From ABC News:Should Fraternities Be Shut Down?

[jon1856]

While the following could have been put into any number of the RM threads, thought I should start a new thread with this:
Should Fraternities Be Shut Down?


While System May Have Problems, Experts Say Fraternities Can Play Positive Role

http://www.abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=4815509&page=1

And the comment section is a rather interesting read as well.

[DSTCHAOS]

Must be a slow news day.

[wolffootball37]

Must be. You know i never knew there was so much negative news about the greek system till now. I mean i know some people looked down upon it, especially in tv and movies, but i never would of thought people would want the system abolished! I don't think the Greek system would or could ever be abolished because of so many influential people who are involved in it. It has a rich history thats almost as long as our countries. Its just what they choose to cover in the news that makes it have that negative image to people. Its like you take a group 100 people, and interview 5 and only 5 of them that have done negative things, people will base that whole group on just those 5 people. Again this whole bashing of the Greek system reminds me of the negativity towards the High School athletic system, especially high school football. Like Fraternity men and Sorority women, athletes are almost never portrayed positively in movies and tv. This is making a larger part of society look down on these people which is really sick if you think about it. I just think its so stupid how they love to print out these articles on how "Football players in High School are roiding up" or "Fraternities should be abolished" I really think people who write those are very unhappy with there lives and have nothing else positive or news worthy to write about. Sorry for the rant everyone.

[Tom Earp]

What B S!!!!

Typical media splash!

Ban GLOs, then ban any group that has hazing involved: Military, Sports Teams, cheer leaders, bands, etc!

[jon1856]

Originally Posted by Tom Earp

What B S!!!!

Typical media splash!

Ban GLOs, then ban any group that has hazing involved: Military, Sports Teams, cheer leaders, bands, etc!

Humm-Tom, did you read the story or only the header and leader?

[Tom Earp]

Originally Posted by jon1856

Humm-Tom, did you read the story or only the header and leader?

No Jon, I did read the total article and all of the respondents.

Any thing like this media blow out always leaves a sout taste in my mouth!

I was watching the local news in bed one night and there was a leading story about a National GLO at a local University that lasted a very long time and was over done to the extreme.

The Fraternity was wrong as hazing to the extreme but to over power it was beyond beleif.

I got out of bed and got on their site and raised hell.

I got an apology for that point and they said many of the news room were GLO members! But the news was done and everyone in the signal of K C Metro had seen it!

So how bad did that hurt the GLO and the rest of us?

[AnchorAlumna]

Originally Posted by wolffootball37

I don't think the Greek system would or could ever be abolished because of so many influential people who are involved in it...

Think again...Greek systems can and have been abolished on campuses at various times. All it would take is a couple of outrageous incidents...coupled with valuable real estate...for an administration to shut it down.

[DSTCHAOS]

But this article is about shutting fraternities down on a larger scale.

I'm glad that this article concluded that fraternities still have something to offer and should remain with more guidance from the national bodies and older members. Gotta love state-the-obvious articles.

[ladygreek]

Originally Posted by AnchorAlumna

Think again...Greek systems can and have been abolished on campuses at various times. All it would take is a couple of outrageous incidents...coupled with valuable real estate...for an administration to shut it down.

Yes, but this article seems to be talking about an overall abolishment. Personally, I don't know who really has the authority to do this (without federal legislation of such. I think this is where the responder was heading) except the IRS on an org by org basis.

[JonoBN41]

Seems the NEWS today is quite fond of asking leading questions: How did this happen? Who shot who? Why did a train derail? Are we in for a big storm tonight? I sit here wondering if I should call the other NEWS station, see if they know, then tell the first NEWS station. But no. It's all bs. The media builds sensationalism in order to gain readership/viewership, which of course equates to $$$.

This particular NEWS story was emailed to me by Doug Case. Maybe someone did a big study (the study of the day?) with all kinds of surveys and in-depth analyses by university professors? Such appears not to be the case. In fact, the lone professor is in favor of fraternities.

The title of this NEWS story was simply made up by Emily Friedman, the reporter, as was the sub-heading "Can Broken System Be Saved?" No one else is quoted as suggesting fraternities should be shut down or that they are broken. She made it up.

Perhaps tomorrow she'll be writing on gun control or the horrors of McDonalds hamburgers. Nah, that's been done.

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by AnchorAlumna

Think again...Greek systems can and have been abolished on campuses at various times. All it would take is a couple of outrageous incidents...coupled with valuable real estate...for an administration to shut it down.

Do you have any evidence of this happening on a public campus?

[ZetaPhi708]

I speculate how much money universies would stand to LOSE from donations to that university from GLO alumni if universities were to shut down greek systems all over the country.

[PsychTau2]

Originally Posted by wolffootball37

Its just what they choose to cover in the news that makes it have that negative image to people. Its like you take a group 100 people, and interview 5 and only 5 of them that have done negative things, people will base that whole group on just those 5 people.

Yes, I agree with you that the media tends to focus on the negative/sensational stories instead of things like "Everyone made it through rush hour today without an accident! Yay drivers!" However, it's not what THEY choose to cover in the news...it's what OUR members choose to do, and it's OUR response to it that makes the story. I guarantee you that there would be less of a big deal over these stories if we (as a international system) said "Yep...looks like they hazed. We kicked them out."

We are private organizations, and as such, we don't have to reveal every single thing we do. However, I think we are SO private and SO guarded with what we do, especially in situations such as these, that people don't trust that we are handling the situation. Chapters try to keep the fact that they removed members private, which make it seem like we aren't removing members, and therefore aren't consequenting those who violate our standards.

I've seen SigEp call out their own chapters for bad behavior in their magazine, and usually there are specific reasons about why the chapter closed. I think if we did that more often, we'd gain more credibility. The new MGCA magazine has a section called "Busted" that calls out chapters as well.

It's like I told someone the other day...raising millions of dollars for cancer research doesn't negate the fact that brothers committed acquaintance rape the week before or that the sisters forced their NMs to drink alcohol until they vomited. When we have situations like SDSU and Tulane happen and get revealed in the media, our response cannot be "but we do great community service!"

Just my two cents.

[Elephant Walk]

Without reading it...hopefully they'll shut all the fraternities out west down before they make us look bad.

[jon1856]

Originally Posted by Elephant Walk

Without reading it...hopefully they'll shut all the fraternities out west down before they make us look bad.

Welcome back EW.
Read it-Not as bad as if could be.