"hazing" meeting
 

we just had a meeting today in my high school about hazing. the administrators told us not to haze the freshman and stuff. then they started telling us to avoid fraternities/sororities in college because they are known for their hazing and how most of them still participate in it. now.. i know some still do, but i thought for the most part it was banned. i just thought it was pretty ridiculous for my school to talk about that. they were just believing old "stereotypes." i don't know.. it made me pretty angry since i plan to rush next fall.
do any of you guys have to deal with anti-greek administrators in your colleges? do some proffessors look down at you for being greek? or do they look up to you and have higher expectations?

I definitely don't think that I am looked down on by my professors for being Greek. I am in a class with 2 sisters, and we all broke 90 on a quiz that had a mean of 74. We also actively participate, and my professor knew our names by the second week, even in a ~75 person lecture. We've worn letters a lot (especially with this week being Greek Week) and if anything, I think professors associate our sorority with confidence and intelligence.

Unfortunately, our stereotype in the past has been the "wild party girls" but I feel like sorority girls as a whole are given that rep. I'll admit that some of my sisters can be a little crazy but there are a lot of us in my ~160 person chapter that couldn't be further from the stereotype. I'd say on campus it will always be split between the people that "hate" Greeks just because, and those who will take a little more time to get to know us and realize that we really aren't like the stereotypes.

My campus only has 6 sororities and none have houses -- and things in the midwest are a lot more laidback.

As for hazing, Wash U has really really cracked down on hazing. We aren't allowed to do scavenger hunts because that would be considered hazing. They can't even tell us to wear our pledge pins. Honestly, I think pledging would have been a little more fun if we could have done the "innocent" stuff, but I realize that too little is much better than too much.

I'll close by saying that "hazing" could go on anywhere. I know sports teams that haze the freshman, as well as certain organizations. If anything, you have a much smaller chance of being hazed in a sorority here than a different organization because everyone assumes that "all GLOs haze" and "only GLOs haze" and that's what's been regulated.

I know hazing DOES still occur at some schools, but from what I've heard, it goes on more in fraternities and more at large state schools.

Sorry for the ramble.. hope this helps.

My school is a very small school (approximately 2000 students), and I feel that anti-Greek sentiments exist among the faculty. I haven't really seen any anti-Greek sentiments from the administration, but many professors do seem to have preconceived notions about Greek students that are negative. However, this does not mean all professors buy into the stereotypes of Greek students, and this does not mean that you cannot change their minds. Professors respect students who do well in and out of the classroom, regardless of any Greek affiliation. If you work hard to do your best in your classes, many professors will not care if you are Greek. Even though I know how many of my professors feel about Greek life, I never have been treated differently or have been disrespected by faculty due to my Greek affiliation. I work very hard to do my best in the classroom, and it shows. Professors respect that. I would not base a decision on whether or not to join the Greek system because of professors' opinions of it. Good luck with your senoir year!


ps... Every Greek house has strict policies against hazing. Hazing is grounds for a chapter to loose its charter. Hazing is only done in the smallest minority of chapters, and is only publicized because it makes good stories. How many people want to hear on the news that 99% of Greek students were initiated without being hazed? It is not a problem at most schools, and you shouldn't worry about it.

Re: "hazing" meeting
 

What the heck is your HS telling students not to go Greek? Oh well, maybe by telling kids not to do something they will end up doing it like everything else. Except in this case, it's actually something good for the kid.

Say what you will about the greek system, but at Texas A&M, a difficult school academically the sorority GPA's average is above 3.0 or higher. Alot of emphasis is put on your GPA.:p