Greek Life In Trouble

You sit on the couch of your living room when you decide that you want to watch some television. You flip through all of the channels and cannot seem to find anything that sparks an interest. When, suddenly you see going across the screen in bold print “Local Fraternity/Sorority in trouble”. Trouble is what most of America sees Greek Life as. To say that they have not earned the reputation of being troublesome is an understatement. Greek life though might have its problems, but to say that everything that happens within a fraternity/sorority is trouble would be a large misconception. There is a decision that not only lies within Universities, but with many young people across the nation is, should we be associated with Greek life? In this

The history of Greek life actually goes very deep into America’s history. Writer for USA Today Nicole Glass states that the earliest fraternity began in 1825. The beginning of Greek Life took place at Union College in New York when five students came together to better themselves through educational debates and discussions. These five men titled their fraternity as the Kappa Alpha Society. (USA Today Article 1) These first fraternities were secluded to only men at the time, because of this woman knew that they wanted their own type of fraternity. So, in 1874 at Syracuse University the first female fraternity otherwise known as a sorority came to be. The first recorded sorority is known as Gamma Phi Beta. (Learning to Give article 2) There are also special fraternities that soon came later for African American students. These are known by most as black fraternities due to a predominant of their members being African American. According to “Learning To Give”, the first black fraternity began in December of 1906 at Cornell University calling its chapter Alpha Phi Alpha. Learning To Give also states that the first black sorority began in 1908 at Howard University with their chapter being called the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. One thing is for sure, all of these fraternities and sororities came about for a purpose. That purpose was to gather a group of like-minded

According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism on average almost 60% of college students will engage in drinking alcohol. (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism) This prevalence of underage drinking at college has given fraternities and sororities a very large reputation of being border line alcoholics. According to the Addiction Center 4 out of 5 fraternity and sorority members are binge drinkers compared to regular college students who average only 2 out of every 5. (Addiction Center) The Addiction Center also states that because of this Greek Life members are more at risk to have substance abuse problems. Drinking is a problem within fraternities mainly because of the party scene. Some people who join Greek Life only view it as a way to partake in wild experiences. They view Greek Life as a way to party, to drink underage, and meet members of the opposite sex. Due to this, the true meaning of what Greek Life is and stands for has become misconstrued, and gets farther from its true meaning with every