Greek life and partying is part of the college Un experience. This past fall, students from Arizona State University flocked to campus for the USC vs. ASU football game. However, very few actually came for the football game itself. They came to experience the infamous parties hosted my USC Greek life. This is not an isolated case. USC Greek life prides itself on the reputation that it has built. Thursday night parties are not only reputable, as being epic by USC students but by the college community as a whole. However, the party culture at USC has grown uncontrollably. The number of students transported to the hospital each weekend is completely unacceptable and needs to be reduced drastically. Although the University has put restrictions …show more content…
It is no secret that Greek life has earned USC the reputation of being one of the nations top party schools. Time after time, it gets ranked in the top ten party schools by various websites, magazines, and journals. Gaining these notorious titles came at a great price, as these many Greek scandals have filled national headlines. USC Greek organizations have had a long history of getting in trouble. In 2011, Kappa Sigma was involved in an e-mail scandal. One of the fraternity members sent out an email explaining to his fellow brothers “how to hook up with girls.” The e-mail was filled with many racist and explicit terms and when referring to females, he labeled them as “targets.” He continued on and told the fraternity members to not think of them as “people like us” (Shaw, 2013). As a result, the row was placed on social probation and Tuesday and Thursday night gatherings were banned. Pre-rush parties were banned during Fall 2011 due to such a high number of student transports, that the situation could not be ignored. In the Spring of 2013, pre-rush parties were subjected to the same cancelation as those in 2011 for the same reasons (Shaw, 2013). There were such a high number of student transportations to the hospital that the university has been forced to intervene. According to university history, intervention becomes necessary when situations reach an extreme and not a moment sooner. The
In “Examining the Benefits of Greek Life.” Nicole Glass explains why she believes that Greek life is a great opportunity for students in public universities. Nicole gives multiple examples of famous people in history that were in sororities. Nicole explains that the Greek life system gives students opportunity to make friends that will be with for life, have fun at parties, and learn leadership skills that students will use for the rest of their lives. The author points out that the sororities/ fraternities have a very bad name in the press, but the hazing is very rare throughout the Greek system.
A common myth is that hazing is a “reality” in Frats and sororities. We've all seen it in movies and we've all heard stories from our friends. Hazing can be defined as people or individuals who are forced to do something that is psychologically, physically, or emotionally harmful or damaging (Merriam Webster). Greek organizations all over the world have taken steps in developing human rights policies and strict “anti-hazing” policies to get rid of hazing in all forms from all campuses and fraternities. In the 1980s the movie “Animal House”, became a hit. The movie’s “mocking” of the wild side of fraternity life: binge drinking, hazing, sexual harassment, wild parties, drug use, and poor living conditions, became the American public’s view of Greek life. Many television movies and shows depict the ‘crazy side,’ of Greek life and choose to show its negative side. In doing so, many movies and shows do forget to showcase the beneficial side of joining a Sorority or fraternity and show its positive
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,
When someone thinks about a Greek Community they normally associate it with what they have learned through stereotypes such as the movie Animal House. The members of the fraternity depicted in this film were not the definition of the ideal college student. They would have parties almost every day along with copious amounts of drinking. Their grades reflected on this when the main members of the movie were kicked out for not maintaining a high enough grade point average. This movie is completely fictional. The members of Kappa Alpha are held to an extremely high standard when it comes to academics and behavior. Robi Rini, the Corresponding Secretary of Kappa
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
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.
Fraternities and sororities are at the center of binge drinking on college campuses. It is proven that in fraternity houses, approximately 80% of students binge, and over 50% binge frequently. Fraternities attract people beyond their members, including high-school seniors, which are future college freshmen that are already being introduced to binge drinking as being a social norm. The majority of alcohol-related deaths of college students involve fraternity parties. College administrators are afraid of acting out against fraternities because they do not want to anger the generous alumni donors who themselves, too, were partying during their college years. Colleges should not wait until a tragic event happens to realize that something must be done about fraternities and the alcohol-related problems that they cause. Also, it is morally wrong to treat alumni better than students, giving them the privilege to drink at events such as homecoming activities and sports. Banning alcohol for just students is not an effective way to gain students’ support for any new alcohol-control policies. It is quite obvious that colleges base their decisions on
Often partying, drinking, and hazing are key words that come to mine when talking about fraternities and sororities. “Since 1975, there has been at least one hazing-induced death per year across college campuses—and 82% of these have come as a result of binge drinking” (Glass, Nicole). Greek life leads to a culture of alcohol and drug abuse. Young, inexperienced drinkers find themselves running into trouble when trying to fit in around alcohol. Also there are some organizations that partake in “forcing new members to drink as much as possible” as part of a right of passage (“Joining”). The drinking habits being learned due to Greek life cause a serious threat to a student’s life in the present and in the future. Statistically, “75% of fraternity members engaging in heavy drinking compared with 49%” of non-fraternity members (“15”). Also like fraternity men, “62% of sorority members engage in binge drinking compared with 41%” of non-sorority women (“15”). The likelihood that members in Greek life are more likely to suffer from substance abuse after graduation scare away the timid potential new
After reading the article “what a Fraternity Hazing Death Revealed about the Painful Search for an Asian-American Identity”, I understand the challenges that Asian American face in the search of a connection with their ethnic group culture and in the search of their identity within the dominant society. I feel sympathy for the family and for the many other families across the country that had lost their sons and daughters to fraternities that are in the pursuit of tough members that will represent their ethnic groups. Furthermore, students join fraternity to look for personal power and influences that they might be lacking from their communities. Students are in search of popularity and a sense of belonging to something special, something cool
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.
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
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.
Greek life plays a major role in colleges and universities all across the United States. Greek life allows men and women to join an organization and create a long lasting bond, as brothers or sisters, which they will carry with them for the rest of their lives. College campuses explore and boast about the positive impacts that Greek life has on students as well as the community around them. However, even with fraternities and sororities being on college campuses for decades, few people outside the Greek life community have discovered the real, enduring process that it takes to become a "brother" or "sister". Throughout my research, I will be focusing on the negative effects that fraternities and sororities pose upon pledges. This includes hazing
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.
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.