I’ve been thinking for years about the problem with today’s Greek system, and I’ve finally figured it out. It is quite simple: Greeks are crazy. Completely out of our minds. Being a Greek, I am guilty as well. I’m just like the rest. All of us are absolutely crazy. Let me explain.
The underlying problems with being a Greek at this school are the same that have plagued humanity for years, and they seem to be on course to continue for years to come. Greeks, as do all humans, attempt to make generalizations from the information we take in – for example, when we learn what house a certain Greek is a part of, we automatically make initial judgments.
It’s the little voice we have in our heads, the same one that won’t shut up sometimes when we are left alone with our thoughts. If you don’t think you have one, think again. Stop reading for a second, put down the paper, and don’t say a word. Give yourself a few seconds … and there it is. You might have thought to yourself, “This guy has no idea what he is talking about.” See? That’s the voice I’m talking about, the one everyone has. It’s the same one that says, “Oh, so that means…” when Greeks learn which house someone is in.
Upon seeing another Greek wearing his or her letters or finding out what house he or she’s in, the answer instantly frames that person in our minds not based on who that person is, but based on the reputation and stereotypes associated with that house. We think we know a lot about him or her, what the person must be like. We rely on rumors about houses and rumors about individual Greeks in these houses. Ironically, it makes us all crazy. We think we know things about certain Greeks when all we really know are their houses.
The same applies to the great division of Greeks and “other people.” I’ve had friends who won’t wear letters to class on the first day because of judgments the teacher may make. People prejudge Greeks, and Greeks prejudge people. We know.
History is full of people who knew, too. The earth was flat – everyone knew it. Hitler knew people of the Jewish religion were not fit to live on this Earth. The Southerners knew blacks had no more value than to serve them as slaves. Do you see where all this “knowing” gets us?
We don’t know much about individual Greeks until we actually get to know them. In fact, there is a tremendous peace of mind in realizing we really don’t know much at all. It’s the same reason, as a little kid, you asked your parents “Why?” to 20 questions before they ran out of answers and started ignoring you. We don’t have all the answers, but we believe we can think them up. The more we accept that you, me and none of us really know much of anything, the saner we get. And our problems, judgments and stereotypes about houses and Greeks vanish.
Assumptions create problems. The problem with being a Greek is being in a house gives us more ways to make assumptions. Martin Luther King Jr. famously advised us to judge people not on “the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” You don’t hear too many people talking like that these days. We live in an era of analysis, opinions and everyone knowing he or she is right. I’ll take King’s statement a step further. Don’t judge Greeks at all.
We need to stop thinking we know so much. Meet Greeks. Talk to them. Get to know them. And then, when we do know them, even when we think we know someone, people can still surprise you. See how little we ever really know? But don’t blame yourself; you’re human. This is how we were built. But there is power in realizing this.
That’s when life becomes fun. All the time. When you don’t know anything, you can be surprised by everything. Give other Greeks the benefit of the doubt, give them a chance. Don’t try to think so hard, and stop trying to know. Be true to yourself and your feelings. You might just end up surprising yourself.
And speaking of surprises, try this. Go back, reread this article, and every time you see the word “Greek,” replace it with “human,” and every time you see the word “house,” try replacing it with any other variable about people you can think of. It turns out we’re all a little crazy after all.
Brian Novell is a 2005 alumni and former Inter-Fraternity Council president. He can be reached at Novel007@aol.com.
