Quote:
Originally posted by 33girl
As far as changing attitudes, from what I read on here, the Greek/non-Greek divide is much sharper than it used to be, and the non-Greeks seem to have a sense of "entitlement" to their opinion. For example - my non-Greek friends would have NEVER said anything like "are you going to get hazed", even in jest - it would have been considered unspeakably rude, and it would have been understandable if I never talked to them again. Even if it wasn't for them, they respected my choice, and that seems to be gone. IMO it's part of all the politically correct BS that has infested universities. This mindset wouldn't care if Greeks never did anything bad, they would still be upset by the fact that they exist. Until it's made clear that diversity means respecting everyone, not ripping on someone because they are from a perceived "priveleged class", this will go on and nothing can be done about it.
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The divide between Greeks and anti-Greeks is pretty big at my school, although clearly I can't speak for all of them. Anti-Greek sentiment is high, and I can't always say that there is no reason for it (hazing is a problem among the fraternities here, alcohol is big within the Greek system -- although alcohol is just as big with non-Greeks too), but more often than not there is a lot of non-Greek judging of the system because not enough people are familiar with it. All they see is the alcoholic side of things, and as my boyfriend has pointed out, there hasn't been much of an attempt from the Greek system to reach out towards non-Greeks, although the same is true in reverse.
I think this is one of the biggest problems with the Greek system, at least here: most people don't have enough experience with the Greek system to know what it's about, so they're forced to rely on the stereotypes from 90210 and Sweet Valley University. But there's only so long that Greeks feel like being the "teachers" and ambassadors and spokespeople for what Greek life is about before they get sick of it. We can't be the model citizens all of the time. This isn't exactly a rare theme -- any time you're part of a misunderstood group you'll find the same issue. I've seen it in feminism, relating to racial or religious groups, various political movements -- it's tough to spend all your time worrying about how people perceive you.