After a year of working for a Greek life newspaper, I have really gotten to see how wonderful being a part of this community can be. It’s really hard to explain what being a part of a fraternity or sorority means unless you have experienced it yourself. Try as we might to explain the benefits, like philanthropy, camaraderie and other pros of being affiliated with a chapter, unaffiliated people continue to make generalizations and assumptions about everyone in the Greek system.
It’s by no means a perfect system. Just check out the cons below. However, just as with every organization on campus, there are incredible pros as well.
Cons
People assume you fit the stereotype.
Fraternity: “Yeah, bro, I just chased my protein shake with some brews. Lemme put on my frattire and I’ll be at TRL to get blacked.”
Sorority: “OMG. I can’t even, right now. I’ve had like three vodka water limes and am so schwaysty pantsed, but like I can’t get drunk food cause I’m on a juice cleanse. My life is tha woooorst.”
Are there people who act like that? The answer is, an unfortunate, yes. However, they do not represent the majority of people in the Greek system. Basing your opinion on an entire community from a few is pretty ignorant but, for some reason, people tend to forget that when talking about Greek students.
You’re called elitist and judgmental
Is there a process to get into a fraternity or sorority? Of course. Rush is a major part of any chapter because it dictates who the new members will be and how they will represent your house once you are graduated. It’s not an easy thing to go through, being evaluated and, in some cases, rejected.
Just because Greek life has a selection process, it doesn’t make it elitist or judgmental. How many organizations have an application process on this campus? I can tell you it’s more than just the Greek system. I always find it ironic that people are so judgmental of Greek life without having any experience with it. It’s pretty hypocritical.
The rush process is not in place to be mean. It is there to help recruits find the right house for them. If a person goes through the process and takes it seriously, they will find a place. It might not be the one they originally thought but, more often than not, the process leads recruits to the perfect house for them.
Just because you go out a lot people assume you are failing
One of the major perks of being in Greek life is having a great social calendar. However, I often hear unaffiliated members saying Greek students are dumb or in easy majors because they are out so much.
Something they might not know is that every house has set standards for academics. Generally, if a member doesn’t meet those standards they are not allowed to attend social events until they raise their grades. So all of those people you see for Greek events have met their house standard. It might also surprise some that the average undergrad Greek GPA is higher than the unaffiliated undergrad GPA.
Pros
I could list enough pros to fill several pages. Philanthropy, social events, brotherhood and sisterhood, a sense of community and so much more are part of the experience.
I could list all the positive things that have made my time in a fraternity great, but the experience is so different for everyone that one has to experience to figure out the best parts for them.
Love going out? Want to be involved in student government? Enjoy volunteering? Have a blast a philanthropy events? Want to make a group of friends who will become the closest people in your life? Then give Greek life a chance. If you don’t like it because of one bad event, give it another try with a different chapter.
Our school has over 50 chapters, which means there is a house out there for everyone. If not, start your own with values you want to live by. Just don’t pass up the chance for a Greek life experience. You won’t know how great it can be unless you give it a try.
