The Ups & The Downs

Although my opinion is that Greek life has only positive effects as long as you are in a healthy organization, we have to be aware of the possible downsides that can come out of Greek organizations. The Pros:

• Leadership Experience – Fraternities and sororities have positions such as president, vice president, treasurer, secretary, fundraising chair, and so on. There is an executive board that makes big decisions and plans specific events and then fills in the rest of the organization. Holding a position and doing your part is your leadership. It is a lot of work at times but it is a great experience.
• Lifelong Relationships – Not all but many alumni stay in touch with the organization and make sure they are doing well. If my sorority ever needs help our alumni are more than willing to be there to support us. The brothers and sisters that you create with your time at college is a bond that will stick with you forever.
• Networking Opportunities – Having all the alumni that stay in touch it gives you many networking options with all the different occupations that you can connect to. My sorority has a Facebook group with people all the way from the founding sisters to the current class which is the 41st class. It is amazing to be connected with so many people, and sisters are sharing different job opportunities constantly.

The Cons – 

• The Public Eye – When many people think of fraternities and sororities all they think about is heavy drinking and hazing, when this may be true for some, grouping all organizations as one is not fair.
• Financial Obligations – Every sorority and fraternity has semester dues or yearly dues that they are obligated to pay as long as they are a member. Some organizations, especially nationally recognized ones have a very high amount that they have to pay, on top of tuition this is hard for many students and when they join they may not be prepared for it.
• Hazing – Each organization has their own process of initiating new members and it varies a HUGE amount. If a student decided to join the wrong organization there can be very bad hazing involved, these are the sororities and fraternities that give Greek life a bad name.

Until you give yourself a chance and become a part of an organization you may not really be able to understand a Greeks viewpoint. I personally never thought I would join a sorority, I had stereotypes in my head, but until I went to a rush and met the group of sisters I never knew. Now I have lifelong bonds that I will never forget. Below is a link to some greek life statistics: http://thefraternityadvisor.com/greek-life-statistics/ Until next time!

Positivity

How do you judge Greek life? Do you stereotype each organization as a whole or do you look at them individually and have specific reasonings for your opinions on them. Many people who say they don’t like Greek life really don’t have a good reason why, their best answer may be “I just don’t.” I am a part of Greek life and there are some organizations at schools that I disagree with because of their behavior but one organizations actions shouldn’t affect the reputation of Greek life as a whole.

Greek life is frowned upon at many colleges and universities because of the damage that some fraternities/sororities have done to give the bad reputation. It is easy to understand why people do not like the idea of Greek life, but it can not be looked at as a whole, each organization at all the different schools are completely different from each other. There are some that make the wrong decisions and haze/bully pledges which usually ends with terrible outcomes sometimes even death. The fraternities/sororities that have chosen to run their programs this way have given the bad name to Greek Life. What about the organizations that are making positive impacts in their communities, at schools, all around the world, these organizations are not given the time of day because many people do not think there is anything positive that can come out of Greek life. Every sorority and fraternity has a philanthropy that they have designated to them and they hold fundraisers and awareness events to support them. My sorority’s philanthropy is Saint Jude’s Children’s Hospital and every year we raise around $1,000 for the children and every member participates in the give thanks walk. This is just one example of a small sorority at a small school that is doing positive things that people look beyond and choose to stereotype each organization as one.

BuzzFeed

BuzzFeed is an American internet news media company providing coverage on a variety of topics, one of course including Greek life. As you can tell in their logo above, they focus the good, the bad, and everything in-between.

Click HERE to go to a very touching list of photos with words above them that really prove there are so many positive moments in Greek life. These moments will not only stick with you through the four years you attend college, but for a lifetime. Whether it be meeting your best friends, or fundraising hundreds or thousands of dollars for you philanthropy, carrying on tradition in the family, etc, being in a Greek organization has a lifetime effect that will never be forgotten.

Although I can relate to all of the pictures that are included in the link above, these two pictures are ones that everyone should pay close attention to.

Here what needs to be understood is that most organizations have active alumni willing to help in any way they can. This picture is active sisters as well as alumni congratulating new members on their bids day. It is amazing that so many generations can come together and have an immediate bond through sisterhood.

The important thing to take away from thepicture below is that every Greek organization has a philanthropy that they raise money for each year. Would you agree that there are many people out there judging the Greek organizations that most likely haven’t raised a dime for those in need. Not only do sororities and fraternities raise money they also are raising awareness throughout their communities when they hold fundraisers.

To relate to Plymouth State Students:

• Iota Delta Chi’s philanthropy is Saint Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital. We raise around $1,000 each year for them and participate in the give thanks walk.
  • Click HERE to donate to Saint Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital. Any amount is greatly appreciated by the staff, volunteers, and most importantly the children.

• Kappa Delta Phi NAS – Their national philanthropy is Home For the Troops which they do fundraisers for each year.
  • Click HERE to donate to Home for Our Troops.

• Sigma Tau Gamma Fraternity is the special olympics, they work to fundraise and help at events to raise awareness.
  • Click HERE to donate to the special olympics.

• Omega Omicron Fraternity does can food drives for the helping hands food drive here in Plymouth, NH
  • Although I didn’t find a donation option for the food drive of Plymouth you can always drop canned food items off to them and it will be greatly appreciated. HERE is a link to their information page!

There are a few more organizations in Plymouth that I am not sure what there philanthropies are but I know each fraternity and sorority works hard to accomplish fundraisers and awareness for their personal philanthropies.

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed!