Posted on by Jeremy Slivinski

Do you hear the thump thump out there?…it is the drum beat of some in the press and on campuses questioning the relevance and value of Greek Life. It is real easy to do so too considering the negative press we have been getting lately. Make no mistake though, no injury or death will ever be justified by the good we do. Making that argument has no value and is an embarrassment. Instead we need to identify what the problem really is and why Greeks could be the solution to fixing it, not the catalyst to the problems we have been associated with.

The first misconception is that “Hazing” is a Fraternity thing. This is absolutely not the case as proven by a recent high school basketball team, a college band and others. Hazing has been around for a long time and can be found in the military, in sports, in the workplace and on elementary school playgrounds. Sadly society continues to encourage it in some form even after we know the dangers. We laugh when we see the picture of Tim Tebow with his rookie haircut, we flock to movies that use the behavior as entertainment, we dismiss it as a right of passage when it is used to elevate children in sports. I don’t have data to support this but I suspect Fraternities and Sororities have taken a harder and more serious stance on hazing for a lot longer than others. We also provide continuous education on the dangers of it. So what sense does it make to get rid of us?

Alcohol consumption and abuse has existed throughout time. Some studies support the concept that heavy drinkers are developing their habits as early as high school. Working at a University in the past I can tell you the 95% of the students not Greek were partying as hard as the Greeks. The problem is the general culture of higher education away from home…not the smaller institutions within the schools. Students experiment and go over board when there is no one watching. Many Greek groups mandate alcohol education, many schools do not. Many Greek groups actually have procedures for “safer” programs involving alcohol, many campuses do not. We are more restrictive of behavior with our members than a University is with its student population. Again where is the sense in getting rid of the groups that actually acknowledge and attempt to avert the dangers of alcohol?

Greek organizations provide structure and education that general students do not necessarily get. In most cases our students are held to a higher standard, by our choice, and arguably held more accountable than the average student. When an independent student drinks too much at a party his/her friends might tease him/her but little else happens. When a Fraternity man or Sorority woman drinks too much at a party they risk being brought up to a standards board, being restricted from future activities and/or possibly losing their membership. Our peer accountability systems don’t work all the time, but they work more than the nonexistent ones.

If we are so good our detractors may ask the question “why are we the ones in the media with these high profile deaths/issues”. The answer is simple…we label ourselves. We slap on letters and subscribe to values. It is much more sensational to talk about failures of those that claim higher standards than those that subscribe to none. It is hard to write an article about a group of random students caught drinking in the dorm compared to a Fraternity caught partying off campus. It is a good lesson though to my Brothers and Sisters…we say we stand for more than others so we must behave better than others. Otherwise we will be called out.

So to be clear…if you think the institution of Greeklife is bad please explain to me why it makes sense to get rid of the groups that subscribe to higher standards, attempt to hold each other accountable, attempt to educate their members on the dangers of hazing and alcohol and tend to be the most involved students on your campus. If you can’t then you may want to pipe down a bit or even better, encourage some of these students joining band, athletic teams and/or other organizations to consider some of the programs we have put in place to keep our students safer.

Again, we aren’t perfect but we sure have tried to do a lot more about societal/campus issues than many others.

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