Greek life may have started for a good cause but has only wreaked havoc on participating universities.
Fraternities and sororities have begun to pop up in almost every university in the United States.
According to an article by The Fraternity Advisor, “There are 750,000 undergraduate members in 12,000 chapters on more than 800 campuses in the USA and Canada.”
If there is such a stigma surrounding this part of universities, why is it still allowed? Greek life was started to allow college students to form lifelong friendships, attain leadership skills and possibly make a higher salary after graduation. As time goes on we are hearing more bad than good about these groups. What started as a good opportunity for students in school has turned into a menace to college society.
Greek life has a reputation of being a drinking club, as these fraternities and sororities throw more parties than the average college group. Having that specific reputation gives recruits the excuse to drink and party more without facing the consequences. Students are at a higher risk of being sexually assaulted or drugged at these parties while trying to have a good time.
The University of Utah recently suspended any activity from their fraternities and sororities for two weeks because of two sexual assault allegations reported to have happened within their Greek row.
According to an article by The Guardian, men who join fraternities are three times more likely to rape and women in sororities are 74% more likely to experience sexual assault than other college women. One in five women will be sexually assaulted in their four years of school. Predatory behavior is much more prominent because of all the parties and alcohol being thrown around within the houses. There is a much greater risk surrounding Greek life than any other part of the university.
“Experts and Greek insiders agree that a competitive, testosterone-driven environment fueled by alcohol and casual sex is part of fraternities’ sexual assault problem,” said Angela Carone in an article.
Greek life has also been known to cause students’ GPAs to drop in school. The drop is noticed around the time students are inducted into a Greek chapter, called rushing. Compared to their initial semester, professors saw a 0.25% drop in their GPA after joining a chapter. Students have also been known to withdraw from classes and take easier classes when starting recruitment.
While Greek life may have started as a good thing, it has only gone downhill. If universities are only keeping them around because of the historical ties to the university, they are putting their students at risk of sexual assault and many other things. Just because a certain Greek group has been around for so long doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be stopped if their high standards are dropping.
Dixie State University has one unofficial fraternity and, it should be kept as just that; unofficial. DSU is smart for staying away from the Greek life stigma, as it would only bring a bad reputation to the university. The risks outweigh the benefits in this situation, and more universities need to realize this and take action. Greek life should not be so prominent in universities around the country.
