Column by Zachary Kiser
I warn you, what I am about to say could make a specific group on campus very, very upset. I have given the idea of writing this column much thought, and decided to go ahead with it; to face whatever repercussions may come to me.
The talking heads here at UK love to espouse to the world certain principles (UK) tries to instill in its students during their time here in Lexington. Among these principles are leadership, integrity and community involvement. UK also loves to brag about the “diverse†atmosphere on campus, which it has assembled throughout the years. Don’t get me wrong, I think these things are wonderful. It is important for an institution such as UK to set goals and missions that contribute to the overall marketability of the campus. Yet there is an entity on campus that is very much contradictory to the overall university goals and qualities mentioned above; this entity is the Greek system.
If one truly and objectively examines the Greek system, you will find it has neither a positive quality nor even a redeeming quality. The idea of a Greek system when applied purely in its theoretical form sounds like a great idea. In its theoretical form, the Greek system is a way for young men and women to form groups or charitable social organizations that promote integrity, leadership, community involvement and a sense of brotherhood or sisterhood. Yet it is when the theory is put into practice that it becomes susceptible to the corrosion and perversion that triumphs the system in its current form today.
The first corrosion I will address is the overall lack of diversity among the members of the Greek system. When was the last time you saw a fraternity on campus that had a respectful ratio of Caucasian-to-minority members? On a campus of more than 18,000 undergrads, with about 14 percent of those being from minority descent, you would think that the majority of fraternities and sororities would be able to muster more than one or two “token†minority members. This isn’t diversity; this is false diversity.
The second corrosion in the Greek system is the overall hypocrisy displayed by its members. I have yet to see a member of the Greek system act with leadership or integrity. What I have seen is an overall lack of leadership and a giant lack of integrity. Whether they are holding all-night keg parties that keep their neighbors up all hours, or bragging about how one of their member’s latest escapades ended up in the UK Police section of the Kernel, we see a lack of integrity.
I work for UK Intramurals as a referee, so I am exposed to the Greek system on a weekly basis. Would someone please tell me where, in an individual fraternity’s or sorority’s charter, it says it is OK to show up to a flag football game drunk, harass other players and officials and ultimately be escorted off the premise. Two days of community service a month does not make up or excuse unlawful and hypocritical actions.
Â
If the Greek system looks to be taken seriously then it needs to start a massive internal reform. Individual chapters must tell their members that they will either live up to the fraternity’s or sorority’s individual standards or they won’t be welcome among them anymore. The university must instruct fraternities and sororities to live up to the ideas and goals of the university, or they will have to find a place to live and conduct their business off campus. If not, then the Greek system will continue to be the good ole boy or girl
drinking club that exists today.
I have never been turned down by a fraternity, so don’t criticize me by that. I look forward to reading your comments and criticisms, and encourage anyone who disagrees with my column to write a letter to the editor of the Kernel and let your voices be heard.
Zachary Kiser is a human nutrition sophomore. E-mail opinions@kykernel.com.
Great article Zach. I wish you had mentioned the correlation between greek organizations and binge drinking deaths.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/child/2002-02-28-campus-binge-drinking.htm
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C04E7D61E39F935A35751C1A963958260
Zachary- I think you’re on the right track here. While it certainly an over-generalization to say that noone in the Greek system at UK has displayed integrity or meaningful leadership (I know plenty of people who have), I think that the system as a whole has fallen short of its mission. It appears as if the benefits of joining Greek life are limited to the individual involved, and that the university as a whole doesn’t really benefit.
As for the diversity aspect, I couldn’t agree more. If you’ll remember correctly, last year’s Kernel cartoon fiasco was actually initiated by the IFC attempting to make a statement about ramping up minority recruitment in frats – and while the cartoon didn’t do anywhere near a good enough job of articulating that opinion, it was hitting at something important (which is just as applicable to the university as a whole, not just the Greek system) – we need to treat individuals like they are people, not statistics that make us look better and win us awards. And that is the problem with us here (again, I mean the whole university, not just fraternities and sororities), we aren’t worried about doing good, we’re worried about looking good no matter what we’re doing.
