College Sororities: Rebuttal of Evan Wright’s Article, Sister Act

Marybeth Gasman and Ufuoma Abiola’s article Colorism Within the Historically Black Colleges and Universities it investigates the significant of color prejudice at HBCUs. This article examines the origins, manifestations and damaging results of colorism on black college campuses. In this article the authors are trying to find a way to solve the problem of colorism at HBCUs and create an environment where students can be success regardless of whether they are dark skin or light skin. After they do this they offer recommendations for future research.

When one first thinks of Greek life or a sorority the only thing that comes to mind is the social aspect. Most people don’t think of sororities as social institutions that envelop their own culture, with mannerisms, languages and customs that are unique to each individual organization. However, these institutions promote a common set of values that enable members to become connected in a way that has a more profound meaning than just social interaction. Greek organizations are good examples of how institutions can affect and be affected by social status and roles within the collegiate community. They are also a prime example of how race, class and gender can affect a social setting in both positive and negative manners.

One of the biggest stereotypes about being in a fraternity or sorority is that you party and drink a lot. Drinking alcohol is not a focal point of Greek life, although alcohol is at almost every social occasion in Greek life. In Blake’s article it is said that no matter what Greek organization you are a part of underage

Nathaniel Haas proves this idea of a sexual economy between fraternities and sororities at USC and the negative results it has, through research and statistics. His strongest piece of evidence is the research presented by economist Sean Hernandez, a former fraternity member from USC. Hernandez’s research introduces the basis of this argument that there is “a system where fraternities pay for parties and… sex is expected” in return as payment (Haas). The reason why Hernandez’s research is convincing to the reader and as a result very helpful to Haas’s argument is because of who Hernandez is. He is not only an expert in the field of economics but his standing as a former fraternity member gives him a lot of credit in the eyes of the reader. This relationship Hernandez has with the Greek system makes reader more open to this argument because it makes him an expert in the Greek life at USC since he was a former member. His research also

So Should Fraternities.”(Bruni,2017), is a startling title that evokes a pathological appeal in almost everyone of his audiences. Bruni’s strongest pathos appeal is clearly directed towards parents reading his writing, with parents could possible experience one of these horrible fraternity related incidents. The diction used in the author approach was easy to understand it made it more effectively clearly stating the situation, without losing any of his audiences. The highly educated adults reading this article still read this article with the the importance to the topic needed while still making the article easy to ready. Bruni gives reality checking idea about colleges allowing greek life eon campus if they were never created and someone proposed for a club like a fraternity.

Students are attracted to greek-life because of the commeriaty. According to James G. Martin Center “fraternities and sororities constitute a huge part of the social scene at Northwestern. The school reports that about 3,000 students, or 40 percent of the student body, participate in the Greek system.” With many students involved in Greek life, students are drinking at higher amounts, hazing, and other illegal activities leading to rape. With more parties being held, both male and female rape rates are increasing. “Some fraternities encourage both heavy drinking and sexual exploitation of women .” (NIAAA) “Brown University recently stripped one fraternity of recognition, including housing, for four years, and suspended privileges for another fraternity, in response to reports of spiked drinks at one party and unwanted touching at another.”(New York Times) These spiked drinks lead to accounts of rape.

It is important to examine a summary of the article, evaluate the author’s thesis, and provide possible solutions to address the issue. This article can be divided into 4 sections. In the introduction Michaels explores situations that contribute to the main reasons and purpose of the book. The topic immediately refers to money and how diversity has been an issue at universities for much longer than we originally thought. In the next section the disturbing question for Michaels is why we have focused on identity rather than class.

Rudgers and Peterson identified collisions over campus climate as an issue that will continue to impact colleges and universities in 2017. In their discussion of campus climate concerns, Rudgers and Peterson mention the experienced and potential negative impacts of white nationalist groups, as well as Donald Trump’s rhetoric towards immigrants and Muslim individuals. The article mentions institutions of higher education’s long-term efforts to create welcoming environments for female students, as well as racial minorities. The institution is currently facing some of the effects of this issue. Beyond the campus climate being described as hostile, racial minorities are leaving the institution at a higher rate than white students, the institution

“Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) are an understudied institutional type. The dearth of data has not only resulted in general misunderstandings about them, but also means that there are many rich veins of research waiting to be explored” (Commodore, Abiola, Ramos, & Gasman, 2015, p. 2). The “misunderstanding” that often surrounds MSIs extends to both women’s colleges and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and the students who choose to attend them. These institutions must balance their unique histories and specific missions, while simultaneously adapting to an ever-changing social landscape. While women’s colleges must fight the traditional ideas of what a woman is and is not, HBCUs must address systems of

College fraternities and sororities are blinded because they are not experiencing oppression, therefore there is not a recognition of racial discrimination. While this seems counter-intuitive to believe that not experiencing racism should create a less discriminate society, the underlying determinate for this segregation stems from the inability to understand the hardships experienced by the African American community. The veil covering the eyes of these fraternities and sororities causes this discrimination and prevents the opportunity for the black community to join the Greek life. Brad Knickerbocker, a writer for The Christian Monitor interviewed studying and interviewed different universities around the United States. One associate professor from The University of Northern Colorado stated, ‘“Fraternities achieve their prestige through their ability to exclude prospective members based on a hazy set of criteria that bear little resemblance to those that the colleges themselves use to determine whether students are admitted”’, (Knickerbocker). Fraternities and sororities may not be discriminate of African Americans, but this type of privileged ideology creates the discrimination between whites and blacks that infects our Baylor culture, even today. The discrimination not only stems from lack of experience, but W.E.B. DuBois would argue that

Frat boys and sorority girls, what do they do for society? They party all weekend, every weekend. None of them care about academics. They are elitist and snobby. They violate noise ordinances. They do not serve the community. They couldn’t possibly hold any value as individuals in our society, right? Wrong. Many people think of those who belong to the Greek system as the rich, preppy Caucasian students who get drunk and party on a day-to-day basis; these among other stereotypes have, in essence, erased even the thought of belonging to a sorority or fraternity from the minds of countless students. While in actuality, Greeks are the students who do the best in

At MU social affluent, socially-oriented students are recruited with a party pathway. Armstrong and Hamilton (the researchers) include myriad anecdotes to detail how MU accommodated the party pathway and played to the desires of its students. In one instance, a math exam was rescheduled because it interfered with sorority rush. MU stood by while fraternities dominated university-sanctioned social events or even kicked them off campus to make room for their own events. (Only 17 percent of MU's students go Greek, but they dominate the social scene on- and off-campus. The time commitment required to participate in Greek life makes challenging oneself academically or holding down a job impossible.) They are all kept in the same dorm halls and placed carefully within their own little

Recently, the idea of partaking in a fraternity has become more prevalent. Young adults are captivated with wanting to live the Greek life. The clothes and parties seem to drawn in teens like a magnet. However what these teens do not realize is the terrible things associated with fraternities. Many fraternities have a reputation for turning college students into drunks, treating women vulgarly, enacting violent hazing against other fraternity members and disrupting the true reason why students go to college. For these reasons fraternities should be banned altogether on college campuses.

Greek-lettered organizations often carry a negative stigma, due largely to a growingly publicized minority of fraternities and sororities in the media. Similarly to ethnic groups that are marginalized in much the same way, these minorities have not represented the larger body as a whole, regardless of membership. However, in more recent history, the publicity of these minority members has aided in the cultivation of a such a negative reputation. The effect has led to a further decline in value systems that many of these organizations were initially intended to uphold. The impact this has

In this empowering keynote, Dr. Hart asks young men and women these questions, challenging them to return their organizations to an ethical pursuit of the highest standards of friendship. Through group discussion and targeted stories, Hart helps students see the realities, the possibilities, and a path forward. Hart is an avid participant in the Greek-letter community and has served Alpha Omicron Pi Fraternity in a variety of roles. She currently works as the director of educational initiatives for Holmes Murphy Fraternity Practice. Lawrence Ross Blackballed College is a word that means many things to many people: a space for knowledge, a place to gain lifelong friends, and an opportunity to transcend one's socioeconomic station. Today, this word also recalls a slew of headlines that have revealed a dark and persistent world of racial politics on campus. Does this association disturb our idealized visions of what happens behind the ivied walls of higher learning? It should because racism on college campuses is as American as college football on fall Saturdays. Lawrence Ross, author of The Divine Nine and Blackballed, works to rip the veil off America's hidden secret: America's colleges have fostered a racist environment that makes them a hostile space for African American students. During this keynote, Lawrence talks about the white fraternity and sorority system with traditions of racist parties, songs, and assaults on black students and the universities themselves. With a