There’s a bill in the senate asking members of Student Government to pledge their support for Greek life. It’s an unusual concept, as most senators have never experienced it. If there’s one argument I’m tired of hearing, it’s that “If you don’t like Greek life, you can just choose not to go Greek.”
It doesn’t work that way. A heavy presence of Greek life on campus changes the dynamic for everyone, and it’s undoubtedly for the worse for the majority of students that aren’t Greek. Before I tell you why, let’s get one thing straight.
We’ll start by removing the unfair stereotypes that often come up. No, Greek life does not mean a legion of backwards-hat-wearing bros from the Delta Beta Alpha Gamma frat are going to descend upon our campus, sandal slapping each other over spilt Natty Light. No, a bunch of rich Delta Umbra Mu girls will not be throwing an all pink Chihuahua fashion show, proceeds going to feed Susan G. Komen’s unquenchable thirst for administrative fees. To some extent, members of fraternal organizations will not follow these typecasts.
Let’s also get rid of an unreal, supposed upside. There will not be on campus fraternity and sorority houses that host parties anytime in the near future. We don’t yet have a College of Business building, and students will be paying a small fortune for the University Student Center for years. Rivaling party houses in walking distance to your classroom? Not happening.
Though the reason Greek life doesn’t belong at USFSP is actually far worse than stereotypes arising. Whether or not you realize it, there’s a special culture at USFSP. It’s like nothing I’ve seen elsewhere. It has to be cherished, respected and preserved.
And Greek life would kill it.
I was a ghost before I transferred here from the University of North Florida — a college with many fraternities and sororities. Coming to class late, leaving early or not showing up at all, I had thought of campus involvement as lame; what students who weren’t old enough to enter a bar did.
Flash forward two years after transferring, and I’m in organizing for SG, the entrepreneurship club, and writing for this paper (and more than old enough to drink). This place has turned me, of all people, into someone who’s more involved in the extracurricular than most any other student. How? Our culture of inclusion. People reach out to one another in this little place. Our clubs and organizations are full of friendly faces that are here to help. They’ll take anyone, and pay for them to attend events. It’s really kind of beautiful how it works.
Add Greek life and you subtract from that culture. Tomorrow’s friendly faces are instead pitched to join exclusive cliques. Those connections, friends and opportunities that are currently available all over campus are no longer for your enjoyment — they’re for your purchase. Greek life means paying for your connections, paying for your experiences and to some extent paying for your friends. You must pay sacrificing your pride (humiliating yourself by pledging) and money (dues), part of which is kicked back to some far away national chapter.
Add Greek life, and the rest of our college experiences are cheapened for the supposed benefit of a few cliques.
It should be noted that our current on campus fraternity, Delta Sigma Pi, doesn’t put their pledges through humiliating initiations. DSP is the business frat, and a professional fraternity is something very different from a social one. I actually like their presence on campus, and feel it has the potential to add to our college experience.
Sorority-in-the-making Delta Sigma Zeta is also free of charge and pledging rituals — for now. President Amanda DiCicco has been diligently working since founding the organization in August 2012, and wants to see it become part of one of the 26 national sororities. Unfortunately, that’s where the inclusivity ends. Once going national, the sorority will have to charge fees dictated by their H.Q. — wherever that is. And the initiation? According to DiCicco, “Sisters can’t talk to other sisters about the initiation process. They would send people from other local chapters or to teach us and to make sure we can pass on the tradition correctly.”
I am by no means saying DiCicco’s sorority will be one that conducts hazing. I am saying, however, that with enough Greek organizations on campus, it will happen.
Take the frats at our Tampa campus, like Omega Psi Phi. Back in 2010 they beat their pledges with 2-by-4s, told them to bounce their bruised bottoms on railroad tracks and then required them to go out and buy chicken and beer. When their offerings were deemed unsatisfactory, they were beaten again. This was only a few years after Lamda Chi Alpha shut down its USF chapter, in part due to hazing.
Of course, every Greek organization will tell you they don’t haze; that it’s against the law. Yet it still happens. It’s inevitable that if we move toward Greek life at USFSP, hazing will rear its ugly head.
And that says nothing about the loss of integrity the surviving student organizations would have. When I was hired to be part of SG’s executive board, I knew only the president. The rest are an ideal mix of diverse candidates best suited for their individual positions.
Too many student governments are run by exclusive, Greek organizations. Imagine a student body president that was also part of a fraternity. It would be a board full of frat brothers, with one or two token diversity hires.
This campus is a place where students learn, make friends, connections, and memories (the supposed benefits of Greek life) for free already, without all the baggage Greek life brings.
Maybe in 10 or 20 years (though I’d hope never) it could work. If we were a bigger school, we could support Greek life and still have enough students to support a culture of inclusion, with a healthy amount of student clubs and organizations. Maybe if we doubled our students, we could do both. Right now, it’s not an option.
Either we have our awesome, inclusive and engaging culture, or we give it up for a poor mimicry of the Greek life in other schools. This place is too small for both.
lazar@mail.usf.edu
