Cons of Greek Life

What is a cultural phenomenon? A cultural phenomenon is the rate of uptake of beliefs, ideas, fads and trends that increases the more that they have already been adopted by others. Since its beginning of time, Greek life, often referred to as a fraternity or sorority was mainly established to distinguish friendships and future promising opportunities to young college students. Starting first with male organizations and later in years with female, they were formed as elite social clubs within colleges and universities.

Over the past couple of decades, Greek life and culture has become one of the main sought-after activities in college life today, turning it in to a modern-day culture phenomenon around the world. Though Greek life was made and brought together to bring out the best in people, it has secretly been ruining people in the process. Greek life is destroying the lives of young college students with three major factors, alcohol, hazing, and most kept secret, sexual assaults among active members.

The main purpose of joining of Greek fraternities and sororities is the understanding that you will be building lifelong relationships with others and given huge opportunities to brighten your future. With promises and incentives that you will always be protected and have someone to come to in need. The Greek system is supposed to be organized to sponsor community service and other philanthropy work among young college students. In any of the stipulations or requirements to join these organizations are they requesting for the acceptance to be hazed, forced to drink alcohol, or any other cruel punishment used in pledging.

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They are simply lying to these individuals to get them to join their programs, “Mr. Lohse joined Sigma Alpha Epsilon in October 2009 and wallowed in booze, sex and drugs for over two years. Then he asked, “’Why do supposed ‘brothers’ do these things to one another?’” (True Brotherhood 5). People like Mr. Lohse are basically being manipulated and taken advantage of for a personal gain that does not make any sense. Since when is it ok to torture people for fun and enjoyment to join what is supposed to be a healthy and safe society. These students are not signing up to be dehumanized by the lifestyle and culture of the Greek system.

One focus on the destruction of college students from the hands of Greek fraternities and sororities is the more popular topic, hazing. Hazing can be often described as, the imposition of strenuous, humiliating, tasks as part of a program of rigorous physical training and initiation. In other words, the torment or cruel treatment of pledgers; ones committing to an organization, by their group members proving their worth and commitment to the organization. In recent years this topic has gone mainstream because of the severity of what has been happening. Colleges and Universities have been coming under scrutiny along with the clubs because of their participation and lack of punishments handed down to all students involved with the dangerous subject: In January 2012 [ Mr. Lohse] published an exposé in the Dartmouth student paper. SAE, he wrote, “made its pledges swim in a kiddie pool of vomit, urine, fecal matter, semen and rotten food; chug cups of vinegar, which in one case made a pledge vomit blood.” Ms. Reitman’s confidential interviews confirmed Mr. Lohse’s account, but the Greek system invoked its “culture of silence” toward the authorities. (True Brotherhood 5)

This type of behavior and activity is unacceptable to all and should be handle with immediate consequences. No human being should be treated in these disgusting circumstances, nor should they be allowed to treat others like that as well. Ignoring the obvious and letting these organizations and clubs get off the hook or get away with these serious crimes is the reason why hazing has continued to go on and no one is being held accountable for the injuries and deaths of other students, “Hank Nuwer, a journalism professor at Franklin College,Ind., has counted 104 hazing deaths on U.S.college campuses since 1970” (True Brotherhood 5). That very sad statistic is only growing day by day until others is willing and ready to take a stand against Greek life and its ways. Alcohol also plays a critical factor in the Greek system and just like hazing, it is destroying students one by one. Even though alcohol is just about at any college party and is causally given to underaged drinkers, it is how the alcohol is being used in fraternity and sorority hazing rituals that has got everybody talking.

In most hazing incidents across the world, alcohol is used and has caused dangerous outcomes, “Alcohol, says Mr. Winerip, is the ingredient that turns pledging into hazing. Eighty percent of hazing deaths have involved alcohol” (True Brotherhood 5). Knowing the fact that alcohol is being used by these organizations in illegal and harmful ways make all matters worse. These people and their clubs are easily getting away with such criminal acts and no one not even the law is doing anything to stop them. The impact that alcohol and hazing have left on college students and their families is another heart-wrenching topic to bring up. When all the dust has settled and some of these students go back home to their families, they are left with many scars that are unhealable. Some might not even make it home leaving their families with the pain of a lost love one just like the story of young George Deshumes. Just like many other young and naïve college students, he went out looking to join a Greek club hoping to make bonds and future relationships to help him further in life.

Unbeknownst to the brutal treatment ahead of him which ultimately cost him his live: In a hazing game, pledges were told to kidnap two sophomores, blindfold them, tie their hands and feet, and deliver them to a town house where they were force-fed vodkas until they vomited. When Deshumes passed out, they brought him back to the fraternity house and left him on the library couch. He was found dead in the morning. All refused to talk to authorities; but four will go on trial this month. (True Brotherhood 5) Tragedies like this are ridiculous and shows how unprofessional these fraternities really are. How could anyone just leave someone to die and then not want to report to police what has happened. That young men didn’t deserve to die in such a careless way and neither does anyone else, but the pain does not stop there.

These families are the ones that sadly has to deal with the most, “When Marie Andre, mother of the Cornell University student George Deshumes, saw her son’s corpse on the hospital gurney, wrote Michael Winerip in The New York Times, ’She let out a horrible wail’ (True Brotherhood 5). No mother or parent should ever have to deal with the pain she dealt with because of the destructive way these Greek fraternities and sororities handle pledging. Known to be tucked away from the public and kept secret is the harsh reality of Greek fraternities and sororities protecting their members from facing disciplinary actions stemming from them committing sexual assaults.

Sexual assaults are sexual contact or behavior that occurs without explicit consent of the victim. Sexual assaults are more common to happen or occur on Greek housing in colleges or with the assailant being a Greek member, “In a respected government-sponsored survey of more than 6,000 undergraduates at two large public universities in 2007, over a quarter of incapacitated sexual-assault victims reported that their assailant was a fraternity member” (Gray 44). Still with that high number of cases, the public doesn’t hear about it until polls are taken because they are always hidden from the media and news outlet. These members are constantly disobeying the law and their Greek bylaws and are not being punished. Instead they are given slaps on the wrist and their actions are being thrown away as if it never happened, given many of them the chance to strike again, “That outcome was depressingly common at UVa, according to the story: Since 1998, 183 people have been expelled for honor-code violations like cheating, but none have been kicked out for sexual assault” (Gray 44). Not recognizing sexual assault as a major crime on campus is the reason why it is happening so often and letting Greek organizations and their members live above the law is why it happens most among them.

The rape or sexual assault of a student needs to be taken more serious among all parties and keeping these crimes a secret is only hurting the future. Just like with hazing, alcohol is another factor that enhances sexual assaults among Greek fraternities and sororities. Alcohol is a known norm for Greek society and it influences a lot of ludicrous behavior among members, “At many schools, frats are the hub of campus social life—which means they’re also a center for the binge drinking and codified social structures that experts say fuel the assault problem. Research shows that more than three-quarters of sexual assault victims were incapacitated at the time of the attack” (Gray 44). Once alcohol is removed or banned from these organizations, there will not be anything there for students to abuse and these assaults as well as hazing will be eliminated or prevented. There needs to be more control around these students and just maybe things would not get so out of hand as they are now. Greek life is the social clubs on campus giving the students opportunities to socialize, take breaks from college work, and meet new people. It was never meant to haunt and dismantle the lives of young members and future members, but to welcome them as they would portray. Now that the prestigious life is all over the campuses of colleges all over the world, it is harder to resist and control making it more dangerous than ever.