Toxicity In The Greek Life System
Ever since the first fraternity, in 1776 at the College of William and Mary and sororities in 1851 debuted on the college campus scene, they have become a cornerstone of American college life. While definitely, not all students choose to join Greek life, its presence is marked on nearly every campus across the nation. The first fraternity, Phi Beta Kappa would soon spread after its founding to college campuses including Harvard, Yale, and Dartmouth. When it first started, it was more of a secret society than an official organization. Inductees could expect to receive among other things, an oath of secrecy, a seal, and a secret handshake. Where college education was methodical and structured, fraternities allowed male participants to foster community and divert students.
While the first female “fraternities” patterned off their male counterparts societies emerged in 1851 with the founding of Alpha Delta Pi, it wasn’t until 1870 when Kappa Alpha Theta would first coin the term sorority to mean a society organized specifically for women on college campuses. This is also thought to have been coined because a professor at Syracuse University found the term fraternity “ill-fitting” for a group of women.
Women who attended university at this time were few and far between as higher education was thought to be only fitting for men. The women who chose to attend college would often consider themselves being seen as academically inferior and felt isolated from their peers. This also led to the creation of sororities as women banded together to support each other through college.
In the mid-19th century, school’s inability to house all students would lead to the creation of fraternity housing. The schools made agreements with Greek Life chapters that would allow them to own the land upon which they constructed dormitories, but allowed Greek Life to assume all costs of building. In the early 1900s, fraternities and sororities became official, national groups and established what is now known as the National Panhellenic Conference, which once included only 26 organizations, but now hosts 63.
Nowadays greek life culture is still as strong as it is problematic. Fraternities were created as a place for white men in positions of privilege to come together in community, and though more people call “Greek row” home, these ideals have remained quite unchanged since Phi Beta Kappa first debuted in 1776. The elitism, sexism, and racism of greek life have unfortunately persisted as direct results of the attitudes in Greek Life.
Recently the TikTok trend “BamaRush '' which documents sororities and pledges throughout the “rushing” process when a college student applies to a sorority has gone viral. These videos include “Get Ready with Me” and outfit videos of girls getting ready for sorority social events, which average thousands of views. This trend has created a lot of buzz for the system, but has garnered a fair bit of criticism. In videos of sororities, even the least astute observer cannot deny a certain lack of color present among the groups. In fact, it is estimated that almost 80% of Greek Life nowadays is white, and it’s not a coincidence. While people of color do have their own clubs and organizations, its hard to be a part of a system that was build on the foundations of white supremacy. Many people of color have quoted feeling “unwelcome” in such environments. In fact, it was only in 2013 that the University of Alabama officially desegregated their fraternities and sororities.
Many of these organizations have faced backlash, but one fraternity, Kappa Alpha has by far led the charge through their extremist views. The group, which embraces Confederate general Robert E. Lee as their “spiritual founder” has continued in keeping many of their politically incorrect traditions, including Antebellum themed social events and chants bemoaning the Union’s Civil War victory. While many chapters are changing and distancing themselves from Kappa Alpha, its existence in the modern world is still shocking.
Additionally, many sororities have been found guilty of refusing to accept black pledges, often out of fear of “ruining their reputation”. Out of the entire history of the University of Alabama, only 1 black pledge had been accepted before 2013 out of 212 pledges. While the tides are changing, black pledges are still not being admitted to the “most prestigious sororities”.
As an article in the University of Alabama revealed however, the choice to bar admittance from black candidates was not from the current sorority sisters, but rather the sorority alumnae who vetoed the move and threatened financial contributions.
While these organizations have cemented histories of racism, sexism is deeply entrenched in the fabric of the Greek Life system. In the spirit of instilling lady-like behaviors, all sororities have rules regulating the “sister’s” daily lives including a banning of alcohol, partying, and people identifying as the opposite gender in their houses. While it does prevent uncouth behavior in the houses, it also perpetuates a gendered power imbalance that gives the fraternity houses an imbalance in power. As the rules governing their behaviors in the houses are less rigid, parties often end up being thrown in the fraternity houses. At these social events, fraternity members have most of the control, making it easier for assaults and mishaps to occur. This explains why sorority members are 74% more likely to experience sexual assault than their non-sorority counterparts and because of the fiercely loyal, image-oriented nature of Greek Life many of these cases are not reported.
While Greek Life may seem undesirable because of the reasons above, there is a reason so many students want to get involved; the connections. Fraternities and sororities are often stepping stones upon which ambitious students can meet equally ambitious and well-connected college students who set them up for success for the rest of their lives. It is estimated that 76% of U.S. senators and 85% of Supreme Court justices since 1910 have been alumni of fraternities and sororities. These groups certainly tout some high-profile members who go to achieve great things in their fields of interest. However, this is certainly not accessible to everyone. Through high entrance and hidden fees, being a “sister” or a “brother” is not easy on someone’s wallet. Members pay membership dues as well as a portion of the rent on their houses, which can be extremely expensive; ranging from the low hundreds to more than two thousand dollars a semester. For sororities, the costs can be even more exorbitant. In an image-centric environment where any wrong move on the part of an individual member can reflect poorly on the rest of her sisters leads to a high pressure to constantly look flawless. In a culture that looks down on outfit repetition and encourages women to use fashion as a communicator of beauty, sorority girls have an unparalleled need to constantly purchase new dresses, new jewlery, new shoes, new nail polish, new accessories for the multitude of social events they host or attend. While this leads to the fabulous looks that dominate videos with the #bamarush tag, they can often occur quite a hefty price tag that not many people can afford. Additionally, for entrance into the most prestigious organizations, some families hire “rush coaches” for their daughters. These individuals teach them how to behave in order to make themselves attractive to the “best” sororities and can charge upwards four thousand dollars. This may be why a Princeton study found that 95 percent of Greek Life members came from the upper echelons of society, counting five percent of members originating from low and middle class families. While fraternity men count as two percent of the population they populate 85% of the Fortune 500 CEO list. The opportunities for connections are certainly beneficial, but it is unfortunate that not everyone gets the opportunity to share in this. However, connections are even important to getting in as often organizations will look out for the children of alumni or their family’s connections who are often of similar socio-economic status.
Once someone has been accepted into the group, however, there is also the issue regarding the way that these organizations treat their pledges during the process commonly referred to as “hazing”. Once someone is ready to pledge to a fraternity or sorority, they often must go through a hazing initiation process that includes dangerous activities that someone does to prove their loyalty to the sorority or fraternity. While regular acts are usually demeaning and cruel, some are downright evil, causing the deaths of nearly 200 people since the creation of the system. Sorority initiations are often bad, but the worst cases often surround fraternities. These procedures lay the foundation of the communities in fraternities and sororities and create a sense of belonging for newcomers. However, when this has been taken too far, perpetrators rarely face consequences due to their often connected families and wealthy alumni who are willing to step in for them. These traditions and lack of responsibility are dangerous and are the reasons why hazing scandals will continue lest something is done.
While the choice of joining Greek Life is ultimately up to individual college students, it is important to weigh the pros and the cons. Fraternities and sororities are amazing places for connections, community, and often can set people up for success for the rest of their lives. However, the system does uphold problematic archaic systems at the expense of students of color, women, and underserved communities that create a homogenous environment that takes away from the diverse experience that so many get to experience during their college years. While no system can be perfect, systems that actively harm students and discourage diversity should be revised for the benefit of all students on campus.
