Greek life has been in the negative spotlight for quite some time, simply based on a few mistakes some individuals have made.
When I came to Ferris my freshman year, I knew regardless of what I heard or what I saw on the news, I was going to be a member of a fraternity. Coming from a family where my father and two of my brothers were part of a fraternity, I knew how special that bond was, so I knew it was something that I wanted, as well. Before rush started, I asked resident advisers (RAs) and others in my residence hall what they knew about Greek life, and to my surprise, I got the same negative responses, like, “Oh you don’t want to do that. All they do is drug girls and drink,” or “I heard that they haze pretty badly, like force-feed tons of alcohol down your throat. I even heard that in order to get in, you have to rape a girl, since all the brothers there do it anyways.”
I was astonished when I heard these people talk about fraternities in such a way. All of the negative things said about these fraternities almost made me not want to try and join, since I was just a freshman and had no idea, but I decided to check it out and see whether or not these rumors were true.
Now, two years after becoming a member of Pi Kappa Alpha, it is very easy to say that everything I have ever heard about Greek life is insanely false. All of the date rape rumors and hazing rumors are so wrong, it blows my mind how anyone would think this or start these rumors. What was more shocking was that some of this gossip is coming from RAs — and even professors in some instances — which hurts the recruiting of new members. I’m not just saying these are false just because I am in a fraternity; every Greek that I have met places their morals high and are some of the most respectful people that I know.
One big reason Greek life has a bad reputation is because, every few months, something happens at a fraternity house or by a member and the entire groups get punished. Seeing and hearing these stories like “fraternity pledge dies from drinking too much alcohol while active members were hazing” would make someone assume that every fraternity is like that. Just because there are a few bad apples that ruin the reputation of Greek life for some does not mean you should hold that view over every single fraternity.
Looking past the negative rumors that flood the ears of every Greek, it is nice to know the facts and positives that Greeks bring to not only the school, but towards the community, too. In the 2017-18 academic year, Ferris Greek organizations completed 3,672 total community service hours in which they raised nearly $31,000 that went toward charitable causes. Actions like this never seem to make the news or are never heard about because everyone likes to focus on the rumors.
Along with all the false accusations, it would be interesting to see how many people throwing around rumors actually know fraternity or sorority members. Greek life at Ferris helps people network around similar goals and encourages networking and philanthropy, to name a few benefits found within.
While some bad apples are harmful to everyone’s perception, throwing out the whole lot is neither fair nor warranted. Give Greek life a chance.