Zachary, you have pretty much expressed my exact sentiments about the entire Greek system. I think they have great potential as philanthropic organizations, but far too many join these organizations for the wrong reasons. One quick look on the Internet or overhearing a conversation can tell you this.
I expect a lot of negative comments for someone expressing a popular opinion.
Thanks
Zachary,
Some of the stuff you may see on TV or even around campus does not illustrate what being Greek really means. Much of Greek life is conducted behind the scenes planning and preparing for events that expand into the greater UK area. Sure some people join for the parties and other social events but they still have to participate in philanthropic events on and around campus. It is true that Greeks like to have fun but you shouldn’t be quick to assume that they there is “a giant lack of integrity” amongst the Greeks. There are members of the Greek system in numerous organizations on campus, many of them in leadership positions. They are the future leaders of America. Have you heard of a certain William T. Young? He is Greek and at UK might I add. Greeks are everywhere and get many places in the world due to their connections through brotherhood or sisterhood, not to say that they only get where they are today because of said connections. Many of the nations finest are Greek and have done wonders in their positions. Any Greek would be glad to tell you that they are proud of who they are and the letters that they wear on their shirts. As far as diversity, if minorities do not sign up for recruitment there is nothing that can be done for that. Besides, there are sororities and fraternities on campus that some would rather be affiliated with than others. I really am sorry that you either got made fun of at an intramural game, or something of that nature, but what you are saying in your article is that there is NO ONE is the Greek system at UK that is worth anything substantial. As far as your “massive internal reform” approach, I’d tell you to start it yourself if you really feel that it needs to be done but unfortunately I doubt you’d be welcomed with open arms into the Greek community after your little shout out to the Greek system.
1. I was not made fun of at an intramural game. There are several incidents that I have observed involving drunken fraternity and sorority members and their idiotic escapades on the field and sidelines. Where are the leaders of fraternities and sorties to take responsibility and correct the actions of their members?
2. Do you ever think that maybe the reason there isn’t much minority interest in the Greek system, is due to either past incidents or the general lack of outreach by the Greeks to bridge the racial gap?
3. It is not my place to reform the system. I am purely an observer who feels that the Greek system should clean up their act for the sake of The University of Kentucky’s image. No amount of community service makes up for the transgressions of fraternity and sorority members and their system.
I, for one, did not join a Fraternity for this very reason. I feel like so many people overlook these issues in the Greek system, and it truly has become, like you said, a big beer drinking club. It’s sad that some many Greek organizations have strayed so far from their principle values. Hopefully your article, Zachary, will send a clear message to not only the President’s of the Greek organizations on campus, but also President Todd so that this “mess” of a Greek system we have here can get straighten out once and for all.
I applaud you for writing this article and I stand with you in support. Well done.
Zac,
First off, sorry you didn’t get a bid. Every year some disgruntled student writes an editorial almost verbatim to yours. There is nothing new or original about what you are saying. While I won’t attempt to argue that there are no merits to your comments, their basis is questionable. The Greek system’s stranglehold on UK’s student social scene has a tendency to make individual’s outside of it feel ostracized, causing them in turn to react in a manner such as seen here. Your criticism’s show that you have neither the experience nor objectivity required to adequately critique such a complex system.
Dr. Alan Desantis,a professor here at the University of Kentucky, conducted a revealing study into the modern Greek system in his work “Inside Greek U.” His study revealed that there are indeed disturbing trends within the Greek system that demand attention, however the blame goes farther than the individual’s within the system as these trends are a reflection of our society in general. Should your disdain for the Greek system continue to trouble your thoughts I recommend you read his work. There you will see an objective critique of the Greek system which sharply contrasts your baseless rant.
