Recently, there has been much discussion about the Greek system in the opinion pages of The Hustler. Two guest columns and one letter to the editor have said that the Greek community promotes underage drinking and contributes to a culture conducive to rape. We believe that fraternities and sororities make significant contributions to campus that often go unacknowledged; however, we realize that it is not a perfect system.

According to the mission statement on Vanderbilt's Greek Life Web site, "students are encouraged to place equal emphasis on the philanthropic, educational, personal development and social aspects of membership in a Greek organization." While the social scene may be the most visible component of Greek life to most of the campus, there are three other aspects that Greek organizations concentrate on during the majority of hours not spent hosting parties: philanthropic, educational and personal development.

Prime examples of Greek philanthropic efforts will be exhibited this month. The National Panhellenic Council hosted a speaker last night to address health care disparities as part of NPHC Week. Alpha Delta Pi will be hosting their annual fundraiser "Diamonds in the Delta," to benefit the Ronald McDonald House, the first of the series of benefits that each sorority hosts every fall. Kappa Alpha Theta, Beta Theta Pi, Sigma Alpha Epsilon and Delta Delta Delta are working together to host an event to support Vanderbilt Children's Hospital, CASA and the American Cancer Society. Other fraternities and sororities will be hosting even more philanthropic events as the semester continues, just as they do every year.

This does not mean that the parties provided by Greek organizations do not, on occasion, get out of control. It does not mean "CEOs and Business Hos" or "Principals and Schoolgirls" are appropriate themes for parties, but, the crimes committed this semester were not committed by the Greek system, so it should not bear responsibility for the acts.

Ultimately, fraternities and sororities are an integral part of Vanderbilt. The Greek system is a great way to get involved with philanthropic work. Many leaders of campus organizations are Greek. The system may have some problems, but we believe Greeks at Vanderbilt are working to fix them. Greeks should be cognizant of the problems that are prominent on campus and their relation to the party scene, but they do not deserve to take the blame alone. After all, they do a lot more for Vanderbilt than provide parties.

Submitted by tweedleed on Thu, 01/24/2008 - 18:11.

But but but

But fraternities and sororities often cover group drug use and their members end up filling the ranks of drug rehab. The Greek system has so much in common with American colleges.

Submitted by Nicholas Snyder on Mon, 09/11/2006 - 13:57.

Well said

I think Alex's comments are thoughtful and well written. It seems like readers and editors are polarizing this issue beyond recognition. I tried to write an article about underage drinking, partying, and violence on campus but it was immediately labeled as "anti-Greek" when in fact nowhere in my article did I mention the greek system (nor did I mean to imply anything about the Greek system as Michael Scherer would have you believe). For this reason I have do disagree with Alex's opinion on Michael Scherer's letter because he grossly misrepresents the letter I submitted earlier in the week. Scherer accuses me of false assumptions and incorrect implications when in fact his whole letter is based on an incorrect assumption that I was attacking the Greek system. He also accuses me of making blanket statements that Greek organizations are responsible for underage drinking and campus violence when clearly I said nothing even remotely to that effect. The only thing Scherer accomplishes is to demonstrate that he completely missed the point of my letter. If it was truly Scherer's intention to defend the Greek Party scene he could have instead focused on Larson's article and perhaps said something productive. I guess Scherer didn't feel like following his own snide advice.

Submitted by Sean Tierney on Wed, 09/06/2006 - 15:42.

I was complaining about the editorial

Alex- I wasn't complaining about the Greek system at all. I was just trying to be a prick and complain about the EDITORIAL, which acknowledges that there are certain problems that need to be addressed, and then goes and gives a feel-good story defending the existence of the Greek community rather than offering anything relevant to the discussion. Regarding your "news flash," Kazmira Pytlak's column seemed to state that although we all have a free choice of attending frat parties, their very existence promotes sexism and lead women to believe that they should act in a submissive manner to guys. It'd have been nice if the editorial had tackled ideas like this and taken a stance, any stance. I actually did know about a lot of the new rules, but just because new rules have been added doesn't mean that we should no longer consider adding more. We've recently had a few Hustler articles accusing frat parties of promoting problems despite new restrictions, and I think it would've been nice if editorial had addressed this. (And before you start assuming, I'm not even a fan of a lot of the new restrictions I've heard about. I just recognize that we have to at least consider changes.) And have certain party themes really been banned? After reading the paper, I'd like to apply my complaints to Jeff Moredock's letter as well, and question why The Hustler felt the need for so much re-hash on something non-topical. Michael Scherer's letter in defense of Greek parties, on the other hand, was very good.

Submitted by AlexParr on Wed, 09/06/2006 - 10:51.

Disappointing reader

In response to the claim against the greek life, I would first like to inform you that you are not well informed about the underage drinking. Before attacking a group or person, you should probably acquaint yourself with the entire situation. You are hoping for articles that boast "students freely choose to attend parties and so shouldn't blame Greeks," or "Greeks should implement new safety programs and ban certain party themes." News flash.... everyone knows you do not have to attend party's sponsered by the greek comunity so why write an article about it. Also, anyone with the slightest interest in the greek comunity, aside from their interest in complaining about it knows that that have been numerous rules added to control the frats. These rules like the rules added upon the student population this year, inflict harsher penalties and more restrictions to help push for a safer comunity. So next time before you attack a subject save your breath and do the world a favor and research before you complain.

Submitted by Sean Tierney on Wed, 09/06/2006 - 00:49.

Disappointing editorial

As a non-Greek, I have an overall ambivalent attitude toward the Greek system. There are parts of it I like, there are parts of it I don't like, and I dole out compliments and condemnations as I see fit. I recognize that some parts of the Greek community are better than others and should be judged on an individual basis. In contrast, The Hustler has decided that criticism of certain aspects of the Greek system can be construed as a condemnation of the whole. Even worse, it has decided that this game can be played both ways, and by praising one part of Greek life, the entire system becomes justified and all its problems go away. Thus, we get an editorial stating that frat parties have been accused of promoting underage drinking and violence against women, but fear not, for frats also hold fundraisers for children's hospitals! To my knowledge, not one of the three recent articles in The Hustler criticizing frat parties called for the abolishment of the Greek system. Nobody was saying that Greeks don't do more than their share to help out the community. They were simply saying that the party scene is out-of-control dangerous. I had been hoping for something to the effect of: "students freely choose to attend parties and so shouldn't blame Greeks," or "Greeks should implement new safety programs and ban certain party themes." Instead we get nothing. The editorial never addresses the accusations against Greek parties. The issue gets brushed under the rug by a patronizing crash course in upcoming Greek charity events. This is nothing but another shameless cop-out by editors afraid to take a stance one way or the other.

Login or Register to leave comments.

EDITORIAL: Greek system offers more than just parties

But but but

Well said

I was complaining about the editorial

Disappointing reader

Disappointing editorial

Login or Register to leave comments.

Upcoming Events

Vanderbilt on Twitter

Popular Content