Greek life, a community of organizations that are known for controlling the social scene on many campuses across America. It is an institution within the institution of education, one that has been a part of university life since 1776. They are known for their as-seen-on-tv parties, the stereotyped members, and the exclusivity that is offered by the social organizations. Freshmen go through the rigorous recruitment process, one that leaves many feeling defeated in and rundown, in order to be able to join the organization of their choice. However, is this exclusivity harming the ability to develop proper social skills and grow healthy relationships of those freshmen who decide to not go through the recruitment process or those who cannot afford …show more content…
It is no secret that one of the benefits of being a part of a “brotherhood” is the networking opportunities. “Being involved in an organization such as Greek life gives you the opportunity to take on a leadership position. These positions definitely boost your resume and overall experience as a person. Being involved is also a great way to get an internship or job interview, as alumni are always willing to help those who wear the letters. There is no guarantee you’ll get it, but being a part of something bigger, especially something with thousands of alumni is certainly a plus. These alumni are oftentimes eager to help individuals such as the younger versions of themselves and are proud to still be a part of their organization.”(Broderick) Many of the members of Greek life have affluent parents, or those who are higher-ups in society were at one point a part of a Greek organization. In fact, 83% of the Fortune 500 executives were once a part of Greek life. These connections allow members of Greek life to have more success in finding a job after graduation, and this is also why graduation rates are 20% higher in Greeks than non-Greeks.(Glass) This to me indicates that not Greeks may be unfairly judged for their usefulness in
While going through the process of determining what college to go to many students focus on what majors are provided, location, an overall sense of the school, and several other things. One thing that is often overlooked is the option of going Greek. Many male students often do not even consider the option of going Greek because of false pretenses. One common misconception of going Greek is because the members are stereotyped to be party goers who do not do well in college. This could not be further from the truth. For members of the Kappa Alpha Order, there are several ambitious standards that must be maintained to stay in the Order. Also, joining Kappa Alpha opens members, both current and former, to several opportunities. Finally, Kappa Alpha is an Order that holds several beliefs that most southerners have faith in.
By participating in Greek life, the students’ social circles are expanded. Because sororities and fraternities are specific to gender, religions, races, and even majors, those who participate in Greek life create lifelong relationships with people they choose to associate with by
With this research I plan to go back to the roots of why sororities use Greek language in their discourse community and how it helps them form a sisterhood that is shared only amongst the community. Sororities and fraternities are becoming more prevalent in universities all across the nation. Today, there are over 9 million members of the Greek communities and the number is continuously growing each year (“Greek Life Statistics”). “The terms ‘fraternity’ and ‘sorority’ describe groups of men and women who join together to offer fellowship, academic support, leadership training, participation in campus activities, service to the community and University, and preparation for future careers” (“What is Greek Life?”). People that in are the Greek community all have at least one thing in common. Whether they just want to be apart of a sisterhood/brotherhood or deeper things like they all share a common belief or goal. “Sororities have five basic benefits: sisterhood, scholarship, leadership, philanthropy (charitable causes/community service), and socializing” (“About Sororities”). These benefits are included in the values and beliefs of a sorority as a discourse community. Greeks all speak a “language” that they learn in the process of becoming part of their fraternity/sorority(recruitment process). Agendas, e-mails, and text messages are all forms of a genre. A genre is anything that is written down and shared in the discourse community. Face to face interaction is a way to advertise for events and also another way to advertise for events is through
Between family legacies, traditions, and an abundance of college themed movies, books, and television shows, it would be difficult to find a prospective college student who is not familiar with the idea of “Greek life.” For the purpose of this essay, “Greek life” refers to the system employed by many colleges and universities to establish and maintain fraternities and sororities (primarily dominated by caucasian and economically advantages students). It is important to note the existence of fraternities and organizations outside of this stereotypical “Greek” realm, such as coeducational honor and service based fraternities, though even these are not fully exempt from detrimental practices. Fraternities and sororities are often looked down upon with a negative light for a number of reasons, some of which include dangerous hazing habits and unsavory social scenes. While there certainly are undeniable benefits and negatives within these systems, the biggest effect they have is on gender. “Greek life” in college is unhealthy due to its impact on post-college gender expectations by promoting party culture, encouraging misogyny through ingrained tradition, and indoctrinating women into subservience at an impressionable age.
