It’s that time of the year when there are flyers all over campus about becoming part of Greek life. Every bulletin board is plastered with fraternity rush events. Every girl is asking her friends to come out and meet her sorority sisters. People are worried about their bids. It’s a big deal.
To be honest, I’m not into it. (Big surprise, right?) I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I don’t like cliques. It’s human nature to group items into categories, and so you become part of a stereotype when you join a group. This type of strong association is hard to break away from. That just makes me uncomfortable. I don’t like it. And I don’t have first hand knowledge so I expressed my opinions with some upperclassmen.
One person made a good point: The key to Greek life is to affiliate yourself with the “right people.” However, this is hard to figure out freshman year! Once you pledge to a sorority, it’s a permanent decision. You’re either a life-long member of that specific community or you drop out of Greek life all together. You can’t switch groups.
I have to admit that the idea crossed my mind. I considered going out to the recruitment events, because so many people told me that they would have never considered Greek life and now they love it. But then I was worried about not getting accepted into a group. Someone told me that if you try to rush at Stevens, you’ll definitely get at least one bid. It’s impossible not to, unless every girl in the house hates you for some reason.
But when you don’t get the bid you want, should you accept what you got or wish for better luck next time? This is where it gets complicated because Stevens is trying to grow the number of sororities on campus and founding a new chapter sounds super nice, right? Some people wait to form a group they like since they don’t want to be a part of the others, but this could be regarded as a group of outcasts.
Someone else also commented that Greek life at Stevens is very unique. The Stevens community is unlike any other as a whole because many students here are weird geeks. So Stevens isn’t nearly that extreme or exclusive as you see in the movies about cheerleaders, frat boys, parties, and drama. The Greek families are very accepting of different people. And once you’re in, they won’t judge you, but appreciate you. Being part of a large group can benefit you in many ways – personally, academically, occupationally, etc. Maybe I shouldn’t be worried about people judging me for the groups I belong to, but I should be focused on improving myself and helping those around me. The real value in Greek life at Stevens is the support system established, which is what Greek life is all about. Maybe I’ll try to pledge next year.
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