Greek Life: Pro or Con?
There are many publications that with speak to the postive and negative aspects about greek life. The purpose of this blog publication is to bring some of the pros and cons of greek life to light and campare some opposing points of views. Personally, I can see that fraternities and sororities are originally and overall to be positive influences and organizations of support for college students assimilate to and development in college.
Cons
I will start off with some negative or connotative aspects or views of fraternities and sororities. In an article written by Lindsay Meola, she brings out points of paying for friends and "super top-secret way of going about things" to decribe her view of sororities. She does not agree with the paying of dues to be organized into a group and create friends. Her other issue she brings to light is the fact that sororities have super-secret ways of going about things, which many of these secret activities in her opinion come about through hazing, which she points out is "supposed to be outlawed." Her final criticism is that "greek life comes with a lot of objectifying, harmful behaviors, and expenses" with the result "a lot of people get consumed by the Greek life, and end up not doing well in school." Many of Meola's criticisms are not based in solid proof, but more from personal observations and biases.
Alison from Univeristy Language created a similar article including the pros and cons of Greek life. Some of the topics were couples as such: Pro: A boost to your social life versus Con: Too-crazy parting, Pro: A close community versus Con: Limited diversity in the community, and Pro: Volunteer work is encouraged versus Con: The exlusivity factor (for selection). These titles are relatively self explanitory. Fraternities and sororities are great organizations to be social, but sometimes crazy parties can interfere with personal development and academics (the main reason students should be attending a college or university). When it comes to community, sororities and fraternities are great examples of a close community, however, in the general fraternity or sorority members are selected for their similar personalities, which limit the diversity of the community. The last pair of pro and con is the fact that Greek life is a great opportunity for involvement and volunteer work, but to be able to volunteer for many of the activities that members get to participate in, a "rush" process or selection process, typically limiting these volunteer opportunities to those members that are selected.
Pros
The last article titled "7 Advantages to Greek Life" touches on seven advantages the authur feels that Greek life possesses. Advantage #1 - Friendship and Brotherhood/Sisterhood "combines the concept of individualism within the framework of mutual cooperation." Advantage #2 - Academics: Members have access to peer tutoring, upperclassman counseling, and chapter study hours. According the the U.S. Department of Education, "members of fraternities and sororities graduate at a rate in ecess of 70% compared to the national student average of 50%. Advantage #3 - Leadership: Each member is a "leader, whether you're and officer, on a committee, or just a participant. You will learn by doing."
- 85% of the Fortune 500 Executives,
- 80% of U.S. Presidents since 1900, and
- 100% of Apollo 11 Astronauts.....
All joined a fraternity!!!
Advantage 4 - Social Activities: "allow members to bring dates or are often held with another fraternity or sorority where you can meet many new faces... there is not comparison anywhere to the variety, scope, and just plain fun" of these social events. Advantage 5 - Community Service: "One of many advantages of being a part of the Greek community is the time spent helping others in need." Working "side by side to help local or national charitable organizations" helps create a "sense of accomplishment and satisfaction." Advnatage 6 - Athletics: Many fraternities and sororities put together intramural teams. Advantage 7 - Career Networking: Greek life allows the opportunity for members to tap into alumni which may result in "that head start in life, all because you joined a fraternity/sorority.
Overview
Student affairs professionals may have a time consuming task to ensure that Greek life systems are used to the best of their ability without misuse, but the systems pros definately outweigh the cons of the system. Can students who do not join Greek life have the same opporutnities? Yes, there are plenty of opporutunities for students within the Greek life system and outside the system to develope and aclimate to the collegiate life at the same speed. The only difference is that there is a support network already set up in the Greek life system to encourage constant growth and development of members, whereas students who are not in the system will have to take the initiative upon themselves to seek out the opportunities to enhance their personal development. What can the college or university do to help with these student who do not join the Greek system? Supply the same opportunities through student organziation, intramural sports, career services, tutoring services, counseling centers, and much more. The University of Mississippi, I feel does a great job in allowing students to develop through the access to these services.
Student affairs professionals must monitor and ensure that students in the Greek life system maintain their focus on their academics as the statistics have shows, many Greek life systems nationwide have down a great job in this area. Many of the negative events that happen on college campus that involve fraternities and sororities may be reoccuring, but finding ways to limit these negative experiences will only make the Greek life systems that much better. One of these negative events is hazing. Even though it was make unlawful to haze, it is obvious that such activies still exist. Hopefully these conatative stereotypical events can be sorted out and the pros have the opportunity to continue to outweigh the cons of the experiences students can have by being involved in Greek life.
Sources:
http://www.al.com/living/index.ssf/2012/01/campus_newspaper_focuses_on_po.html
http://www.universitylanguage.com/blog/17/college-greek-life/
http://thebottomline.as.ucsb.edu/2011/05/cons-of-greek-life
http://webmisc.onu.edu/org/ifc/advantages.htm
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