When the word fraternity is mentioned, a lot of negative stereotypes often come to mind: Animal House, constant parties, paying for friends, hazing, and the “frat boy” image. What people don’t realize are all the positive things that us fraternity men do for our school and community.
While I can’t speak on behalf of all fraternities, I can share the experience I have had in my four years in the ACACIA fraternity. My fraternity has pushed me to get more involved with philanthropic efforts in the community and school. My most proud example is participating in Relay For Life this past year, when we put our efforts together for a brother who had lost his mother to cancer not long ago. The result: a donation of $5100 to cancer research in support of his family. When you see grown men come to tears for something that means so much, you’re a part of something real. When we come together for a good cause, not just as an organization, but as Greeks as a whole, we’re a powerful force that can make a difference.
When you see someone in letters, don’t stereotype us as bad people like we often hear. Take the time to talk to the individual, understand what his or her organization is about and all the good they’re doing within your campus, your community, and try to understand why we are offended by the reputation that some perceive us as. I want to bring light to a few facts that can’t be ignored, and speak volumes about the people we actually are. According to the State University of New York at Brockport website, despite the fact that only 2 per cent of Americans are Greeks, these undergraduates raise $7 million nationally for charity annually and give approximately 850,000 hours of community service per year. Moroever, according to the site, Greeks have a higher graduation rate than non-Greeks and that 85 per cent of the executives of Fortune 500 companies, all Apollo 11 astronauts and all but two of the American presidents were Greeks.
Our aim is to take men and make them into leaders — leaders within our community, leaders within our organizations, and leaders on our campus. So while everyone is so quick to judge what a fraternity is, we challenge you to take the time and understand what it is we promote, what we stand for, and why it is that we’ve been around so long.
Let me give you a little insight to where being in a fraternity has affected my university career. I have developed friendships with individuals not only in my organization, but in different fraternities and sororities, as well as getting a chance to travel and meet complete strangers across North America who hold you to the highest standards and treat you like family. I have been given a chance to meet university administration to discuss student life, a chance to volunteer and get involved with my school, and most importantly, I’ve gained a network that allows me to call upon my brothers for help, advice, man power, wisdom, and lifelong friendship. For those who say we pay for our friends, come take a look at brotherhood and we will show you that it is priceless.
So whether you’re in first year or fourth year, we the Greek community invite you to come take a look at what we really are. A collection of scholars, volunteers, friends, family, students, and most importantly brothers. This coming rush we encourage everyone to go check out a fraternity or sorority. If it ends up not being for you, that’s okay, but at least you gave it a chance. When I first joined my fraternity, I joined thinking it was booze and girls and as a past president, and a leader within my community, I can say not giving Greek life a chance would have been the biggest mistake I would have made.
As Robert Brown said “Man is always inclined to be intolerant towards the thing, or person, he hasn’t taken the time to adequately to understand…”
Erik Tamm,
Fourth-year sociology
