Bear’s Growl: Greek life not to blame for atrocities
0By Christian Wright
In recent weeks, Greek life in American colleges has been cast in a negative light with the stories of Penn State’s Kappa Delta Rho and the University of Oklahoma’s Sigma Alpha Epsilon chapters making headlines for their less-than-stellar behavior. With all the talk of the aforementioned fraternities’ nude photo scandals and racist pledge chants, it’s hard to look at Greek life in the same context as one would before.
Despite this, it is important to note that not all fraternities and sororities are full of racists, sexists, and generally despicable human beings.
Gamma Sigma Chi President and UPIKE Senior Thomas Browning sounded off saying he is “appalled at the systemic racism within Oklahoma University’s Greek System,” and that he could only voice his “sorrow to the men and women who have been hurt” by the fraternity’s actions at Penn State.
UPIKE’s Greek life has done its part to ensure it maintains a positive image not only for themselves but also for the university and community.
“Greek life on campus is involved in numerous amount of charities and is very focused on giving back to the community,” Browning explained.
The higher academic standards set by UPIKE’s fraternities and sororities ensure that Greek Life has students less prone to making decisions that will reflect poorly on themselves and our university.
“Being a member of Gamma Sigma Chi has made me a better person,” Browning said.
Browning also made it known that Greek life as a whole is not the culprit in these cases, saying it is often “an easy scapegoat used to blame,” instead of focusing on the individual members and their actions.
“Greek life is not evil; do not count the evil actions of the few against the good actions of the many,” he said, and he’s right.
When you look at the four Greek organizations on campus compared to the two headline-makers, you would have to be insane to say that these are similar. Greek life in America is not racist or sexist. Greek life does not commit horrendous acts against women. Do not get it twisted; the members of those fraternities are wrong for what they did, but using blanket statements like, “Greek life is to blame,” only hurts the thousands of innocent people involved in Greek life across the country while doing nothing to help the true victims: the African-American community who feels discriminated against by Oklahoma and the women who had their rights and bodies infringed upon by Penn State.