It is sad to see so many individual’s outside the Greek system attacking it for the social habits of its members, especially when those social habits are shared by a large percentage of the undergraduate population. From my own experience the Greek system at UK was filled with opportunities to expand my leadership skills and participate in philanthropy events throughout the community. The benefits reaped by the members of UK’s various Greek organizations, however, do not need to be boisterously advertised so that non-Greek’s such as yourself will look upon the system with approval. Student’s do not go to class and brag, “dude that was such a sweet leadership conference last weekend,” or “man that Walk for the Cure was crazy last night!” Instead of hearing how a student spent the whole day cleaning up neighborhood’s around campus, you’re more likely to hear about how he spent the waning hours of the night. This is not a reflection on the Greek system, but of undergraduate students in general who feel the need to brag about their drunken exploits.
Once again, as stated in my article. I have never rushed nor been turned down by a fraternity.
On Mr. McGuffin’s point, you say that Dr. Desantis’ work gives an “objective critique,” yet you give no examples to support your point. Along with that, you first stated that the words that Mr. Kiser said had some merit, yet you continued to state that his article was a “baseless rant.” You are trying to demonstrate that you have an objective, intellectual thought, but your lack of evidence and anger in the end only causes you to lose all of your credibility. Aside from that, you even state and I quote, ” sorry you didn’t get the bid.” This shows that you obviously did not read the article fully.
Also, you are trying to make the excuse that the drinking habits and such belong to the undergraduate population. However, the fact is, that the undergraduate population makes up a lot of the fraternity and sorority life–especially freshman.
It is good that there were some people in this forum that enjoyed their Greek experiences. The fact is, the idea that undergraduates feel the need to brag about their drunken escapades demonstrates that your view of it is not the common view anymore. By venting your anger upon Mr. Kiser, you only prove his statements as valid.
Fraternity and sorority heads cannot allow and/or encourage underage drinking. If the leaders are doing so, there needs to be reform. This is illegal. You say that the philanthropy is such a major part of Greek Life, yet people continue to brag about drunkenness and other illegal activity. From your experiences with UK’s Greek LIfe, should you not be furious with the people that join for drinking only? You cannot keep blaming the undergraduates for the decline of Greek opinion when leaders are not stepping up to curb the drinking.
“They are the future leaders of America. Have you heard of a certain William T. Young? He is Greek and at UK might I add.”
William T. Young graduated in 1939. I doubt that the fraternity scene in the 30s resembled the current crop of Greeks. Also, William T. Young passed away in 2004, so is definitely not “at UK.”
Such an original and novel idea, I’m sure no one before you has ever written an article about the exact same thing. Move on. Maybe draw a cartoon next time of some freshmen in greek letters vomiting on the towers with some ambulances around. I’m sure the kernel would love to publish that judging by their past decisions, but i sure someone has probably already done that as well. I would also hope that you have not personally consumed alcohol under the legal age, because that would just be awful and completely destroy your credibility and ability to hold any type of leadership position in your near future.
Dear Undergrads at UK;
I graduated from UK beofre any of you were born with two degrees, a BA & a JD.
I was also a Greek in my undergrad days. The article by Mr. Zachary Kiser could have been written in the 1960s. In fact if you search the archieves of the Kernal i believe you will find some.
There has always been a certain tension between the Greeks and the independents on the campuses of colleges and universities across America. I have read the various comments of other contridubots and I must say that all of your arguments are similar to the arguments about fraternities and sororities of times past.
However, I bring to this forum a different perspective. My fraturnity experience is a life long involvment with a group of men and women who continue to be proud to belong to fraternities and/or soroities. In my years of living and working in the “real world” I have found my membership in my undergraduate fraternity to be a benefit in my professional and personal life every year.
For example, within the month an email alert arrived in my email box from a fraternity brother advising me that one of my fratuernity brothers and his wife were in the running for an NBC national award for the best Holloween home display in the entire nation and that I could go on line to vote for them. Many of us did and THEY WON! Our fraternity was not mentioned but Lexington was!
The winners are UK grads and GREEK, too.
