Often when the word fraternities come to mind many of us tend to think of pop-culture references

Katie Couric, Aretha Franklin, Condoleezza Rice, Leigh Anne Tuohy, Rosa Parks, Kate Spade, Robert Frost, Steven Spielberg, John F. Kennedy, Harrison Ford, Eli Manning, George W. Bush. I could go on with this list for hours. These are all familiar names to us for what they have accomplished in the past or the present. If I told you that all of these individuals participated in Greek life during their times during college, would you be stunned? As college students, we are all given a commonly misconceived stereotype of fraternities and sororities as a whole.

Day in and day out we hear about high school and college students wanting to pursue a sorority and/or a fraternity based on the stereotypes these organizations uphold, well I chose to differ. I told myself if I ever decided to become a member of a sorority it would be based solely on their ethical standards, history, and values they are founded upon. Alpha Kappa Alpha, Incorporated consists of ladies of distinction and exemplary character who excel in scholarship, leadership, and service, which are qualities I have chosen to uphold. From my perspective, I encourage myself to maintain a respectable appearance and reputation which doing so inspires me to embrace my self-concept; which helps me confidently excel academically and

When undergraduates become interested in Greek life, they have to decide if the advantages outweigh the risks. In the news, the public hears the negative side of Greek life such as the students in sororities and fraternities passing away from alcohol abuse, or colleges such as Indiana University suspending fraternities on campus for hazing and alcohol violations until March 2018. While many negative topics about Greek life are prominent in the news, not all sororities and fraternities experience hazing and illegal problems. Although both advantages and disadvantages arise on college campuses within Greek life, undergraduate students usually benefit from being a part of a sorority or fraternity and are able to create a healthy environment and community to learn, work, and live in.

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.

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

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,

The article by Carly Stern entitled “The Outdated Double Standard Plaguing Greek Life” has a clear theme, her title states just that. The double standard that exists in Greek Life, chapter recognized organizations, is the limitations Sorority houses have. She starts out stating that “the majority of the 26 recognized sororities are forbidden from hosting parties deserving alcohol in chapter houses… even if residents are 21”. While Fraternities are given permission to host parties by paying extra in insurance to cover the cost of damages, Sororities are not allowed to do so, many of these Sororities are not even allowed to have male guests in their home as guests. With this being the 21st century women are more proactive and independent and they are breaking barriers in academia and I the professional world, but yet under national chapters Sorority sisters are being restricted.

According to Martin and Hummer (1989: 459), "fraternities are vitally concerned – more than anything else – with masculinity (cf. Kanin 1967)." This sets the paradigm that they will look into. The paradigm they look from is the eyes of a fraternity's typically nature and values and actions they take part in to decipher what really takes place in order to understand the fraternity's view as

Researchers have presented overwhelming evidence that Greek members consume more alcohol than unaffiliated students do (Parker & Pascarella, 2015). The Greek culture of wild partying, drinking and drug abuse on and off campus creates dangerous situations for young students (DeSimone 2006). Alcohol-related problems resulting from overconsumption include poor academic performance, physical injury, interpersonal aggression, sexual assault, vehicle crashes, and poor physical health (Glindemann, & Geller, 2003). The Greek culture of hazing, while in decline, perpetuates violence and hate (Zhang, 2010). According to Park & Pascarella (2015), within the past 10 years, “fraternities and sororities have been called to task for nationally publicized incidents of cultural insensitivity” (p. 2). The effects of Greek life also play a role in academic life with fraternity members being shown to have lower GPAs (Hevel et al., 2015). The above-discussed points are the paradoxes of Greeks on college and university

Six social fraternities and sororities are on campus and contribute to community engagement on both a local and global level. Students are active on campus through community service, the Greek Olympics, and intramural sports. In addition, there are academic fraternities in theater, history, business, social sciences, music, and English. Fraternity members make up 26% of male students and 28% of females are sorority members, making Greek life a popular choice for

Most fraternities have a house where usually about 20-30 from the fraternity live, depending on the size of the house. They hold weekly meetings that everybody is expected to attend and many of the fraternities have traditions that they have been following for decades. From listing all these traditions it is already easy to acknowledge how fraternities definitely fall under the category of a social institution.

To students fraternities are a place to let loose after a long week, a social space to drink and dance. Brothers see it as a sense of accomplishment in getting in, a sacred place with their fellow brothers. Elected officials see the fraternity as a place of management and sometimes stress, a work space constantly requiring their attention. Fraternity members turn people away at the door, and let others in. Favoring brothers and attractive females; shutting the door to outside males and females who they deem unfit. The party goes on all night, until the leash is tightened and big brother takes control. Trinity shuts down all activity and visitors must leave the premise. Trinity awards the privilege to fraternities and reserve the right to revoke those privileges.

First of all, fraternities have proven to be a serious reason for underage drinking and binge drinking. These young adults have far less supervision and

The article talks about two types of fraternities high and low risk. I would describe the high-risk fraternities as being rowdy and reckless. This is the fraternity you have a higher chance of being raped or harassed at. This fraternity would include the popular kids at the school. The athletes and the rich kids would fall into this group. These kids think they are better than everyone else and above authority. The high-risk fraternities are more likely to try to peer pressure girls into doing something they do not want to do. The low-risk fraternities are the more relaxed and controlled fraternity. This is the fraternity you have less of a chance to get raped or harassed at. The low-risk f fraternities would include the kids who play intermural