I don’t for a second believe Emma Collins, Times-Delphic editorialist of “Greek Life, A Way of Life,” speaks for the entire fraternity and sorority community at Drake. Though a proclaimed God Damn Independent, I have friends who happen to be in houses at Drake, and somehow, none of them have ever engaged me in a conversation about drink koozies with Greek letters.
Shocking though it may be if your vision of sorority and fraternity life is based on these editorials, most of these students are not apathetic, shallow partiers. They are instead human beings who do things like lead the student body, study organic chemistry without the aid of house test files and shave their heads to support a friend and brother. The conversations about Greek life I have with them are not generally about how “letters are probably the trickiest in [their] Greek wardrobe,” because I honestly don’t care. Like, not even a little bit. Wear them, don’t wear them, go naked, I really don’t care.
If fraternity and sorority life deserves such a large portion of campus attention, they need to step up and prove it’s more than parties and patterned letters; there are bigger issues within Greek life.
Each year on the Drake campus, our sororities and fraternities put on incredible events and come together to help those in need. Where are the articles about how unbelievable this is, how unique to Drake? Or better yet, where are our conversations about getting the other 70 percent of the student population involved in Greek philanthropy?
Also, what’s it like to be the “less attractive” sister hidden in the kitchen during recruitment? Why has no one addressed the heteronormativity and homophobia within our Greek system? How can the fraternity men of Drake “walk in her shoes” against sexual assault and then sing drinking songs about pushing women up against walls and taking advantage of them?
These are articles I would read and discussions that need to happen. I refuse to believe that the intelligence and passion within Drake’s fraternity and sorority community ends with party busses and bid day shirts.
It’s been insinuated that the aforementioned Greek section continues to appear in The Times-Delphic because there’s a lack of other material to fill the space. If this is true, please let me know. I would happily write a GDI editorial with such topics as “Each Morning I Make My Own Decisions about What I Wear and That’s Why I’m in Sweatpants” and “Your White Trash Themed Party is Classist.”
Cate O’Donnell
Thank you for this. It’s about time.
Thank you! This has gone on for WAY too long and is, frankly, unfair to the greek community. There are plenty of things within the system that make me want to scream “WTF?!” (especially those oh-so-misogynist and sexual assault-promoting drinking songs many fraternities engage in. oh and rooms with the door handle on only one side).
But, really?? REALLY?? Stop painting the greek system to be all about what you wear and how hard you rage. I know for a fact that the greek community at Drake deserves better than that.
props^