ON a more serious note last year a fraternity brother was in need of legal assistance with his employer in Ohio. I am a lawyer in Georgia. However, I was able to assist my “brother from another mother” and successfully resolve his situation to his and his employer’s satisfaction. Without our fraternal bound he would not have received my assistance and ,who knows, his problem may as yet be unresolved.
Fraternity involvement has life long consequences and benefits far beyond the immediate “fun and games” that accompany belonging to a Greek house while in undergraduate school.
I agree with the writer who said that the examples of anti-social public behavior of a few Greeks is not confined to them but is endemic to any student body on practically every college and university campus in America.
Surely none of you are so narrow minded to judge an entire segment of your campus community by a few obnoxious drunks. For if you are that narrow minded go to the bars near Rupp Arena both before and after any UK basketball game and see all the UK alumni imbibing of strong spirits. That is a much largeregroup of which you will (hopefully) someday be counted as members. And I assure you that not all the inebrated alumni you encounter were Greeks during their tenure as undergrads at Uk in the “good ole days”.
Whatever, Ted. I was born before 1,000 years before you and I have 70 degrees (which also happens to be the optimal outdoor temperature in my opinion). I think the “KERNAL” — a publication I so dearly love to comment on, though not spell correctly, is generally correct. You have a “brother from another mother?” That is what is wrong with this country. How can mothers go around abandoning their children? Also, since when are non-”greeks” called “independents?”
Zachary,
You seem to have an awful lot of opinions about a segment of university life that say you have never participated in or attempted to do so. Many campus leadership positions are held by Greeks and Dance Blue would not be the success that it is without help from the Greek Community. Not every organization on this campus is full of great people. The same can be said for the entire university. Why do you feel the need to call out these organizations? It is well documented that Greeks provide service to the community, yet you say there is not one redeeming quality? I think what this comes down to is that you are angry that you are not a part of something greater than yourself.
Zach, I agree with you. Sororities are fundamentally corporations who swindle young college girls into paying their employees’ salaries. If they were truly just about sisterhood and charity they would not charge such exorbitant fees. I was Greek for a year and I certainly regret it. I feel as if a whole year of my college experience, not to mention thousands of dollars, was stolen from me because of the illusion that Greek life is some wonderful way of becoming a great part of the community. It’s not.
Zac,
I believe that there are many positive and negative aspects of the Greek system here at UK. So, in essence, I am stating that I do agree with you in some ways. I agree with you on the lack of integrity in some places where much of this hypocracy occurs. I believe that most fraternities and sororities have changed in a way that they are trying to live up to the stereotypes that have been placed on the Greek system (e.g. like what you said earlier, keg parties, showing up drunk in public, etc.). That I don’t agree with because it does contradict the standards that they do clearly have set forth for each member of the Greek community.
At the same time, I think that it is important to say that not all fraternities and sororities on campus are all in need of this reform. Of course, there will be people who don’t live up to moral standards and etc. But there are still many important, positive aspects about the community that I do feel that are important to be addressed. As most people are familiar, one part of being a member of the Greek community is participating in philanthropy. Each fraternity dedicates many hours to structuring these events together to benefit our citizens, community, and nation. Yes, these philanthropy events, in most cases, are specifically designated for the fraternities and sororities existing on campus. But there are events that the Greek community and the UK student body can participate in simultaneously. I believe the fact that each fraternity and sorority dedicates many hours to be put forth into philanthropy shows quite a high standard of integrity, with regards to this aspect. Also, I believe that it is important to note that most fraternities and sororities that exist here at UK are not of exclusive nature. Many of these Greek organizations also are very inclusive of non-Greek members. I think this is an important fact that should be noted when making a judgement of the Greek community here at UK.
Overall, I would have to say that I agree with your well-written article. Each Greek-organization shoud examine themselves just to check and see if there are any aspects that could be changed. Personally, I absolutely think that more diversity is necessary within each organization. But at the same time, I believe it is important to examine positive apsects of our Greek community here at UK before making a final judgement.