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Do college sororities and fraternities cause more harm or good on campus?
Results so far:
| Harm | 61% | 546 votes | Total: 890 votes | |
| Good | 39% | 344 votes |
Harm
by Charles Cooper
Created on: July 30, 2007
Since watching my best friend in college succumb to his brother-in-law's pressure, pledge a fraternity, and go from a 4.0GPA premed candidate to a 2.3GPA marine biology major, I have often asked myself what, if anything, is the use of fraternities. They are exclusive, divisive and demanding on the pledges. They do nothing to enhance the real reason people go to college, rather they are extensions of the social cliques we had to put up with in High School. The only upside to them, and this is exclusive to the members, is that they can-not in all instances do, but can-provide a level of social and business networking that members can take advantage of after college.
Exclusive, divisive and demanding: These were the three words that came to mind when I was first approached by a fraternity. "Come to our party!" the frat boy intoned. I asked if it was an open party. "No, it isn't open to just anyone, only a few select people will be there. Those are the people you will want to know. Oh, you will love the girls!" Already, in an incoming class of nearly 600, the Greeks were making cuts, deciding who is in and who is not, based on...what? They didn't know any of these people! And what happens, after you pledge, to your relationships outside the fraternity? For the most part they will die away. You have new friends now, special friends, brothers. You are no longer part of that world, now you are part of this world. You are no longer one of them, you are one of us. Aren't you lucky! And now, just so you can show us how much we mean to you, we are going to put you through hell. We are going to make silly and arbitrary rules that you will have to follow if you want to stay a member. We will abuse you and you will take it and obey and if you are a good kid we will let you stay. Tell me, if someone, your employer perhaps, told you that, what would you do? Most of you would quit, sue, or both. But if it is one of these Greek houses, then somehow it is OK to place such unreasonable demands on people.
Then there is the academic issue. Most fraternities demand that a certain GPA be maintained and some may even offer some sort of academic help. Does this enhance the academic experience of its members? Of course. Is it anything unique to the Greek world? No. The truth is that academically, you can get the same services from the college itself and you not only don't have to put up with the level of so-called discipline demanded of pledges, you have already paid for it in many cases with your tuition. Therefore, the Greek world offers nothing of real value to the real reason you are attending a university to begin with, your school career.
As for helping you after college, that is fine but it goes back to the exclusionary and elitist members-only mindset of the Greeks. They have help to give, but only to their own. They have resources, but only for the brothers. This means that those who were excluded in those first few days of their freshman year-students excluded for no reason other than looks or perceived wealth-are forever shut away from the assistance these organizations offer.
Given that this is the price for the few social and community services that some Greek organizations try to perform, I say it isn't worth it. Whatever the inital function of the Greek world was, that has long vanished. It has been replaced by fatuous, self-serving cliques that enjoy the power they can wield over their pledges and the feeling that they are part of something special.
If that is what you need, to feel a part of something special, then I know an organization that will pay you to be a member, not the other way around. They will make sure you are always the best representative that the organization could want. They will train you, house you, feed you, care for you when you are ill or injured, make sure you have a good job and just by being a member, you will have A-1 credit. When these folks haze you, there is a good purpose to it. You might even get to see the world. Does that sound good? It is called the military. If you just can't live without being a member of something exclusive, then do yourself a favor: Put the kid-stuff away and check them out.
Learn more about this author, Charles Cooper.
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Good
by Sylvia Woodham
Created on: September 04, 2008
It is unfortunate that the debate about the Greek system is so polarized and has such controversy surrounding it. Sororities and Fraternities themselves should not be to blame as a system, should they? At the root of them, they give many women and men social groups in the transition years from high school to college.
I come from an unusual vantage point. At my university, the Greek influence was minimal. The Greek system that existed was something of a remnant of the past, not finding much resurgence. They had been expelled from undergraduate life much earlier in the 20th century due to the structure of the focus of undergraduate life. The university took responsibility for providing individual, equal living and social structure which forms the platform for intramural competition and rivalry, as well as a sense of belonging. In addition, being a varsity athlete provided me the sense of belonging many incoming freshmen seek.
However, I had many friends, including teammates, in sororities and never felt ostracized by them. There are so many options in college to define yourself, I felt no conflict that was how my friends chose to spend their time and energy. While they had social events for their respective organizations, I had mine. At a university where diversity was celebrated, I never felt anything but mutual respect for our individual choices and priorities. Being part of a Greek sorority or fraternity wasn't any more or less selective than the college admission process had been.
While we did have amused discussions about the DKE pledges wearing their shirts covered in bodily fluids, the rituals and rites of passage that were a part of the Greek Fraternal organizations were not that much different than the ones present in the athletic teams and secret societies. We talked about it with equal unanimity as we discussed the women's swimteam dancing in training bikinis on the tables of the pizza hangout for their initiation. Even though we were part of different organizations, the fact that we all shared some kind of initiation gave us common experiences to bridge, which can serve to bridge other differences that might exist.
The Greek parties were not any more or less well attended than other major undergraduate parties. College students, particularly those in a high pressure academic environment, are going to look for a release, and the same part of the population that attended the Frat parties were the ones who created their own theme parties in the dorms. Often the privately funded parties were more original and drew people who wanted a cleaner environment than a muddy backyard of a fraternity house.
I do not think the Greek system needs to be a necessary evil. Coming from an environment where their presence had very little influence on the undergraduate experience, the concept that must have certainly been at their origins is certainly not a bad one. It enables the students to develop connections beyond the campus and communities where they spend four years, to be part of a nation-wide community and its resources.
Greek systems vary in approach and personality from campus to campus, serving a variety of roles. If anyone should be held responsible for the positive or negative potential they have to contribute to student life, it should be the individual universities in question. The undergraduates are themselves responsible for how much they chose to take advantage of the undergraduate experience to be exposed to others who may be different than they are.
Learn more about this author, Sylvia Woodham.
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