Will Hazing and Misconduct End Greek Life on Campus?

Contrary to popular imagination, students do not seek Greek life solely for parties and popularity. They choose Greek life for a sense of belonging, an identity. This search for identity encapsulates the confusion, anxiety and uncertainties confronting undergraduates. They must break from adolescence and grasp adulthood with its myriad of academic specializations and career paths.

Greek life, like a service organization or political party, promises purpose and solidarity. Fraternities and sororities are particularly alluring because they fill the void of hometowns and loved ones with a new family. Members communally sleep, eat, study and socialize. They even consider one another “brother” or “sister.” With opportunities for community and fulfillment, Greek life’s appeal is sincere and admirable.

Greek life also has systemic flaws. Physical abuse, sexual misconduct and toxic exclusivity all pervade American chapters today. But the answer to this problem should not be the unilateral dissolution of Greek life. Instead, fraternities and sororities must become more transparent with administrators, parents and students. Chapters should inculcate individual integrity in the face of collective pressures. These reforms are possible because Greek life is a tradition too empowering and dynamic for us to abandon. It is the wellspring of institutional belonging and lifelong relationships.

—Thomas Mortimer, Loyola University Maryland, political science

Greek Life Isn’t What It Used to Be

Greek life is a tradition that has spanned hundreds of years, yielding lifelong connections. But is that the Greek life that we see today at universities across the country?

The answer is no. I go to a small college where most of our fraternities and sororities are not even nationally recognized and thus not connected to other schools. Without a way to connect students from different states around the U.S., Greek life is just a collective group of organizations that cultivate partying, hazing, exclusivity and a clique-type culture.

None of these factors are particularly helpful in fulfilling a college education. American universities need to reduce their Greek life to academic fraternities that aren’t participating in toxic traditions.

Instead we have new networks to connect college students across the country such as LinkedIn,

Twitter

and Instagram.

—Therese Joffre, Hope College, chemistry

Struggling Together Builds Lifelong Bonds

If you and a friend gut through the same struggle together, you know you can rely on him no matter what. You know he can withstand some punishment and suffering and so won’t fold if times get tough. The adversity gives your friendship a unique strength. That is what Greek life, especially hazing in fraternities, does.

It seems that every professional all or mostly male group, whether it’s fraternities or the Army, has some sort of hazing to separate the people you can rely on from those you can’t. As universities have gotten more liberal, the understanding of that ritual’s value has been lost. It’s seen as toxic masculinity.

There should be some limits on the hazing. You don’t want pledges to lose limbs or die, but it would be a mistake to get rid of hazing altogether. You would ban an important way for college students to form meaningful male friendships, to create groups they can rely on outside their families.

Greek life can have excesses, but that’s more a function of human nature. Fraternities actually restrain destructive impulsivity, with their structure of norms and mores that keep students in check. There will still be extroverted and reckless students if you get rid of Greek life. Banning fraternities or hazing altogether will only unleash these students’ worst aspects on campus.

Imagine a frat with no rules and no sense of brotherhood. That’s what you’ll get.

—Jonathan Draeger, University of Wisconsin Madison, economics

It’s Not Just a College Stereotype

As an international student, I never thought of rushing or joining a fraternity before I got to campus. Greek life’s image is all alcohol, parties and hazing. Recently, the Abolish Greek Life movement at Northwestern called attention to alleged druggings of students in fraternities. Not only should these fraternities be punished for any misconduct, but it is imperative for colleges to re-educate on-campus Greek life institutions about the danger of alcohol use and hazing and ensure they follow their underlying values to give priority to the safety and well-being of their members over everything else.

But there is still value to Greek institutions that focus on specific causes such as academic, service and professional fraternities and sororities. I’m vice president of Alpha Phi Omega, a coed fraternity focused on service and leadership. Unlike the stereotypical rush experience, I was comfortable through the entire pledging process, which educated me about my fraternity’s history and service-related values. I bonded with other members at ease during volunteering events and chapter meetings. This experience allowed me to network with others, including upperclassmen, and seek both academic and career advice from their experiences at college.

Rather than banning Greek life, colleges should work to change its image. By emphasizing diversity and inclusion in these institutions and allowing rushing to be an engaging and rewarding experience, Greek life can actually make for better campuses.

—Po-Ting Duke Lin, Northwestern University, economics and mathematics

We’re Getting the Greeks All Wrong

The legacy of the great and rich period that was antiquity has lain dormant in us for centuries. The Greeks were known for their taste for parties that only ended in the early hours of the morning, feasts and banquets where alcohol and food of all kinds were never in short supply. These practices are considered today by many as the height of the decadence of antiquity.

It’s only natural that people are interested in such things and question their value. But it’s also important to put things in context: The Greeks did these activities not only to have a good time but also to fraternize with new people. There is no source I’ve found, however, that testifies to the Greeks being out of control or sloppy. I’ve seen no source attesting to the Greeks committing the sort of hazing seen at many fraternities and sororities.

The beautiful and symbolic legacy of Greek life is real, but it has been gradually twisted to the point that it has become uncontrollable and controversial. Dangerous and cruel hazing events carried out by these fraternities and sororities have simply led to their closure—and this is a good thing. The Greeks advocated a certain kind of decadence, but it was a controlled decadence.

—Eden Mballa, University of Upper Alsace, France, political science

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