Greek Influence On Campus

Here at the University of Oklahoma, Greek life is a huge part of campus living. Our Greek system has major influence over our students and the atmosphere of the school. Last March, a Fraternity on campus made national news, for a video that was filmed off campus, and not with relations to the university. Was the university at fault for the racist song to be sung and for it to be videoed? Most people would say no, but OU got more backlash for this than the students who created it. David Boren immediately kicked the fraternity off campus and he initiated a plan to prove “not all sooners are racist.” This is where we see the problem and power struggle between Fraternities and Universities lies. All the students in the video were adults and living

And even more where is the line between the University protecting their students and protecting their own image when those students make decision that backlash against the school as a whole? Another issue similarly occurred in 2011 when multiple incidents happened at OU leading to a change in campus policy and to put more control on Greek life. The hashtag #FreeOUGreek surfaced from the Greek members saying that there was too much regulation to Greek life. The Interfraternity Council, according to Dillion Cheverere and his relationship with the board, wrote an article saying that, “The #FreeOUGreek movement stems from the Interfraternity Council and Panhellenic regulating and ruling the OU Greeks with an iron fist. They are in full-on crackdown mode right now due to widespread alcohol abuse and sexual abuse allegations” (Cheverere). OU is a dry campus and the University itself made it that way to contain the use of alcohol to off campus activities, which includes Fraternity houses. IFC tries to contain the use of alcohol by threatening the citations and using the “scare tactic”, but without constant reinforcement and regulation, those threats aren’t