More consistency please, Greeks
James P. Joseph II
Issue date: 9/17/09 Section: Opinion
This reader would like to clear up a few misconceptions that seemed implicit in last week's article about Greek unity on campus. Though, I'm sure, no offense was intended, the article voiced opinions that were at times laughable and occasionally offensive.
The article stressed that the Greek houses intend on doing two things: reaching out to independents and presenting a united front. The idea that those who are not part of the Greek system need to learn about it, that they need to "do their fair share," seems to imply that this is a very pressing issue for independents. It's not. The ridiculousness of the idea is very evident when one imagines many independents getting together to discuss the serious "campus problem" of how students participating in Greek life perceive them before coming up with a multi-step procedure to rectify the problem. Again, though no ill will was intended, it comes across as prideful and arrogant, suggesting that those abstaining from Greek life have little else to do than daydream about the Greek system.
To say that they intend "to reach out to independents" implies that Greek students believe themselves to be the normative campus body, rather than a group that has, in some real way, broken away from that body. I am by no means implying that Greek students are not part of campus life, only that their coming together represents an exclusive act that separates them from that campus body. There are no exclusively "independent" events, but there are exclusively Greek events.
This exclusion, contrary to the belief expressed in the article, is not a source of enmity for independent students. If independents want to join a Greek house, they rush, and those that are barred entry may bear some grudge, but, on the whole, it is not a topic of as much discussion as the Greek leaders quoted in the article seem to believe. All friendships are, by nature, exclusive to some degree. There are, after all, those that are and are not my friends, and I would be a fool if I thought that distinction was in any way more intentional than that given to those who are and are not brothers in a fraternity. I am close to my roommate because I live with him, just as "brothers" and "sisters" are such because they are part of the same fraternal society.
But this exclusion does become offensive when flaunted and denied simultaneously. Since the article stressed very much the Greeks wish to be seen as a united body, it seems fair to allow one sorority's T-shirt to speak for the rest of the Greek Houses when it reads: "It's not for everyone, and that's the beauty of it." It's understandable that students take pride in their organizations, but when this pride manifests itself simply as a love of exclusiveness, one could see how laughable the concept of "reaching out" to independents appears.
The article stressed that the Greek houses intend on doing two things: reaching out to independents and presenting a united front. The idea that those who are not part of the Greek system need to learn about it, that they need to "do their fair share," seems to imply that this is a very pressing issue for independents. It's not. The ridiculousness of the idea is very evident when one imagines many independents getting together to discuss the serious "campus problem" of how students participating in Greek life perceive them before coming up with a multi-step procedure to rectify the problem. Again, though no ill will was intended, it comes across as prideful and arrogant, suggesting that those abstaining from Greek life have little else to do than daydream about the Greek system.
To say that they intend "to reach out to independents" implies that Greek students believe themselves to be the normative campus body, rather than a group that has, in some real way, broken away from that body. I am by no means implying that Greek students are not part of campus life, only that their coming together represents an exclusive act that separates them from that campus body. There are no exclusively "independent" events, but there are exclusively Greek events.
This exclusion, contrary to the belief expressed in the article, is not a source of enmity for independent students. If independents want to join a Greek house, they rush, and those that are barred entry may bear some grudge, but, on the whole, it is not a topic of as much discussion as the Greek leaders quoted in the article seem to believe. All friendships are, by nature, exclusive to some degree. There are, after all, those that are and are not my friends, and I would be a fool if I thought that distinction was in any way more intentional than that given to those who are and are not brothers in a fraternity. I am close to my roommate because I live with him, just as "brothers" and "sisters" are such because they are part of the same fraternal society.
But this exclusion does become offensive when flaunted and denied simultaneously. Since the article stressed very much the Greeks wish to be seen as a united body, it seems fair to allow one sorority's T-shirt to speak for the rest of the Greek Houses when it reads: "It's not for everyone, and that's the beauty of it." It's understandable that students take pride in their organizations, but when this pride manifests itself simply as a love of exclusiveness, one could see how laughable the concept of "reaching out" to independents appears.
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