The first Greek organization to assemble was in 1776 at the College of William and Mary. Fraternities were built to provide friendship and recreation. It has been 239 years since the first fraternity was established and now in 2015, there are 123 fraternities and sororities. There are nine million college students involved in Greek organizations (Glass, Nicole). These members are looking to make friends, to build their resumes, to go to social events, or to learn leadership skills. Each member when joining has the incentive to change some aspect of his or her life (Glass, Nicole). If one has the opportunity to join a Greek life organization he or she should for the reasons of giving back to the community, the higher academic standards, the
This is also with life, to help the stereotype of greek turn to a good one each the fraternities will have to hold each other accountable. This means competing to be the best fraternity on campus. Instead of competing on who throws the best parties compete to see who can raise the most money, or who can have the most new members. One big competition now on campus is GPA and you can see that it has a positive affect because one of the big selling points when new students come and they are being educated on greek life it is the higher GPA. To make greek life have a good reputation it would have to start small. If every fraternity challenged their members to not be the guy that does one thing and messes it up, and if it does happen to give consequences and make it known that we are better than the decisions one guy
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.
Coming into college most students struggle to find a place where they fit in. Greek life provides individuals the opportunity to find people that are similar to them and share the same values as they do. In the article
The Greek communities that have risen across the country have created huge impacts on every university that they have established themselves on. Historically, fraternities were designed for students to discreetly meet to discuss issues and host debates that their members believed would be deemed inappropriate by their collegiate faculties. Since their founding, fraternities and sororities have completely revamped their focuses. They are used as social, professional, and honorary organizations that promote many different combinations of community service, leadership, and academic success. The ideas of brotherhood and sisterhood have also transcended the college experience,
Now a days when people see Greek letters on a house or an individual wearing them on their chest, I feel a lot of people with the exception of the few people who truly know what it is to be Greek, see us as the way we are portrayed in movies and TV shows. Party crazed animals with no respect to individuals their school or their community as a whole. To be honest, before getting involved in a fraternity and Greek life, I had similar thoughts to this ideal that all Greek life would have in store for me was drinking and Partying my life away with not much else to offer witch made me skeptical to truly get involved. After just a short of being involved I see
Concluding Remarks: Many clubs and organizations offer things such as friendship, academic support, leadership skills, etc. However, Greek life will provide you with these opportunities and so much more in one single organization. Transitioning from high school to college and college to the real world is never an easy task, but by becoming Greek you will be able to transition with ease, as well as grow as an individual.
These people are sadly misinformed. If anything, Greek Life should be expanded on campuses. Greek Life is a great resource for students. It pushes students to be more active on their campus esand community, develop valuable leadership skills, and excel academically. Sororities and Fraternities play a big part on college campuses.
After joining a Fraternity or Sorority, students found that the “Greek system had larger support systems and more friends than students that chose not to” (Jacobs). Being in the Greek Life widens your social life and group very tremendously due to the ammount of people you meet in your fraternity/sorority and the brother/sisterhood you create with them. If you want to gain many friends and have fun, according to Rondone, writer of the Boston Globe, “Going Greek seems a necessity for one’s social life” (Rondone). Many people would and will agree with this statement because the ammount of sociality there is in a Fraternity/Sorority. After many evaluations the Bloomberg editorial said, ”fraternities and sororities are homogeneous, a claim that may have been true in the past but is actively changing now” (Jacobs).
Over several decades, Greek life has been an integral part of colleges and universities throughout the United States. There is a high demand of “fitting in” in today’s society and a question that students, parents, and teachers alike often ask themselves is, “Does Greek life provide a more safe or harmful environment?” With strong evidence, it is absolutely absurd to believe that fraternities and sororities do more good than they do harm. Various statistics provide factual evidence as to why Greek life is a toxic and dangerous environment for many young adults. Between the rape culture, hazing, and delinquency linked to the students associated with Greek life, it is time that it comes to an end for good so that students may have a more safe and enjoyable college experience. Fraternities and Sororities should be banned off of college and university campuses due to the danger and drama associated with them.
While deciding where one is going to attend college, one may decide to look into extracurricular activities to get involved on campus. Sometimes one may ask an adult they look up to about what they think one should get involved in, many would agree that one should go Greek. After listing to other adults, one may decide to go through the recruitment experience and find their home in Greek life. Since joining a Greek organization one can see how people see it as a way to gain many leadership skills along with a great way to network. However one understands that everything one is involved in has something negative, like Greek life have so many opportunities to party which is the only thing that many people see when they think of Greek life. While exploring how Greek life is a good thing and that the bad that comes with it is nothing compared to the good. For many people including myself Greek life is a place where someone can be oneself and learn many things about who one is along with the sisters around you that push you to be the best person you