U AZ: Going greek: Rush? Yes. Pledge? Maybe
 

Going greek: Rush? Yes. Pledge? Maybe

Ryan Johnson
Columnist
By Ryan Johnson
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
Print this

In three weeks, 1,000 or so girls will go through sorority rush, looking to see if greek life is for them. Less than two weeks later, as many guys will do the same via fraternity rush. Many will decide to pledge one of the 46 social fraternities and sororities on campus. They will become part of the 2,600-member UA greek life community, which comprises 11 percent of the undergraduate population.

The greek system at the UA is loved by many; the greek system at the UA is also hated by many. But more than anything, the greek system at the UA is misunderstood, which is unfortunate. Everyone would be better off if people could replace their assumptions and stereotypes with realistic descriptions.

Despite being in one of the biggest houses on campus, I'm not afraid to tell it like it is.

Is it like Animal House? Do they haze the pledges like Guantanamo? Or are these organizations that will make students better men and women, and give them friends that will last a lifetime?

Much of the fame and fear surrounding greek life has to do with pledging and its alleged counterpart, hazing. Sorority girls, who typically have only a two-month pledge period, are rarely hazed at all. Fraternities are a little different, but here's a secret: Hazing isn't what it used to be. Some current members, especially fraternity guys trying to impress girls, will try to act like it was hard-core. In reality, they're just as likely to wish they were hazed more, to make it at least somewhat of a challenge. There are still isolated incidents, but whether pledges are "hazed" often depends on the definition of hazing. Is cleaning the house twice a week hazing?

Among the fraternities and sororities, there is some variety. But there are also overarching patterns.

Greek-bashers say greeks are just rich kids. While this is an exaggeration, I'm sure greeks as a whole would have a hard time showing they don't come from families with incomes higher than that of the UA average. And greek life is expensive. To be in a fraternity, members easily pay $500 or more per semester (with something like $200 going to insurance). Sororities can run $2000.

Greeks are more likely to be from out of state than the members of the campus community at large. This has something to do with out-of-staters not having a built-in network of friends from high school, but income may play a role too.

And more controversially, greek-bashers say greek organizations are all white. One well-argued essay said that greek life is a mechanism for upper middle class whites to segregate themselves from the rest of campus. I wouldn't go that far, but greeks are going to have a hard time proving they're not whiter than the rest of campus.

It may sound cynical to point this out, but it's the truth. It's not much different from saying the same thing about Scottsdale as compared to greater Phoenix. There are exceptions: There are African-American, Asian and multicultural greek organizations. But there isn't much mixing. Segregation is the law of the land. There are also a Jewish fraternity and sorority. Some would say there's a blond sorority as well. When deciding whether greek life is for you, keep in mind that you may or may not want to be surrounded by people frighteningly similar to you.

Greeks will try to say, as they do on the UA greek Web site, that they "hold high academic standards, volunteer regularly on campus and in the community, develop and strengthen leadership skills, create a support network and develop long-lasting friendships."

The academic standards part is exaggerated. Greeks are at about the campus average for grades, but considering their socio-economic makeup, that's not much to brag about. Volunteer regularly? Not really.

Sororities have some ground to stand on. Fraternities, not so much. If they can make community service into an event that brings girls, maybe.

But rather than let greeks pretend to be these great community service organizations, let's develop a realistic picture. Most people are there for the friends and for the events. People in greek houses are instantly plugged into a large network of people that are relatively active on campus, and it's an excuse to meet all sorts of people.

I would probably go greek again given the chance, but there are also strong concerns - superficiality and a lack of diversity, to name two. But one thing interested people should do is rush. Rush is a one-week opportunity to meet people and hear what greek life is about in order to decide whether or not to pledge. And if nothing else, it will be a small step toward dispelling the myths about the greek system.

More information on greek life, including how to sign up for rush, can be found at www.union.arizona.edu/csil/greek.

- Ryan Johnson is an economics and international studies senior. He can be reached at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu.

And how many Greeks at UA will be hating him now???

That was disgusting.

May I ask why?

-Rudey

Superficiality and lack of diversity? I'll agree.

I guess it's because I feel U of A is so similar to SDSU (minus the beach) in terms of it's student body, but I agree with a lot of what he said. Maybe it's because I'm in a smaller chapter, but the time has to come when us Greeks acknowledge that many of our own perpetuate the stereotypes.

