greek unity?

[PhiMuJennaJen20]

i just wanted to see how other campuses deal with greek unity. we're a small campus here...five sororities, five fraternities. for the most part, the guys get along fine...a few little rumbles here and there. same with the girls...on the outside. there are bitter feelings here and there, but that's understandable.

i only ask this question because our panhellenic council and IFC promote greek unity to NO end. but i've noticed on here some very "petty" comments about one sorority always being "prettier" or better or the like. i've noticed through my visits at my friends schools that each chapter is different at each school. we do have a pretty sorority here, but they're NOT pretty in other places.

in short, why can't we all just get along?!

(i don't mean to offend anyone. i love my sorority and believe that everyone should love their sorority as well...just not to the point of belittling others.)

[DukeBlue]

Yeah, all this talk I see about certain groups being better because of being "hot" or "pretty" or rich or whatever almost turned me off on the idea of joining a sorority at all...call me a silly idealist, but really, that's not what it's supposed to be about, and it just makes me roll my eyes....because the people obsessed with all of that can tell themselves they're "better" all they want, but they're not. And I'm very glad not all groups are like that, and that I found one that isn't.

[angel_kak]

I think you wrote the best quote "why can't we all just get along?"

Unfortunately on our campus it seems like the petty fights outnumber the good greek unity issues! Especially during Greek Week and Homecoming with floats, things can be brutal around here. I have been an active participant on Panhellenic issues and we have worked long hard hours trying to stregthen intergreek relationships and people get so petty and look down on you if you even talk to members of other sororties it is pathetic...I was also a recruitment counselor for two years and would advise anybody to take be one if you ever have the opportunity. It really opens your eyes and makes you realize again why you chose the group you did. And for me it turned me around so that I look at everything like i'm a Greek member not XYZ sorority. I am graduating soon and I don't have the time I once did so I had to give it up now...but maybe someday people will learn that the Greek system would be much better and stronger if people could look past the letters and see that we could all help each other. We have a common bond and that is that we are all Greek altogether! I only wish we had more members that cared about the Greek system enough to put the time that a few of us did for the last four years. I'm not saying people don't care, but we really need to all stick together to get the Greek system number everywhere. With all the negative publicity we get through the media we need to think of ways we can show what we really stand for in a positive light. We all have the same problems in our chapters. Even though each group is different there are so many things that are the same no matter which greek organization you choose...We all form lasting friendships and have someone there for us if we need them! And for me that someone isn't always in my own sorority she could be in a completely different group. So, I end this with what I have said over and over "why can't we all just get along?"

Kirsten

[33girl]

I've been Greek for 15 years (good Lord!) and I think that as interest in Greek life has declined from the "high" it was on throughout the 80's and early 90's, the backbiting and competition has increased. Why? Simply because the recruit pool is smaller. It's easy to get along when you all are doing relatively well and don't have to fight tooth and nail to keep up numbers.

When I was active at my campus (which is also Kirsten's ) there was a certain amount of competition during derby days, greek week, homecoming floats....but at the end of the day, you saw everyone hanging out together as a system. I remember the best night my senior year when we all got back from spring break...everyone was at the "Greek bar" and there were no dividing lines whatsoever, it was so clear by the vibe in the room that we were unified. We used to scrape and compete with AST CONSTANTLY...but when one of our sisters was in a car wreck, before we could all even get to the house there was a bouquet of flowers and offers of help from AST if they could do anything for us. I had friends from EVERY SINGLE sorority on campus....and I am extremely proud of that fact. If all I had cared about was my sorority, and all I had gotten was friends in one sorority, it would do nothing to make me want to be loyal to the Greek system or to my school.

I wish the nationals would just quit pushing numbers and statistics down everyone's throats, and change it to "live and let live." We will never all be equal, and honestly if you form bonds that last it doesn't make a damn bit of difference if you were the largest or smallest, if you won Greek week 23 years in a row or if all the cheerleaders pledged XYZ instead of you. If everyone could be allowed to be happy being what they are there would be a lot less acrimony and division.

[PKTSU01]

I think that in general, the greek community is united as one large group within a given college or university. Then, there are the other factors that come into play.

popularity - there are elitist groups, the jock fraternities, the jappy groups, the unpopular groups and so on. The reason they exist is simple, people are drawn to different things and when you have pride in your group, it might be real easy to look down on another group because they are smaller or have less history or rep, whatever. This is human nature, and while it may be dumb, it comes with the territory of being in the greek system. These groups exist based on selectivity and opinions are going to vary widely.

competition - while not necessarily only competing for the same rushees, chapters are competitive because again, the pride factor comes in as well as rep. A sorority that prides itself on number is going to be competitive when it comes to rush, even to the point of talking down other sororities because they want to keep themselves competitive. Similarly, a fraternity of athletes wants to kick ass come greek week because it adds to their image and rep.

beliefs - While all groups are members of the greek system, it may be easy to forget that a given fraternity or soroity EXISTS not because of the educational instituition, but because of the national organization. Each organization is different and values different things and some of these things will come into play, even to the point of conflict between groups.

