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Hmmm, well straightBOS, I can say, since I actually go to UMass, that pride isn't a bad explanantion for some of what goes on. When pride means a genuine admiration for what your group is and does, there's nothing wrong with it. But when pride turns into exclusivity for its own sake, it's wrong. And I would place the blame for our situation on everyone's shoulders, including mine- no one reaches out to anyone on either side. Why is Greek Week just for the white kids? Why didn't it even occur to anyone to talk to the other councils? And why don't the other councils involve us? I have no problem with Greek organizations that officially represent a certain ethnicity, any more than I have a problem with organizations that just happen to mostly be of a certain sort for no reason, but I do have a problem when there's no interaction between the groups. It bothers me right down to my core. This is 2002, not 1952- we should all be Greek together.
I can say that socio-economic factors tend to not be an issue among Greeks, because the Greeks tend to be quite a cut above the rest of campus. My honest opinion is that fraternity costs are what keep the Greek system here so small. For the vast majority of students, if they had the money, they'd be at a different school. If you go through the parking lots of the Greek houses, you'll see cars worth a good $20,000 more on average than the cars in the residential and commuter lots. It's just the way it is. I can't testify to the exact conditions in every fraternity, but I can say it's the general trend.
The UMass administration should be plenty worried about situations like this- they advertise us as the most diverse, integrated school around, and the Greeks are making liars of them.
People are welcome to hang out with whom they like, but I'm allowed to ask questions about it. To get back to my original question, do the Greeks at your school split themselves up this way?
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