I spent three and a half years as a member of a fraternity in college; a semester as an associate, and three years as a brother. I’ve attended the weddings of three of my fellow brothers, lived with another one for three years, made numerous friendships that continue to this day, and count my time as a member of a fraternity as one of the most positive and defining experiences of my life.
With all that being said, I can no longer defend the Greek System.
James Vivenzio, a former brother at the Penn State chapter of Kappa Delta Rho, filed suit against the university, his former chapter, the KDR national organization, and the Penn State Interfraternity Council and Panhellenic Association for a laundry list of abuses committed by the members of the fraternity and virtually ignored by the school.
James is not alone. Over the past twelve months, a new report of depraved behavior of fraternity and sorority members across the country seems to hit the news every week. I like to think that I form my opinions based on empirical evidence, and the evidence has tilted heavily in my experience as a fraternity member being vastly out of line with what everyone else was doing.
When I was an undergrad, I used to hear stories about rival frats and sororities. There was the frat that asked for your parent’s income on their pledge form (anything less than a combined seven figures and you didn’t get bidded). There was another frat that supposedly make you bob for apples in a bucket of vomit and urine. The sorority that lined up their pledges, made them strip, and circled every imperfection on their bodies with a Sharpie while saying humiliating things about them. The fraternity that was “notorious” for drugging their punch. This doesn’t even include the various homoerotic stories that were always in vogue (ookie cookie, elephant walk, etc.) I always assumed these stories were just rival houses shit talking each other; competing organizations spreading misinformation through back channels to boost their own reputation. After all, I had heard the rumors about my own fraternity and laughed, as they bore little if any resemblance to our actual activities.
Was I hazed? Yes. Was I asked to do things I was uncomfortable with? Yes. But, when I said I wasn’t comfortable doing something, I wasn’t forced to do it. Looking back now, I realize just how different my experience would have been if the brothers during my pledgeship had been worse people.
I’m not saying that my fraternity was a shining beacon of brotherhood, an example to the entire Greek System to be emulated. We did massively stupid stuff on a regular basis, that was only possible by a toxic combination of hormones, total freedom, and alcohol. What I am saying is that if we were the good guys, the entire Greek System is a profoundly fucked up institution.
This revelation may come as a shock to basically no one that wasn’t part of the Greek System, but to those of us that were it’s time to face reality. The Greek System as it has been is no longer a viable part of campus culture. It either has to be rebuilt from the ground up with a focus on scholarship and philanthropy rather than partying, or it needs to be burned to the ground. It must become more inclusive, beyond stereotypical white men and white women. Tradition is no longer a viable excuse for shitty behavior.
The time has come for the Greek System, as a whole, to either find a new role in campus life or step aside so that society can progress without them. The present circumstances are untenable. It’s time for a change.
