Quote:
Originally posted by AGDee
I read this post a couple of hours ago and (not attacking S&S here), I think it shows the kind of thinking that has gotten the GLOs in trouble in the first place. None of our GLOs were founded on principles of access to alcohol and sex yet, at some campuses, this is what students see it as now. That idea is perpetuated by tv shows, movies, etc and it has gotten the GLOs into trouble. I understand that this is how many see the Greek System and this troubles me deeply. All of the GLOs are trying very hard to get back to their founding principles for the betterment of the whole Greek System.
Each time that I hear some awful story (like the 18 year old at the U of Michigan who "fell" out of her dorm window after drinking at a fraternity party a couple years ago), the first thought in my head is "I hope that wasn't an Alpha Gam". Am I thinking this because that means the liability insurance will go up and the lawsuits will fly? No. Am I thinking this because I don't want Alpha Gams to get bad press? No. I'm thinking this because I don't ever want to hear about a sister dying an untimely and unnecessary death. Are the rules in place just because of money? No way! I don't ever want to hear about a sister being raped or drugged. I don't ever want to hear about a sister being killed in a drunk driving accident or killing someone else in a drunk driving accident. I don't want my sisters to get Hepatitis C or HIV because of risky behavior. I don't want my sisters to deal with the stress of getting pregnant while in college or dealing with pictures taken of them doing embarassing things which then get posted on the internet. I don't want any of my sisters to go to a job interview in 5 years and be recognized by one of the VPs of the corporation as the girl who slept with all his brothers in college.
What I want for members of Alpha Gamma Delta (and all GLOs for that matter) is to see confident young women with strong self esteem who care enough about themselves and their health to NOT engage in these risky behaviors, most of which could have life long effects.
When I think back to my collegiate years, my fondest sorority times are not when we were dragging some drunk sister out of some guy's bedroom or taking away the car keys or taking a sister to ER because of some trauma that had occurred. This isn't what Greek Life was about. My fondest memories are alcohol free, sex free... the night in December that the two sisters I lived with decided it was time to decorate for Christmas and we created a paper tree on our wall... the support I received when my father had a heart attack... the sisterhood retreat where each Initiation class performed a skit or song about our sisterhood and played Scruples all night long.. those are the things you remember, those are the memories you want to build. Sometimes, the alumnae of your chapters may seem like they are just laying down the law and not letting you have fun, but maybe they have developed some wisdom over the years and don't want you to make the same mistakes they (or their sisters) did.
Lastly, there were a lot of honors organizations, Christian organizations, student government, and other activities that got a lot of members without having to use the promise of alcohol and sex to get them.
Dee
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Maybe my perception is a little skewed here, coming from the recently proclaimed #2 party school in the nation and #1 in both beer and hard liquor consumption (thank you, Princeton Review
) . . . but you cannot remove alcohol from the college culture. If you could, my school's administration would have done it long ago. But the fact of the matter is that social Greeks, as a whole, are more likely to be social than non-Greeks, they are more likely to party, and in college, partying usually involves alcohol consumption.
I'm not saying that EVERY person who joins the Greek system does it to drink and party and meet the opposite sex. But many do. I've talked to others in smaller Wisconsin Greek systems and those in big Greek systems across the country (mainly Big 10, Big 12, SEC schools) and the message remains the same: We drink a lot. We party a lot. And in some cases, we continue to promote the stereotypes with our actions at the same time as we claim they aren't true.
I think that some of us within the Greek system are so desperate to counteract the Animal House stereotype that we start acting like the Greek system is all about philanthropy and leadership opportunities and academics. I'm sorry, but that's simply BS. We're called "social Greeks" for a reason. Sure, philanthropy and leadership and academics are important factors, but the social part is still the overriding one.
As for our policies not being to prevent lawsuits, but rather to protect the members -- again, if you actually examined the policies you'd see that this is wrong. If the case was to prevent harm to members, for example, we'd be allowed to drink in the sorority house. After all, where am I more likely to get raped -- in the house lounge while drinking with my girls, or out drinking at a fraternity party? Am I more likely to get hit by a car while drinking in the house, or traisping across campus to the bars? Not allowing drinking in the house also encourages drunk driving. So why is it against the rules? Because our national HQ doesn't want to get sued if one of us falls down the stairs drunk and splits her head open.
I'm not complaining about that -- it's intelligent on their part to do it, since most HQs would be bankrupt after one or two significant lawsuits. But let's not pretend that HQs have the purest motives for everything, because they don't.