One of the toughest things as a journalist is to hear others’ critique your work. Sometimes, no matter what the subject of a piece is, there is bound to be someone who can find an opposing opinion, a hole in the story’s reasoning or flatly just dislike the writer and anything he or she stands for. But it is how a journalist responds — or does not respond — that is a true test of professionalism.
I received an abundance of positive feedback from the Greek community on my article regarding Fraternity and Sorority Life defying the stereotype that Greeks don’t perform in the classroom, after it ran January 31.
Seeing the way the story traveled so quickly (it became one of the Emerald’s highest-read online articles of the year in less than two days), I was elated to know my work was reaching beyond average readership.
Then a comment under the story and a letter to the editor (published February 2) offered a critique. University undergraduate Josh Buehler, who is not affiliated with Greek Life, called the original story “extremely misleading” and accused me, as the author, of being “either dishonest or ignorant” and “not representing the morals or values of Greek Life.”
So I, Jackson Long, am willing to admit I made a mistake — a glaring oversight.
I said that Sigma Mu Omega placed first for sororities in grades with a 3.33 GPA. While the ladies of Sigma Mu Omega had a great academic quarter, I completely skipped the bit of the report that stated Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. finished with a 3.43 average, thus placing them first and Sigma Mu Omega second. A member of AKA informed me of my error, the misprint was fixed and I quickly responded with a sincere apology to AKA, which was accepted in a very gracious and professional manner by the same member who had contacted me.
Mr. Buehler did bring up an important point in analyzing the grade report. He pointed out that both men who are in FSL and men who aren’t earned a 3.01 GPA in the fall. And both women in sororities and those not earned a 3.14.
Because there is a higher ratio of women to men in Greek Life than there is in the general undergraduate population, the FSL average as a whole is a 3.09, higher than the undergrad average of 3.05.
“For the third-straight term — a full academic year — the fraternity and sorority community as a whole notched a higher grade point average than the combined GPA of all undergraduates.”
The above is exactly what was printed in my original article. I see no mistakes.
No place in the article do I, personally, make the assertion that Greeks outperform or are smarter than undergraduates who choose not to participate in FSL. In fact, the story was not even written with the intention of comparing the two groups. Its purpose was to inform that fraternity and sorority members aren’t getting bad grades.
But thank you to Mr. Buehler, for going above and beyond in adding more to my original analysis. You are truly a great information gatherer. Maybe we’ll work together in the future to make sure we cover it all.
I think the diligence to find an error (or nonerror in this case) is the real issue at hand. There is a perceived division between undergrads and Greeks. Coincidentally, I am both. I am an undergrad, and I happen to be a member of Greek Life.
The two classifications aren’t separate though. There is no need to put a wall between them. There is no need for Mr. Buehler to patronizingly call Greek life a collection of “little clubs.”
Being a member of Greek life is simply an extracurricular that enhances my experience as a regular college student. It doesn’t make me a better person than you. It doesn’t make me smarter than you. It doesn’t make me cooler than you. Why some people, who aren’t participants in Greek life, feel the need to defend themselves or mount offensives against Fraternity and Sorority Life shows nothing but insecurity.
The guy who joins the surf club or the girl who is on debate team doesn’t endure the stereotypes we do, but their participation in their organizations is similar to ours.
The intent of my story on grades was to tell people who didn’t know that we in FSL aren’t what most people think. We can get good grades — as a matter of fact we do get good grades. And we enhance our lives through the responsibility, accountability and sociability that greek life offers.
We are undergrads at the University who deserve the same respect everyone else does.
My fraternity’s creed states that we as a brotherhood strive to “promote scholarship, encourage chivalry, diffuse culture and develop character.”
Those are the “morals and values” I represent and uphold Mr. Buehler, and I sure as hell didn’t neglect any of them when I wrote my first article.
If any of these qualities interest you, or anyone else for that matter, Spring Rush is right around the corner.