The major thing I noticed, especially at SU, was the attempt to have everyone think that ALL of the councils took an equal part in the greek community, which was total b.s. IFC and Panhel pretty much dominated the social scene while NPHC and MGLC groups did their thing with a different purpose. While the majority of the social fraternities and sororities were out being "social" the smaller NPHC and MGLC groups went about their business with a different purpose. To me, these groups made the major differences in the community and for their members.

Now, not to get anyone pissed, but if that;s how ya feel, you're entitled to it. It seems, to me at least, that IFC and Panhel are number oriented. If a social group isn't competitive in number, they'll fall off the map. Whereas the black and latino/a fraternities and sororities always seemed to be concerned about quality as opposed to quantity. There might have been 10 or so guys in APA, but they did more work for the surrounding community and had better PR than most houses with 40+ members.

I was just using this as an example to show how, even though diversity within the greek system is what makes it awesome, it also leads to misunderstanding of group purpose and existence, which in tunr leads to a divided greek system. This is just the reality of the situation though.

[kristiAZD]

I wish it were possible to have total greek unity, but unfortunately many of the factors stated earlier are very present and keeping disunity alive between our organizations today. I too, go to a small school with 4 sororities and 4 fraternities. Rumors and gossip run rampant here. It is most especially present between greek groups. At my school there has always been the rivalries, but this year it seems to have gotten out of control. We have the worst greek unity that I've seen since being a member of my organization. PhiMuJennaJen20, I know exactly how you feel.....our schools are quite close. I guess it's plagued your campus as well!

I do want to address though that numbers are not always the push during rush. My sorority is VERY close because we choose quality over quantity. We do happen to have the biggest chapter on campus, but I think our closeness and acceptance of all different kinds of people is what draws all those girls to us. We don't have black and hispanic groups on our campus so I can't say that they do or do not focus on numbers more, but from my experience I can say that I have never felt the push from Nationals to have big numbers in my Panhellenic group.

[shadokat]

My campus is small, but we have a "too large" greek system with 10 sororities and 10-15 fraternities. The women have to fight over new members, because only 50 women go through and to get to quota of 5 is really an achievement. Of course, the rumors fly around that XYZ sorority is a bunch of sluts and ABC sorority is a bunch of nerds, which just deters from the whole process.

Not to belittle anyone's sorority, including my own, but we all joined these Greek organizations for mainly the same reasons. To meet new people, to get invovled, to have that brotherhood or sisterhood that sounds so great. Yes, we all have different ideals and colors and mottos and letters and such, but the underlying principle is the same. It's just so unfortunate that we can't see it sometimes.

Angel & 33girl, while I didn't go to your school, I know what it's like in the PA State System. Greek life is on the decline, and until we can pull it together, it will continue to be that way. I worked with panhellenic to try and improve greek relations, but it was pretty much a bust. Angel, be proud of what you've done thus far, as you have been of great service to the community with your ideas and actions. And remember, you pass those along to other women in your sorority and your mission continues

Heather

[Optimist Prime]

That's German for my two pennies.
My school is pretty small, and always was. Last year it was like 6,000 people total and now its like 9,000 undergrads I think, not counting graduate students. We have 10 IFC fraternites and 7 NPC sororities. I think we have the full yard of NPHC orgs, but I could be mistaken. We also have what we call "off campus" groups. There is no campus housing for greeks, but we use that term to mean a group that is not recognised by the University. There are five "off campus" fraterites and one "off campus" sorority. I've seen two fraternities disapear, and this is fall of sophmore year. One lost recognition because their rush shirt was deemed "offensive." That is so dumb. All it said was rush (name of group left out) we're tighter than your little sister. We are the newest fraternity and almost all of the fraternites on IFC resent us. I'm friends with people in other fraternites. I think, from what I've seen, that the NPHC orgs. are more united. The IFC and Panhellic fraternites and soroities is a different story. The sororities have mixers with off campus fraternties. Some times with club sports. Like the rugby team. But, if an on campus fraternity mixed with the off campus sorority, or say, the women't baseketball team, none of the sororities would mix with again. There really isn't greek unity. The people I call friends that are in different fraternities, I knew before I went greek. As far as being selective, not everyone who is friends can be in the same fraternity. That is how it is supposed to be. Yeah, we all join for pretty much the same reasons, but each group has its own set of ideals. You are supposed to join the group that fits your ideals. Also, each org. is supposed to give bids to people they think match their ideals. Its not a question of a good or bad person, but a question of weather or not they share the same values. Not morals or ethics, although that can be called into play, but you are supposed to want people who, even though they are different, have common ideals. Brotherhood can't really be defined. So my feeling of brotherhood may be different than yours. That is why we would be/arein different orgs. That doesn't mean we can't be friends. Yeah, we might be rivals during rush or intramurals or Greek Week or whatever, but its a friendly rivalry.

[kristiAZD]

Wow, you think your school is small? Try going to a school with less than 1,000 stdents. It's like high school all over again.

[Optimist Prime]

wow kristi that is small.