Phirst of all I think we need to take a look of how we as NPHC orgs are being displayed on TV and Magazines. That being said I went over the the Omega room and read the article. As a whole I think the article fails to touch on really anything of substance. We need to set a higher standard in our langauge, the way we address people and our behavior. I think if there is a "thug" greek out there it is because of the culture of the society. It is now more acceptable to be a thug than it is to be a college educated student. The more we accept this kind of behavior the more it will increase.
I have to say Alpha and All the other Frats are more than just a COUPLE of community programs, stepping/strolling/hopping and parties. We are servants of the community, scholorship, High standards of men, and brothers. We need the best but our best is not available to us as the article below expresses.
06! Sphinxpoet
See Below Article for reference:
Subject: Gender Gap in Higher Education
>
>
>By Tanu Henry
>
>Back to school at Howard University in Washington, DC, the campus
comes
>alive
>with crowds of young, excited students. Fraternities and sororities
are
>strutting their stuff, folks are moving into dorms, the sounds of the
>marching band practicing rises into the summer air as the campus all
around
>bustles with activity - proof that the fall semester has officially
begun.
>But behind this idyllic, A-Different-World-style picture lies an
upsetting
>reality: women continue to outnumber men - not just on this campus but
at
>colleges across America - at growing ratios. This June, a
record-breaking
>high of 57% of new college graduates were women.
>
>The statistics get worse in black America, where studies show that
black
>women earn college degrees at a rate almost two times that of men. At
>historically black colleges and universities, some schools report
margins
>even steeper. At Clark Atlanta University in Atlanta, for example, the
>student body is a whopping 71% female. And at Morgan State's
graduation in
>Baltimore last year, two-thirds of the graduates and nearly the same
amount
>of honor students were female. Pick almost any HBCU, walk on the yard
and
>the
>scenario is similar: hundreds of sharp, ambitious black women
studying,
>organizing, representing their sororities or just hanging out. The
black
>men
>
>might as well be an endangered species.
>
>The situation is disturbing on a number of levels. Beyond the obvious
>concern
>about future employment opportunities for black men who do not have
college
>degrees, some voice concerns about the social impact on the African
>American
>
>community at large - particularly when it comes to dating, marriage
and the
>formation of families.
>
>"Men leave these environments where they are outnumbered by 10 to 1
feeling
>as if they are entitled to four or more women at one time, and women
leave
>feeling that they have to man-share," says Frank Matthews, publisher
of
>Black
>Issues in Higher Education.
>
>In addition, recent months have seen a proliferation of articles on
the
>sharp
>increase of marriage between black women and white men. The Atlanta
Journal
>Constitution, describing the phenomenon as "a quiet revolution,"
quotes
>black
>women decrying the lack of college-educated black men to date, let
alone
>marry.
>
>"Black colleges," Matthews continues, "have a responsibility to
actively
>recruit black males and work to retain them."
>
>Everyone agrees it's a problem. But the causes are harder to parse.
The
>popular explanation during the '80s and '90s was that black men were
more
>likely to succumb to drugs, gangs and prison. But new statistics point
to
>other social factors. A study conducted by the University of
California at
>Los Angeles found that women generally study harder then men, have
higher
>career and personal goals and spend more time preparing for their
future.
>The
>same study found that male high school students are likely to spend
their
>time watching television, playing video games, partying and exercising
than
>studying or planning for their futures.
>
>David Williams, an 11th grade reading teacher at Homestead Senior High
>School
>near Miami, remembers first witnessing the trend during his
undergraduate
>years at Wilberforce University in Ohio. There were "definitely more
women
>on
>campus," he says, and those female students typically outperformed the
men
>there. Sadly, says Williams, he sees the same pattern among the
teenagers
>in
>
>his classroom.
>
>"I think males in general - not just black males - are more pressured
by
>their peers to perform below standard and seek negative attention than
>their
>
>female counterparts," he says. "Women, on the other hand, I notice,
are
>better prepared by their families to leave the nest, get out there on
their
>own and become independent."
>
>So, is it just a case of boys being boys? Or are there circumstances
>particular to the African American experience that may explain the
>disparity.
>According to Carmen Cannon, Director of Admissions at Howard,
historically
>black men have not had much of an incentive to pursue college degrees
-
>even
>
>when they had the opportunity. Male children, she points out, were
expected
>to provide economic support to their families, often forcing them to
work
>full-time while still in high school, or dropping out of school to
work.
>And
>
>then, men have benefited from gender inequity in the workforce -
>"historically, females have required more education to get jobs that
are
>equal in pay to those of their male peers."
>
>Black women have gone to college for a variety of reasons, some
different
>than those of black men - in the past, for instance, many enrolled to
find
>a
>
>husband (ask your mother or grandmother about women seeking the
elusive
>"M.R.S" degree). As women have increasingly entered the workforce,
black
>women have joined their white sisters in seeking higher education at a
>faster-growing pace than men. Black women ought to be lauded for these
>achievements, not held responsible for the skewed ratios.
>
>Still, the numbers are alarming to many. How to solve such an
entrenched
>problem? Isaac J. Black, a former New York social worker and author of
a
>college guide for African American college students, says he has seen
in
>his
>
>interactions with young black males that "the brainiac gets no props.
Our
>boys are being bombarded with negative images, have little support,
few
>mentors and are, sadly, too often left unattended by their fathers."
>
>Eric Ward, Associate Director of Admissions at Lincoln University in
>Pennsylvania - where the ratio of women to men is more than 3 to 1,
says
>the
>
>low enrollment of black males constantly frustrates him.
>
>"You definitely see it when you go out to recruit. Women show more
interest
>and more women apply than men do," he said. "Many of our young men
have
>unrealistic expectations. They all want to go into sports and
>entertainment.
>
>But then again, how do you convince a kid with several unemployed,
>college-educated relatives to go to college?"
>
>Ward says his frustration led to him founding, along with his son, the
Nu
>Juice Foundation, a non-profit venture based in Philadelphia. His
>organization finds mentors for African American boys in middle school
and
>tries to steer them towards college.
>
>In inner cities and suburbs and even in affluent black communities
(where
>underachievement is just as prevalent and the numbers of men going to
>college
>are just as dismal) organizations are sprouting up to help prepare
boys for
>college.
>
>Some small victories have emerged. Black Issues in Higher Education's
>Matthews reserves high praise for two HBCUs - Benedict College in
South
>Carolina and Edward Waters College in Florida - that have actively
sought
>and
>enrolled black men, leveling the gender ratio to almost 1 to 1 ratios.
>Maybe
>
>soon back to school will become an equal-opportunity event in the
black
>community.
>
>First published: August 29, 2002
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