What! I Don't Need No Stinking Sorority!--An NPHC Membership Journey

[SISTERGREEK]

First, no, I am not her, but I just couldn't resist. (What a character! lol.)

Second, I remain a huge fan of Boy Meets World, the show; if I had ABC Family, I would be watching it still.

The other thing that year, which really gave me another positive image of these organizations, happened the day that one of the fraternities was probating. The probate area on our campus is fairly close to the cafeteria and around six that evening, the cafe was full of folks eating dinner. All of the sudden, as I watched, there was a mass exodus. I was so oblivious; I had no idea why.

What I did see was that none of those who had left had cleared away their trays; they were all in such a hurry to jostle for best position to view the probate. This was frustrating to me, because I felt that our cafeteria workers were already overworked and shouldn't have to clean up after all of those grown folks. I turned back to my food, resolving to help clean up the trays when I was finished eating.

Just a few minutes later, members of the fraternity that was having, at that moment, its probate, poured into the cafeteria. Within five minutes, they had methodically cleared all of the tables, while the guy who seemed to be in charge sat eating a plate of food, watching, and directing. (Oh, this was also the fraternity whose member had manhandled me during my freshman year.) In my mind, it was the most decent thing that I had ever seen any organization do collectively; and I went over and told the guy who was sitting down that. He thanked me and we had a nice little chat. That one small act did as much to change my perception of this organization as the early incident had; and it also influenced my perception all of the organizations. This coupled with my friends experiences made me think that maybe there was something to them after all.

So I guess for me, these seemingly small moments and personal interactions--as opposed to all of the fan fare--were the ones that really shaped my perspective on greek life.

To be concluded soon...