Throughout my time at the university, there have been many life lessons that I have learned. Unfortunately, one of those lessons is that many people rely on the crutch of stereotypes in order to make sense of the world around them. Wednesday’s column, “Greek cult selection made easy” in The Diamondback has shown stereotypes go way beyond racial, ethnic or religious lines. They are used to label any kind of group one may encounter.
Now, I do not know the author personally. But from my analysis of her column, I have determined that she is either jealous of, or ignorant about, Greek Life. She may be jealous because she didn’t get a bid to one of the university’s 14 outstanding sororities.
I am sure you can imagine the type; just think of the individual in high school who got cut from a sports team and wasn’t a strong enough person to still feel good about themselves without blindly reassuring themselves that it is not due to their own personal shortcomings, but rather in the shortcomings of the team. The author may just be ignorant about Greek Life and instead of exploring it for herself, it is a whole lot easier to just rely on and perpetuate negative stereotypes.
This column I have written is not for everyone. I am aware that some people on the campus have strong preconceived notions of Greek Life. Another lesson I have learned is that it is near impossible to try to convince ignorant people that they need to re-examine their beliefs. Rather, this column is for new freshman and those who have thought of exploring Greek Life.
I should start off by stating that Greek Life is not for everyone. That does not mean that it is only for the captain of the football team or the homecoming queen. I am in the Greek system as a member of Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. And I am admittedly short, skinny and kind of awkward. When I say that Greek Life is not for everyone, I mean that it is specifically for those men and women who are seeking to better themselves through the virtues that brotherhood and sisterhood offer.
There are many positives and negatives of the Greek system. Some of the many positives include Greek social life, philanthropy and friendship. The system offers unlimited social opportunities from athletics to Greek mixers to homecoming. The Greek system is arguably the largest group of philanthropists on the campus, contributing to society through fun philanthropy events such as the Alpha Tau Omega Virgin Party which last year raised over $9,000 for the Hero Campaign and Make a Wish Foundation. The most important positive aspect of Greek life is the friendships and bonds you made within chapters. Many of my brothers will be my friends for life.
But there are also some negatives. Greek Life is time-consuming. You also leave yourself open to being labeled by uninformed people.
I strongly urge every student on this campus to rush. Even if you do decide it is not for you, you will still leave rush with both a free meal and an informed opinion. For those of you who do decide to rush, I have some good advice. Make sure you look at as many different houses as possible. There are 25 fraternities and 14 sororities and each one is very different from the rest.
I would also recommend asking the members of the house as many questions as possible. Make them explain to you why Greek Life is so good. Whether you do decide to rush or not, I wish you the best of luck and implore you to not label the Greek system, let alone any group, without exploring it first.
Joshua Berman is a senior government and politics major. He can be reached at jsberman9984@gmail.com.
