Proof that Greeks care. A lot.
As a female writer in Greek life, it’s almost a right of passage to write at least one article about the misconceptions behind the “typical sorority girl.” Somewhere along the Greek timeline, that became an insult. My fellow talented female writers have covered that topic in various formats, using various points of views. Since I still have to pay my dues, my article will be a close relative to that idea.
Multiple articles remind readers of the typical Greek stereotypes, which can be summed up with this: Non-Greeks think Greeks are cocky men and women looking to party, caring less about the other members of their house and community. I’m much less bothered with the assumption that we all love to party (partially because that doesn’t stray all too much from the truth), but more by the fact that some question how much we care for fellow Greeks.All sorority women and fraternity men are members of the Greek community, and we don’t use the word “community” lightly. That’s what we are. We’re a community. We’re a family. We don’t call each other “brothers” and “sisters” accidentally. The term family doesn’t just refer to your relations in your own house; it spans to include all of Greek life. Of course we’re not close friends with every member of every house, but we do care for one another. We attend one another’s philanthropies, have councils comprised of members from each house, plan events with other sororities and fraternities and all share Greek values. And when a member of our Greek community is hurt, we all feel the pain.
The Michigan State Greek community has felt pain at multiple points this year, and all have been felt deeply and greatly by every sister and brother, regardless of if they ever even met the parties involved. The death of any member of Greek life is a lost member of our family. Many of us are close with members of various houses, connecting us all somehow to almost the entire community. What I can promise so certainly from my fellow Greeks is that if tragedy strikes our community, those who are hurting have love and support from the rest of us. Heck, I can promise that everyone, Greek or not, who hears about our recent tragedies is sending love. Regardless of if we’re all brave enough to send a message, promising to mention those hurting in our prayers, we all care greatly. What our community does have a knack for is making the best of the bad. When we lose one of our own, we can only send love and prayers where they’re deserved, and remind each member of the Greek community how lucky we are to know them. The only positive one can find after losing someone is being reminded how important it is to be grateful for all those we have, and take the time to send an extra “I love you” to your best friends. Pledging Greek isn’t just an extra curricular, it becomes your existence; it’s not called Greek life for nothing.
