The Greek System Should be Removed From College Campuses

In the name of full disclosure - I never rushed. There are times I wish I had for the connections afforded, but it was never my bag and I had a ton of other stuff on my plate. That said, not only have I received offers, but I was involved in similar organizations due to scholarship obligations and had the chance to work closely with the Greek System. So I'm going to do my best to refute the claims being brought up. And that's not actually hard since for one thing it rather obviously shows that little real research was done. For instance, the Greek system is far more diverse then most would give it credit for. Heck even in the incident with Sigma Alpha Epsilon people are assuming the Oklahoma chapter speaks for the whole house - but it doesn't. There are in fact many black SAE members running around - including places like Missouri and Texas which aren't very well know for their racial inclusion. Heck black members have actually started chapters of SAE. Furthermore it should be noted that not only are traditionally male houses becoming co-ed, traditionally white houses are becoming more racially inclusive. Some are going full-hog and allowing black females entry. But even without that it should be mentioned that frats and sororities are actually fairly LGBT+ friendly. 64% of gays and 56% of lesbian individuals who pledge have stated themselves as being happy and/or feeling accepted. This shouldn't be too surprising considering Greek Houses are like Hogwarts - generally speaking they're your second family. Which brings me to the first really big benefit of pledging - you instantly gain a massive support system. Whether it's a foot through the door, being connected to potential mentors, finding someone who can put you up for a while, whatever. These are the people who will help you study, help you brainstorm solutions, and quite simply have your back when push comes to shove. And no that doesn't mean it's all skittles and sunshine and friendship is magic. You're gonna hate some people and not care about others - but like a real family when it comes down to what's important... you stand behind each other. Now the second point (and the reason I accept the challenge) the completely inaccurate nonsense about sexual assault. Yes - nonsense... as shown by that 1 in 5 statistic that even the creators of the study it's snatched from state is being used all kinds of wrong. As per the researchers - that number is not nationally representative, should never be used as an estimate of sexual assault, and only presents statistically meaningful information for the senior undergraduate women at two universities where the data was collected. In fact, they go on to say that the number isn't even about rape as in unwanted penetration, but instead includes sexual assault like kissing and groping along with sexual penetration. If it was only rape it'd be 1 in 7 for their studied populations. According to the Bureau of Justice the real number is something like 1 in 41 seeing as only 2.4 percent of college women will be assaulted over 4 years. So right off the bat the point being made is factually incorrect and horribly biased due to false information. The more so as it has been shown by Loyola University New Orleans that hyper-masculinity is the predictor of sexual aggression for all men except in frats. And the reason given is that frats have mandatory sexual consent, sexual assault, physical assault, and alcohol abuse classes for their members. And that's not even counting the sheer number of chapters, and alumni who simply wouldn't stand for this. Do you realize that all but two US presidents have been in frats since 1825? Or that the first woman astronaut and the first woman senator were both in sororities? 85 percent of the judges who have sat as Supreme Court Justices were pledges? Do you really think these types of people would allow themselves to be smeared by association? No. Does that mean frat boys don't rape? No. Does that mean they are all raping monsters? Heck no - and any amount of actual thought and research would show that. That said Greek life does encourage poor life decisions - like excessive drinking and drug use and promiscuity among both males and females. That said overall there isn't really that big a difference in health between non-Greeks and Greeks. In fact, Greeks actually get more sleep - probably because they're sleeping off the liquor. That said there is a serious difference in things like GPA, community service, and success between Greeks and Independents. Greeks tend to have higher GPAs as a group then Independents as well as higher GPAs as individuals. 71% of Greeks will remained enrolled and graduate compared to 50% of Independents. In the last year alone over 7 million dollars and 850,000 hours were given to charitable causes via the Greek system. Actually this brings up a very, very, very important point - colleges need endowments to function. Do you know who provides the most in endowments? That's right! Greek alumni give something like 75% of all college and university donations making them the largest group of lifetime donors. Moreover they give 4 times as much as non-Greeks. And I can tell you as someone who majored in science... that stuff makes an awful big difference in terms of educational standards. Speaking of standards - 1 in 8 college students lives in a Greek house saving colleges an estimated $3 billion in the cost of owning/maintaining student housing. So what am I trying to say? The Greek system is not perfect, neither however is it a repository of evil. Some chapters are awful, some chapters are awesome, and most chapters are somewhere in the middle. That said the Greek system has it's uses: it provides colleges with the funds to function, it provides a great deal of charitable aid, it is a great form of networking and socialization for individuals, and without the Greek System there would be no North American Food Drive which provides food for local families in need. There is far more good here then bad - all it takes is a lack of bias and some actual research.