Ignorance, discrimination, stunned. Just a few words I have to describe my feelings.
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. By my recollection, the greeks have been targets from when I joined in 1991. When I look back (I’m an old man at 31 now), I tend to focus on the good rather than the bad, as we all do in life. Hopefully.
There were some amazing parties. But parties come and go, and my brothers were always there. When it was time to study or when money was tight, they were always there to help me out or talk me through the tough times. That was the real secret of the fraternity.
I was lucky enough to be surrounded by my best friends nine months a year. They were, and still are, the best friends I will ever have. I just don’t get to see all of them as often as I would like anymore.
The greek system is an easy target. It’s very simple to lump us all together as one nameless, faceless person. “Those damn greeks.”
Well, we’re not all the same. We are a collection of individuals. Each of us is just like every other person attending the University. We each have our own names, our own goals and dreams.
We have just chosen to join a particular organization, and now we are being singled out. Drinking: Is it more rampant in the greek system? My personal experiences tell me no.
Are we noticed more because we are an easy target group? Yes. Is drinking a problem at the University, as it is at college campuses across the nation? Yes.
This is the first time many of us are out of our parents’ watchful eye, and we tend to go a little nuts. The question is how to solve the problem of
alcohol abuse — in the greek system as well as at the University in general.
Education, education, education. I know I was required to take “Writing 121” to graduate, but what about “Alcohol Awareness 101”? Teach the students that you don’t have to drink to have a good time. You don’t have to drink to meet and talk to someone of the opposite sex. Education will teach us how to drink responsibly. It will help educate the student body on what it takes to become a living, breathing contributor to society.
After all, we may all choose different fields of study, but one of the greatest gifts college has bestowed upon us all is the ability to build relationships and work together. This isn’t a class you can take, but a lesson that at one time or another must be learned.
Don’t try to solve a problem by taking away the freedoms of those who have joined the greek system.
I feel lucky that I had my friends by my side when I chose to drink. They were able to keep an eye on me, just as I was able to keep an eye on them. It’s that trust, a bond of friendship that made my fraternity so very
important to me.
I would never wish to limit the students of the University from having the opportunity that I was given.