With all of the recent issues that have been occurring in Greek Life around the country, many Greeks are likely feeling angry, upset and confused, and are trying to find a way to move forward from these incidents. Many people, most of whom likely do not understand Greek Life, are calling for the closure of the Greek system — a system that has, in many cases, nearly 200 years of rich history.
While I do not defend any heinous actions that have occurred on campuses recently, I will be the first to say that, as a proud member of Greek Life, I know that the vast majority of organizations do to practice immoral actions, nor do they intentionally hurt anyone in ways that are illegal, insensitive or downright deplorable. Unfortunately, to those not involved in Greek Life, the few bad examples are what are used to form opinions on the system as a whole. The purpose of this article is not to start a debate about the Greek system and the culture of Greek Life, but rather to express my ideas about how Greeks can begin to overcome these incidents and prove to the outside world that we will not tolerate deplorable behavior and will continue to practice our values. This will take time and many steps, but to me, the first step is obvious: Greeks must band together and respect one another if we expect anyone to respect us.
At a time like this, unity among organizations who are living up to the standards and morals that they profess need to lean on one another in order to understand what has happened and make sure that it does not happen ever again. This begins with cutting out the competition and cattiness that often exists between organizations. Many, many times, organizations will feel that they are better or worse than other organizations because of whom they socialize with, how their members look or dress, how wealthy their members are or what kind of parties they attend and host. This is not what Greek Life is about. Greek Life was founded upon the principles of brotherhood and sisterhood, not just within our own organizations, but also within Greek Life as a whole.
This unity can begin in a number of different ways. To begin with, we need to stop being critical of other organizations based on what we have heard about them on websites and what we know of a few members. This starts with stepping out of our comfort zones and meeting people in social circles other than those with whom we normally hang out. We need to judge other organizations based on who the members are, not simply by the letters they wear. Many people join their organization because they feel at home there, and if that is not why they joined their organization, then they are in it for the wrong reasons. Therefore, no one deserves to be judged for being themselves and finding a place that is comfortable for them. When we take time get to know people in other organizations, we find that an overwhelming amount of the time, they do not fulfill the stereotype of their organization. The bottom line is clear: We need to treat other organizations with the respect and dignity with which we want our own organizations to be treated.
As Greeks, we are clearly aware of all of the positive impacts that Greek Life has on the community and on ourselves as individuals. The recent, shameful actions of Greek chapters around the country do not, in any way, reflect the culture of the Greek system as a whole. In order to regain the respect of those who doubt the integrity of the Greek system, we need to first respect each other. This begins with joining together in brotherhood and sisterhood — the way our founders intended for us to interact with one another.
