The Question of Greek Life: To Rush or Not to Rush

Why Greek Life has Been All Over the News in Recent Months 

By Pamela Lawrence 

Although opinions of Greek Life can depend on the individual and their personal preferences, there have been multiple negative experiences and incidents involving sororities and fraternities highlighted in national media that have tainted the name of certain chapters and people’s perceptions of greek life on a national, if not global, scale.

The global issue of racism claimed center stage in the media this past year after the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Since then, there have been many incidents involving issues of race in the media, one of which being the release of a video in which members of a University of Oklahoma fraternity were caught chanting racial slurs.

About two dozen men from the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity all participated in shouting this chant that described forever excluding African Americans from the fraternity and lynching them while riding a bus stocked with alcohol. Shortly after the video was shown and the incident known, the Oklahoma chapter of that fraternity suspended all members involved. In an interview with David Boren, the president of the University of Oklahoma, he said that “ those members who are responsible for the incident may have their membership privileges revoked.”  The event shocked the nation, forcing everyone to reevaluate greek life and its standards.

Another detrimental incident that has tainted the image of greek life, specifically that of fraternities, is the Vanderbilt rape case. This incident stands as an example for many campus sexual assault cases that happen every year. According to statistics compiled by the New York State Coalition Against Sexual Assault, 1 in 4 college women will be sexaully assaulted at some point in their academic career.

The trial finished on January 27th, as the two accused Vanderbilt football players were found guilty on “multiple counts of sexual battery and aggravated rape,” by the Nashville jury. Cory Batey and Brandon Vandenburg, the accused, were two out of the four young football players who allegedly sexually assaulted a young girl in a dorm room and took videos and pictures on their phones of it happening.

The case details are actually quite complicated due to both clashing eye witness accounts and the football players’ pleas for exemption based on their alcohol consumption and impaired judgement. But beyond the complicated details and unknowns, this case stands on its own as a representation of the unheard sexual assault cases that occur nationwide on thousands of college campuses. According to a study from the Justice Department, 80 percent of campus rapes are not reported to the authorities, leaving many voices ignored and many negatively tainted impressions of greek life for years to come.

Although many people, when asked to think about hazing, initially think of fraternities, sororities  have of late become known for such intense and violent hazing. In past years, there have been countless events detailing the horrific instances of hazing gone wrong during the pledging of a sorority. One particular instance that highlights many cruel hazing rituals that take place in extreme circumstances occurred at Penn State Altoona in 2008. A young girl, who remains nameless due to privacy and safety reasons, pledged a sorority in the fall only to be brutally hazed. She reports being forced to stand up against a cement wall while the sorority sisters screamed insults at her and threatened to push her head repeatedly into the wall if she moved. At one point, she had to scrub the kitchen of one of the sorority houses clean with her bare hands. This culture of hazing has been going on in universities for years. This pattern of verbal and, at times, physical abuse aimed at the young pledges, especially the females, only integrates a cycle of violence and hatred into the greater culture that exists outside of college doors. Although it may seem like cases such as this one only exist in extreme and rare settings, the 2007 National Study of Student Hazing showed “that 68 percent of women in Greek life have experienced hazing in order to become a member of these groups.”

Here’s what the community thinks:

1. “I feel like Greek systems can be somewhat limiting in the way they work, I don’t like the exclusive nature of how you join houses by being bid upon like an animal, and I think that while many are good and promote good qualities like sisterhood and honesty, much of their perception has been tainted by those whose only purpose is for drinking and partying and sex. I don’t want to be associated with an organization that is known for some of these aspects, even if it is in the minority of the participants.”
2. “My mother, grandmother, and aunt all participated in the historically African American sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha. While they would certainly love to see me carry on the legacy of the sorority, they encourage me to look at college as an opportunity for learning and making strong friendships, regardless of race. A primary reason they joined is because in the time when they were in college, finding a strong Black community to always turn to was a tad more difficult than it may be now. It provided them a safe place to make lasting friendships with people they knew could empathize with any racial struggles that they found along the way in college.”
3. “The thing is, until I actually get to college and become immersed in the “college life”, I don’t really know what ‘greek life’ entails and I wouldn’t know what to expect unless I was apart of it.”

A Breakdown of The Process: 

By Caroline Caterini 

Greek Life: Most of us know what it is, but the many stereotypes and reputations that accompany this potential facet of your college experience may leave you a little unsure of what exactly it entails. Whether you are a senior with your college deposit made or a day-dreaming freshman, if you are thinking about “going Greek,” it is important to understand everything that comes along with joining a sorority. Let’s start with the basics:

Rush: Rush is typically a week-long event where you decide which sororities you like and the sororities decide whether they like you. When this takes place depends on the school; some start before classes in the fall, and others after second semester or in the spring. To simplify it, Rush is basically a week where you go around to all the different sorority houses and get an idea of what each group is like by talking to members and attending events. In turn, each sorority works to get a sense of who you are and what you would bring to the group as a potential member. After each round, you will cut some sororities and some sororities may cut you. You will continue to go to events, which become less frequent but longer as both sides (you and the sororities) narrow down the options.

Bid Day: A bid is an invitation from a particular sorority to join them. Bid day marks the end of Rush and could entail a few scenarios. If all goes well, you will receive a bid from your top choice. You could also receive a bid from another sorority you put on your MRABA (Membership Recruitment Acceptance Binding Agreement), which is a list of the sororities you are willing to accept bids from. There is also the option of you not receiving a bid, meaning you will not be joining a sorority.

Pledging: This process differs greatly among schools and sororities, and is surrounded by much controversy. Pledging is a big time commitment, consisting of many mandatory meetings and socials where you will learn about the sorority, philanthropic obligations, events, and other things that differ by sorority and school. One freshman at UVA said pledging was the greatest week of her life. Her “sisters” took her out to lunch, brought her gifts, and worked to build sisterhood among all the pledges. For other girls, well, you’ve heard the stories. It is hard to know what to expect, but talk to people around campus, be upfront with your questions, and remember that if you are ever facing something you do not want to participate in, you are completely free to leave. Your mental health and physical safety are more important that a “sisterhood” that needs to hurt in order to join them. One Stone Ridge student only applied to schools with Greek Life because it was so important to her, yet she still insisted, “Obviously…something that is going to put me in serious danger or harm” would make her immediately leave a sorority.

Every sorority on every campus for every generation is different. Keep in mind that your mother’s experience as a Kappa at Maryland may be very different that your experience as a Chi O at Alabama. Greek life may also not be for everyone. It can have many benefits and many drawbacks, and it is important to know yourself and what you want before you make the decision to rush or not  (see: Pros and Cons of Greek Life).