As a member of the Rutgers University Greek community, I would be the first to tell you that fraternity and sorority life is in some serious trouble. And, unfortunately, that trouble doesn't only exist on our campus, but on college campuses all over the country. One too many bad decisions have caused Greeks to gain the reputation of drinkers, partiers and other monikers that are better left unsaid. I'll leave those few choice words up to your imagination. As a result of these bad decisions and horrible reputations that have built up over years and years of membership, we have ultimately dug ourselves into a hole that will be extremely difficult to climb out of. One more wrongdoing could lead to the end of what we consider to be our home away from home—our brothers and sisters, through bond and promise, that are there for us when our biological families are too far away.

Instead of shying away from a situation such as this, it would be wise for the Greek community, as a whole, to remember why we pledged an oath to the organizations that we each chose. We need to prove to both the outside world, and to ourselves, that we are members of these organizations for honest reasons and for the foundations that they were each originally built upon.

Here is a list of a few Greek-organized events that have taken place on Rutgers University campus this past year, each proving that fraternities and sororities do much more good than harm.

1. GI Theta Chi: The Theta Chi chapter at Rutgers recently held their annual GI Theta Chi event at their fraternity house on one of the most beautiful spring days that we have had so far. Teams of ten people were able to participate and compete in the carnival-style event that included a blow-up obstacle course, water games and a cookout barbecue. All of the proceeds raised by Theta Chi were donated to the United Service Organizations directly supporting our nation's veterans who have served our country.

2. Delta Gamma Anchor Splash: The sisters of Delta Gamma organized their annual, week-long Anchor Splash at the beginning of this past fall semester. Numerous organizations on campus compete against each other in events such as Capture the Anchor, Sight Night, Most Beautiful Eyes, Anchor Man and Anchor Splash, the final event of the week. All proceeds raised throughout the week are sent to the Delta Gamma Foundation. These sisters do an amazing job of bringing awareness to and financially supporting Service for Sight, an organization specifically for those who are visually impaired.

3. Phi Mu Casino Night: During the fall semester, the sisters of Phi Mu held their very first Casino Night event. Open to all who wished to participate, the sisters hosted twelve separate casino tables, a silent auction, a 50/50 raffle and endless rounds of bingo. It was an amazing night filled with poker, laughs and the Greek community coming out to support one another. The Phi Mu sisters were proud to announce that they raised $2,300 during the night, all of which benefited Children's Miracle Network Hospitals, specifically Children's Specialized Hospital of New Brunswick.

4. Phi Sigma Sigma StRUT for the Kids Fashion Show: The sisters of Phi Sigma Sigma recently hosted their amazing fashion show event that was sponsored by Lilly Pulitzer. Greek life representatives walked the runway modeling Lilly Pulitzer clothing, followed by RU4Kids patient children and their families. There was also a large raffle contest and a ton of door prizes. This event was a great way to see the Greek community interact with the children of Embrace Kids and bring a smile to their little faces. All proceeds raised during this event benefitted Embrace Kids and Dance Marathon.

5 Pike Dream Girl: Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity hosted their annual Pike Dream Girl contest in early February of this year. All seven sororities on campus competed in the week-long even, each day of the week serving as a different way to earn points for their team. The daily events included the Kick Off event, a banner/cooler decorating competition, an RU Hungry pizza-buying contest, Buy-A-Pike, a food/baked goods competition and the ultimate Dream Girl Pageant. There were also numerous fundraising pages for each sorority, as well as a ticket sales profit and a hashtag competition. Overall, Pike raised an incredible $17,000 for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

6. Sigma Chi Derby Days: Derby Days is one of the most anticipated annual events among the Greek community, and the brothers of Sigma Chi make it happen. Popular among the fraternities at Rutgers, this is also a week-long competition during which each sorority forms a team and competes against one another for the ultimate prize. Events such as field events and a huge lip sync competition draw support from Rutgers students, their families and university alumni. Sigma Chi raised an incredible $185,000 at the Rutgers University chapter alone this year, all of which was donated to Children's Miracle Network Hospitals, the fraternity's national philanthropy. These brothers could not have done a better job with this event.

7. Dance Marathon: Although Dance Marathon is not organized by the Rutgers Greek community, a huge portion of its participants and staff that work behind the scenes are proud members of fraternities and sororities on campus. Taking place just a week ago, dancers and volunteers alike stood on their feet and stayed awake for 30 hours straight, withstanding exhaustion and pain for an amazing cause. Dance Marathon is a massive event that students look forward to for the entire year. Out of the 804 dancers that participated this year, over 90% of them were from the Greek community, which speaks so highly of what fraternities and sororities do in order to give back to those who are less fortunate. It is all about being a part of something that is bigger than yourself and Greeks are able to do that through this event. 2015 was a record breaking year for DM, raising $692,046.67 for the Embrace Kids Foundation.