Everybody loves to hate the Greek system. Sororities are for bimbos. Frats rape. All sorority members are anorexic and blond. All frat guys are stupid jocks with beer bellies. The Greek system is elitist, racist, homophobic, exclusionary and sexist. The only purpose of fraternities is to provide free alcohol to the campus, and sororities are just a "mindless pack" often heard muttering the all-important question: "Do I look fat in this dress?"
Although it has thus far been a rather quiet term for the Greek system, the term is still young. Soon enough these pages will fill with one expert after another calling down the wrath of God upon Webster Avenue. In one way or another they will repeat the above cliches, and call for the end of the system.
Some will only demand the end of a single problematic house. Others will call for an end to fraternities while leaving unscathed sororities and coed houses. The most extreme critics will call for the end to all houses immediately. They will claim that fraternities and sororities are antithetical to the basic tenants of community on which Dartmouth was founded.
Although not everyone on this campus wants to abolish the Greek system, everyone has an opinion. Greek houses are easy targets. Anyone who has seen "Animal House" or "Saturday Night Live" knows this. Put a college sweatshirt, a baseball hat and a days' growth of beard on a guy and you have a frat boy. Put an expensive outfit on a vacant pretty girl and give her some chewing gum to chomp on and you have a sorority girl.
It is particularly onerous to see this kind of stereotyping taking place at Dartmouth. The first thing I learned as a Dartmouth student was that suddenly I was surrounded by some of the brightest students in the country. The people I met here came from a wealth of backgrounds with vastly different experiences. To paraphrase what has become a Dartmouth cliche: I am sure that at Dartmouth today we have a cello being played, and I am pretty sure that somewhere there is someone who can translate Catullus. When I visit other schools I never see anyone studying as hard as Dartmouth students do. We are an intelligent, diverse, hard-working bunch.
Why do people think that these qualities disappear when some students choose to affiliate with a Greek organization?
The first fraternal organization founded for college students in the United States which resembles those of today was Kappa Alpha, founded at Union College in 1825. Within 20 years of KA's formation other fraternities, including Alpha Delta Phi, Psi Upsilon, Beta Theta Pi and Theta Delta Chi would all be founded on the basis of brotherhood and mutual respect.
The first sorority, Kappa Alpha Theta, was founded in 1870 at Indiana Asbury University (later renamed Depauw University). Kappa Kappa Gamma followed within the year. In 1872 Delta Gamma was formed, and 1888 saw the creation of Delta Delta Delta. In these years the education of men and women at coeducational institutions was still a hotly contested topic. Sororities served to promote sisterhood and the intellectual and social improvement of its members. They also provided a space for women in an area (the university) that had previously been exclusively male. They were a valuable tool in enabling women to feel comfortable on their campus.
It was for these same reasons that fraternal organizations came to Dartmouth. Twenty-five years ago women were not exactly welcomed to Dartmouth with open arms, but in sororities they found a place where they did not have to apologize for being female.
Yet despite this rich history, the stereotype persists: frats boys are jocks and sorority girls are stupid.
In yesterday's issue of The Dartmouth was an example of this kind of thinking. David Berenson '99, the creator of the comic strip Bear Bones, seems to think that all sorority members are stupid, shallow and big busted. Although the strip was meant as humor, it simply serves to perpetuate a stereotype and ignore the vast contributions that Greek houses have made to this campus.
Fraternities and sororities frequently have the highest GPA's of any group on this campus. They represent nearly every athletic team and musical group at Dartmouth. These houses are leaders in philanthropy and in programming, bringing speakers and performance artists to campus regularly. While it is true that the Greek system tends to dominate the social scene, one can hardly blame individual houses for their own popularity. It is not the responsibility nor the purpose of the Greek system to plan alternates to their own parties -- only the non-Greeks can do that.
The Greek system is not perfect. Abuse has existed at both the individual and the organizational level for over one hundred years. And yet one can not write off its members simply by the letters on our hats.
We are Dartmouth students and we may just surprise you. We did not get here by being stupid or by following the pack. We are diverse, and intellectual, and athletic, and hard-working.
And if you still don't believe that the stereotypes are not true, well how is this for proof: I know a Theta Delt who can translate Catullus.
