What is Greek Life?

Let me start out by saying that I am writing this as a part of Greek life, so my views may be biased. I know some of you who may not be in a fraternity or sorority shiver at the sound of those words and assume that everyone who is in one automatically has the tag of a “douchebag” but I want to make a case for those people who are a part of that community that don’t fit the mold a lot of people put on us. The people who are in fraternities or sororities aren’t too much different than those not in one. We work, we study, and yes, we like to party. So why is there a lot of beef between those who are and those who are not in Greek life? I think it comes from a lack of understanding about what our institutions stand for and the tradition that they are rooted in. Whether its brotherhood or sisterhood; joining a fraternity or sorority allows an individual to form their own community in a campus of 40,000 students. A big reason I hear that people disapprove of these organizations is because “you guys are just buying your friends.” I understand that’s what it may look like from an outside perspective, but in reality it could not be further from the truth. The bonds that I have made with my fraternity brothers are unlike anything I’ve experienced in any of my friendships throughout my life. Oh, in case you were wondering I am not some anti-social hermit who “needed friends” so I joined a frat. I have a perfectly fine social life outside of my fraternity and at first I just  joined so that I could experience something different, but as time went on I realized that I was joining something much more significant than I originally imagined. It’s hard to explain, but all I can say is that if you have a problem with people who in Greek life, talk to them and get to know them better, everyone that I know that has joined a fraternity or sorority on campus has loved their experiences and I’m sure would love to talk to you about it. You never know, maybe you will become convinced to join the “dark side” and you might like it.