Junior English major
As a rite of collegiate passage, I attended a fraternity party with my friends that was filled with too many half-naked girls, too many ogling guys and too much Skrillex in my ears. And there I was, wearing an ironic geeky T-shirt clutching a red Solo cup because all the cool kids were too, standing as the embodiment of awkwardness. To say the least, I was out of my element.
However, luckily for me, one of those ogling gentlemen came up to me in a drunken swagger and asked me point blank which sorority I was in. I answered that sororities were not really my thing, and he then looked at me and said, “Oh, so you’re a GDI?” I continued to speak to this drunken creature and innocently asked what a GDI was. Then something happened I will never forget — the preppy “frat star” turned to me and said, “A God damn independent. Duh.” He then took away my Solo cup and walked away as if I were a leper.
After my one and only time at a fraternity party, I had to consult the sage words of Urban Dictionary to see if my frat friend was either insulting or complimenting me. Based on the Internet’s definition of a GDI — someone unaffiliated with the Greek life system — I learned that the fraternity guy thought he was insulting me. Well sticks and stones, Mr. Frat Man, because I took your insult as a sincere compliment.
Looking back, I still am baffled about why he thought he was insulting me. I know he thought I should be ashamed of myself for not aligning myself to Greek letters or buying myself into a “sisterhood,” but how is being independent a bad thing for me or any other GDI? Being independent means I don’t have to answer to anyone. I can make my own decisions, behave how I see fit and live my life without the preconceived morals of a sisterhood dictating my every move.
The fraternity guy who treated me as the scum of the Earth has to respect the certain rules, regulations and sanctions of a group he joined. What’s even worse is that in order to adopt another mindset that is not his own, he had to jump through hoops in a “pledge” process in which he probably had to do some things he did not like — possibly something that rhymes with gazing.
Because Greek life members are not GDIs, are they not independent? I don’t think they are. They have to navigate their college careers in ways aligned with their brotherhoods and sisterhoods. During the recruiting processes for each side of the Greek system, recruits either have to be on their best behavior so the first-tier fraternities or sororities will want them, or they have to completely put up a facade in order to fake their way into a house.
I am proud to be a GDI because college is a time for people to grow and become independent from their previous lives. It’s a time and place for trying to learn how to be adults, and if you’re dependent on a fraternity’s or sorority’s rule, how are you supposed to find your own way in this world? Being called a God damn independent is a compliment, but being considered a God damn dependent is an insult.
Maggie Cassidy is a sophomore English major. She can be reached at mcassidydbk@gmail.com.
