Quote:
Originally Posted by 33girl
The enthusiasm is already there. They do these events because they have a zillion Greek alum parents and prospective members contacting them every day asking for it.
A good comparison: department stores in Pittsburgh don't sell Steelers gear to "build enthusiasm" for the team. They sell it because people are already psychotically excited about the team and they'll make beaucoup bucks. This is simply giving the people what they want.
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I think it helps perpetuate things though, and it does channel the interest. It feeds it, rather than just reflecting it.
I mean think it through:
contrast the level of administrative support you'd have to have to pull off the Bama pre-rush stuff with levels at places where Greek Life struggles.
At schools where there are different, and yet self-sustaining traditions, I think differences among campuses is one of the strengths of Greek life.
But if participation is waning or has waned in the past, maybe looking at what other schools has value. (I'm not saying that everyone should aspire to be like the SEC by any stretch because it has its drawbacks too.)
And in a kind of unrelated point, it seems to me that at least half of SEC schools are either in pretty decent sized metro areas or are within an hour of one. I mention this because the size of the metro area being used to explain interest in Greek Life might not go as far as just looking at what role Greek Life typically plays in campus life, regardless of the size of the city. Sure, having nothing else to do probably makes people more interested in joining, but not every SEC school is in a town like Starkville.
ETA: neither of these schools is SEC, but Georgia Tech, which you probably know is in Atlanta, is about 25% Greek and Emory, which is technically in Decatur, is about 30% Greek.
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