Alcohol use/partying.

[electricfeel01]

I will be going into my first year of university at UBC this fall.
Honestly, I had no idea that UBC even had Greek societies, and I really had no interest in them at all. I found a link to the sororities website through Facebook, and once I got reading, I was actually quite interested. It sounds like a unique and fun way to accomplish many things: meeting new people, building lasting friendships, improving leadership skills, developing confidence, and devoting time to worthy causes. It sounds like the embodiment of what I want to do with my time at university. Call me naive or just plain stupid, but I really didn't want to believe in the stereotypes of sororities/fraternities, and for a while, I really believed that maybe it was all just hype from the media and the movies. On the sororities website, this is what they say about alcohol use: "In accordance with the National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) Alcohol Initiative, joint sorority/fraternity events held on fraternity property are alcohol-free. All sorority meeting rooms in the Panhellenic House are alcohol-free. Greek members also benefit from alcohol and drug abuse seminars as well as educational programs on date rape, assault and safety." Again, call me naive, but I really believed it..at least, I wanted to.

But, I know a sorority member through my sister (they went to high school together), and I know for a FACT that the above statement is FALSE. It was brought to my attention through physical evidence recently that the above is false. I know for a fact that there are many events that take place during the school year, hosted by the fraternities (sometimes sororities) in fraternity houses, where there is a lot of alcohol. Sometimes, the sole purpose of the event was to get drunk. I am honestly disappointed, because if it wasn't for all the partying and alcohol, I was 95% going to go to recruitment. I do not believe that it takes alcohol to have fun, and I have been too hurt by it in my life to ever appreciate the "fun" that comes out of alcohol.

I don't see why I should pay a large fee to be a part of a society that claims to do so much more than what is the stereotype of a sorority. I am not undermining the time and effort and money put into charity work and other community services in the school. I am not undermining the apparently better marks that Greek members achieve over non-Greek students. But the partying certainly seems to prevail...I don't see why I should invest my money into events that I will ultimately choose not to participate in. That being said, the whole experience doesn't seem to be a good investment, as I can still meet many fabulous people without joining a sorority. I can still join clubs and student organizations where I can practice and develop my leadership skills and confidence. I can certainly participate in charity work in other aspects of campus life and even beyond that. And that all comes without me having to pay extra money.

Please speak up and enlighten me if I am wrong about this, but my eyes do not deceive me. I see this young woman partaking in more partying/drinking events hosted by Greek societies than I see her in events without alcohol use. And it just seems contradictory to me that they are apparently educated on the subject of alcohol abuse, yet they turn right around and abuse it? AKA Beer Pong Tournaments and the like? I'm sure many of you know better than I do that people get seriously hurt from binge drinking.