Negative Stereotypes about Greek Life at DU, by Avery Denney

Have you ever seen the ABC Family show Greek? Well in case you haven’t, it’s a television show about students in college who are involved in Greek life who are rich and spoiled, and whose lives are filled with booze, sex and gossip. The plot lines have love triangles created because of vendettas and over-consumption of alcohol and kids decked out in name-brand clothing driving Mercedes and BMW’s. This portrayal of Greek life is just one example of the misconceptions of what being Greek is all about, and just one of thousands misconceptions portrayed by the media. Are the ideas portrayed through the Greek T.V. show what you think being Greek is all about? Do you believe that being in a sorority or fraternity is about getting laid, drunk and having money? Think to yourself where your ideas about Greek life came from, were they from the media, other people, or from your own experiences? If you believe the popular stereotypes against Greek life that Greeks only party and don’t do much else, or are exclusive to people who have a lot of money or are pretty, you might want to rethink your stance. I believe that Greek life is honorable, organized and well regulated and shouldn’t be looked upon as a negative organization on college campuses.

            You may believe that Greek life is all about the partying because of what you’ve seen in the media or heard from other individuals, but those reasons aren’t enough to justify those basic judgments. Because you do not have first hand experience about being involved in Greek life, you shouldn’t be able to make those judgments. You’re judging a book by its cover that has been created by other people rather than by it’s authors. You probably don’t know that fraternities and sororities all have an organization for which they raise funds for every year, one of several positive aspects of being involved in Greek life. For many fraternities and sororities, they pride themselves on their philanthropy work because they believe that it’s important to give back to the community. I know from my personal experience, our sorority highly emphasizes our involvement with Make-A-Wish Foundation. One of my sorority sisters, Jessica, said that she joined our sorority because we held our community service to such a high standard. Other sororities at the University of Denver raise money for the Anchor Center, a center for the blind, St. Jude’s hospital and Campfire U.S.A. Fraternities on campus raise money for the Miracle Children’s Network, and just last week, Lambda Chi Alpha raised over 22,000+ for their philanthropy. Giving back is just one important quality of fraternities and sororities, only one aspect of Greek life that makes it an honorable way of life to be apart of.

            Because there is so much focus on the negative things that have happened in Greek life, there are many rules and regulations about different situations that could happen in a fraternity or sorority. Alcohol consumption has always been the forefront problem seen in Greek life and because of events that have occurred in the past, every fraternity or sorority has set up certain procedures to monitor or handle whatever problem may arise. For example, to have alcohol at an event, many fraternities and sororities require papers to be filed and approved before the event. There are many exchanges or parties that are completely sober as well, roller-skating with the fraternity Zeta Beta Tao being one I attended only a week ago. Several girls in my sorority have also made the choices to stay completely sober while in college, telling me, “I know my sisters will still love me if I don’t drink. Drinking for me just doesn’t sound fun or like it will enhance my college experience, so, I’ve just stayed away from it”. Although drinking has always been seen as a problem in Greek life, it’s not something that everyone partakes in, and for those that do, rules have been implemented in order to keep negative things from happening.

            You may be reading this and still believe that being in a fraternity or sorority is just about getting drunk every night or getting laid by every girl possible.  Think about this however. Many people who join a sorority or fraternity are looking for a familial bond while in school and they find that within Greek life. Because one person has that bond with 90 other members of their said house who also know many other people, their fraternity or sorority then becomes a very prevalent organization on campus. If they’re so well known, and they make one mistake, isn’t it more likely that more people are going to know about that mistake than if they were to do something good?

Think about how many stories there are about someone in Greek life that has consumed too much alcohol and made a complete ass of themselves, I know I’ve done it. Now, think about how many dollars they’ve helped raise for their non-profit organization or the bonds that they’ve created with other people. Haven’t you ever consumed too much alcohol? Probably. But how much money have you raised for an organization or how many people do you have a strong family bond with while in school? I’m not saying that Greeks don’t party or that they’re better than anyone else, I’m saying that just because Greeks are involved in something you have preconceived notions about, doesn’t mean that they’re any worse or better than you are. It is important to address these stereotypes because they are big enough to separate a campus. If you think negatively about someone, aren’t you more likely to treat them differently? Well, if you don’t like Greek life, aren’t you more likely to treat someone who is in Greek life differently? Doesn’t that create some sort of rift within the DU community? It is time to put an end to the stereotypes and start looking at each other not as Greek life to non-Greek life, but student to student. By creating a stronger community, you may never know who you’ll become friends with. Think about it. Don’t judge Greek life by its cover, it may be a better book to read than you may have initially expected...