broad assumption about a community of individuals that do much more than binge drink, you should learn about the positive things that we do too. Not only have you offended me, but you have also offended my sisterhood, and so many other organizations across the country. When it comes down to it, your opinion doesn’t matter. We are all strong, hardworking individuals, who have the power to do anything we put our minds to. The Greek community is a force to be reckoned with, and trust me; an ignorant individual with a stereotypical assumption is not going to slow us down one bit.
Sincerely,
The Greeks
