Greek life is one of the most unique, amazing experiences I have ever been lucky enough to be a part of. It is something you can only be a part of once in your life, and it is one of the most wonderful things I have ever been able to experience. Not to mention, when I put my sorority on my resume, I am so proud of being a part of an organization so great.
There are so many things I can say about Greek Life that are the reasons why I take so much pride and joy in being a part of it. But let me start from the beginning. I always knew growing up I wanted to be a part of a sorority; I have had an older sister in the Greek system, and pretty much all of my older friends from my high school went Greek. But let me tell you, I was wrong from what I thought it was all about. I accused Greek life of only being about partying, and getting together with other frats and throwing huge ragers. And sure, that can be a part of it, but I can’t even begin to tell you, how much more it is than that. Greek life is history. Greek life is all of the alumni that have been in the house before you, and all of the meaning that comes with your chapter. Greek life is about making lifelong friends, and meeting the people that better you. Greek life is coming together as a community, and standing together during the good, and the bad. Greek life is giving back to the community by being involved and being leaders.
To be quite honest, I can be truthful when I say that I have experienced enough this semester to tell you that I will always stand by this community as a student at Washington State University. I know that Greek life has been threatened to be torn down at many schools, like SDSU and ASU. I know that Greek students there stand by their community as much as I would for mine. The fact that authorities try to stop Greek life in these schools blows my mind. Think about the alumni. Think about all that you are throwing away when you try to stop Greek life. It is SO much more than the parties. If partying is the problem, then you have your priorities wrong. You can never stop college students from partying, Greek or not. It's beside the point, and these organizations change people for the better, and I am in no way exaggerating. Greek life is so much more than people make it out to be.
Don't get me wrong, though, sometimes Greek life can have their fair share of fun. But if it does at any University, the solution is never to shut it down for good. If anything, put a hold on the events. This is currently happening at my school, WSU. For one month, we can't have any wet events, and there are regulations on any get together. Although some thought it was the end of the world, as did I for a hot second, I can speak for most of my peers that this is for the better for us. At least we know we still have our Greek community, it's not gone for good. We just need to readjust our attitude a bit. But we will never be shut down fully, as long as we uphold our members to the standard we do. They can't shut us down, it would be ripping a hole in the school itself. Greek life doesn't define WSU, but a 26% of students are Greek. Our alumni have gone back to the 1920's, and even earlier. Whenever I look at my sororities composites, and all the alumni have left behind, I can only imagine what is to come of my chapter. I don't want that magic to ever die. It's pure, and it's real.
Above all, what encouraged me to write this is the standpoint that Greek life is having currently at my school at WSU. We are currently on pause, but I know we will fight on. We are strong, we are diligent, and we are the second best social thing (other than football) that we have going for WSU. We will keep bettering ourselves, and prove to the authorities that we deserve to be recognized by the campus as we always have.