As a less financially fortunate colored man in a historically white organization, I can see (and have felt) much of the discrimination in the greek system. I don't feel it is a racial issue so much as it's a social class issue. However, I feel that's just the way the world works these days.

But back to the topic, unless you're THAT fortunate, you all know at least one org/org member who perpetuates the stereotype that randoms place on us. A significant number of IFC and Panhel greeks ARE young, trendy white people. They may not be rich, but going greek does tend to get expensive, and I know that mommy and daddy help out in some capacity. You can't tell me that those BMWs and Benzes in the garage at frat row weren't paid for by the students that drive them.


Maybe it isn't that way at YOUR school, but at a school like U of A or SDSU, much of what he said was right, and most aren't doing anything to show otherwise.

I don't know. I kind of think he hit some nails on the head and addressed some topic that we as a larger community tend to shy away from. I think it was also a persuasive speech for reasons to rush and see what it is really like. Maybe he overstated in a few areas, but some of it I would easily agree with...

I think it is good that a member of a greek org is stating the facts (or at least some of them) as they are.

Overall, it may not be the prettiest picture of greek life on his campus, but it seems pretty realistic. I say good job, Ryan.

Re: U AZ: Going greek: Rush? Yes. Pledge? Maybe
 

The thing is....most of the research shows that the students going to college now (and are currently there) show that they want MORE than just the social part of organizations (they can socialize anywhere). They want to be challenged, they want to help their local community through hands on service (instead of sending money somewhere), and they want to see the benefits of being in an organization.

I'm not saying social isn't part of it...but if you ever wonder why we're losing our juniors and seniors nowdays....maybe we (the organizations) aren't giving them what they want/need anymore.

It's an interesting article...sure, it's truthful, but it also points out the need for some change. If you don't want to live up to the standards you put out in public, lower those standards you do advertise (referring to the GPA thing). Besides, in my opinion, it's not about the numbers/GPA. It's about how well your members improve their skills.

PsychTau

I agree. There was nothing in this article that I felt was far off the mark. Aside from the race deal, this sums up Greek life at my school fairly well. (At Wisconsin, the Greek system pretty much mimics the student body in terms of race. However, this isn't much to brag about since the school as a whole is over 90 percent white, with most of that remaining ten percent being Asian.)

I don't think that it makes sense to keep on pretending like we as Greeks are holding ourselves to standards that are THAT much higher than the rest of the student body, when on the whole, we aren't.

Re: Re: U AZ: Going greek: Rush? Yes. Pledge? Maybe
 

Since a certain member of my chapter seems to think that freshmen don't care about service or philanthropy and only care about partying in a fraternity, I'd like to see some of this research to show him.

I tried googling, couldn't find anything concrete.

I'll probably get ripped on for this, but I'm completely appalled by that article.

I was initiated at U of A and had I had the MONEY to stay down there I would have.

I emphasize money because his arrogance that because I'm greek I somehow come from money is completely incorrect. My parents would be considered middle class. I grew up middle class. I will admit that I did have sisters where mommy and daddy where paying for everything (let's face it everyone can say that they had a brother or sister where mommy and daddy paid for everything).

The most my parents did was pay $500 so I could stay in my dorm room. I paid for everything else.

When I joined my chapter, it did not consist of all white girls. We had white girls. We had non-white girls. We had skinny girls. We had heavy set girls. We had tall girls. We had short girls. Just trying to make the point that we weren't the "stereotypical sorority girls".

Now this is not to say that there aren't problems with U of A greek life, because there are. That's the most I'm going to say with that because my chapter just closed so my "opinions" regarding the problems won't be as levelheaded as most, mainly because of what comes from your chapter closing.

But what I do feel comfortable stating (and is purely my opinion) is that greek life needs to have a supportive President otherwise it can be very tough. I say this because ASU has about 800 (if not more) girls going through formal. President Coor (from my perception) seemed pretty supportive of greek life. I'm not quite sure about President Crow though. I say this because ASU greek life seems pretty strong and from what I could tell while is school had a pretty good reputation.

I left U of A May of 1998 and even though I got the feeling that greek life just wasn't supported. President Likins, I'm pretty sure (like only about 75% positive) has stated that he's not a big supporter of greek life. So if you've got the president of the school, not really supporting greek life, it's gotta be tough.

And it probably doesn't help when the school newspaper allows writers to completely diss greek life.