An exterior view, Feb. 7, 2017, of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity house on the campus of Northwestern University in Evanston. Chris Walker/Chicago Tribune/TNS
On Tuesday, Feb. 25, the SXU Student Life Office sent out a survey to students inquiring them about how they felt regarding the potential start of fraternal organizations on campus.
My initial reaction was a negative one, and one I shared with a number of my peers. Fraternities and sororities tend to have a bad reputation due to a large number of hazing incidents and stereotypes of other inappropriate behavior. According to a study conducted by North Carolina State University, there has been at least one death related to hazing incidents in college Greek life every single year in the United States since 1970.
It can be easy for organizations like these to become conformist and of those outside of it, as all members share similar experiences and are part of the same organization with the same name, in which members are all expected to follow the same rules and share similar values.
“The cons definitely outweigh the pros for me,” current student and former member of a sorority at Western Michigan University Drew Mannion recounts her experience. “My sorority was very exclusionary, and they would judge other girls in other sororities. They believed they were better than everyone in a way because of their status as a member of that sorority.”
Fraternal organizations at colleges and universities are also widely thought to foster environments that promote heavy drug and alcohol use. While alcohol and drugs are certainly present within our student body, SXU is a so-called “dry campus,” and partying is not as prominent of an aspect of campus life for students here as it is at other schools, which I would argue is largely due to its lack of Greek life.
But, is the risk of Greek life turning into bodies of underage drinking or cult-like groupthink bigger than the pressing need for community on campus?
SXU is a majority commuter campus, with only about fifteen percent of its student body living on SXU-owned property according to a statistic on US News & World Report.
This, combined with how easy it is for anyone nowadays to fall into isolation due to our phones, social media, etc., are two major contributing factors as to why SXU does not have a strong, widespread sense of community within its student body. Many students are not involved on campus and struggle to find a place on our majority-commuter campus.
“I was very hesitant to spend time on campus when I first transferred. It was very easy to just go to my classes and then go home immediately after,” SXU student Samantha Langowski reports what seems to be a common theme on campus.
Despite its problematic areas, Greek life has proven to be quite enriching for students for a variety of reasons, especially considering the sense of friendship and brother or sisterhood it can provide.
“These college years can often feel like a heavy weight, especially as I juggle classes, friendships, family, and everything in between,” sophomore at Northern Illinois University and member of the Alpha Sigma Alpha sorority Rylee Mondschean describes her college and Greek life experience. “But being part of this sisterhood has completely transformed how I experience this time in my life. It feels amazing to have found a group of women who not only share my values but who also understand the importance of connection and lifting each other up.”
With this, it is fair to say that experiences in fraternity and sorority programs certainly differ from sorority to sorority, university to university.
One unique thing about SXU fraternal programs, should they come to fruition, is the fact that they will not have their own houses in which their members will be able to reside, as most universities do.
However, this quality of offering Greek life without designated houses for fraternities and sororities would not be unique to SXU; Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama also offers fraternity and sorority programs, but no buildings to house the organizations in.
Member of the Sigma Chi fraternity at Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama Jack McCall seems to think this isn’t a problem for Greek life on campus.
“I think not having a house has little to no impact,” McCall asserted. “I think having a house from my experiences at other universities would be beneficial just because to have more of a living space and get a more at home vibe, but I have saw no negatives about building a community and foundation with having just a couple apartments,” McCall further explained, noting apartment buildings in close proximity to one another in which all the members of Sigma Chi at Spring Hill live.
Living in close proximity to one another helps foster this sense of community and brotherhood
While I certainly acknowledge that fraternities and sororities can have their problematic areas in terms of their frequent use of alcohol and other illicit substances, as well as their rep for hazing incidents and exclusionary behavior, this behavior is not exclusive to fraternities or sororities and occurs on our campus regardless, just as it does everywhere else.
While I won’t personally be joining one, fraternities and sororities are a great and sure way to increase student involvement on campus, which is something that SXU undoubtedly needs. If this is something that a vast number of SXU students personally want as a new addition to campus, it should be implemented.