"Maybe I'm wearing rose-colored glasses," he told the crowd, "but there are only a darn few schools where Greek organizations don't supply the lifeblood of the campus."
He said that by nature, people who join Greek organizations are more outgoing and are the "joiners" who will go on to start businesses in the future. Fraternity members, he argued, learn a set of skills necessary to deal with various types of people in the real world, form a network of people through Greek experience and make lifelong friends.
Scarborough, who goes by the title "Eminent Supreme Archon," also discussed his strong disagreement with the current drinking age, branding it as one of the worst changes ever made in government policy. He added that SAE national will never install an alcohol policy of dry houses.
"I believe one of the responsibilities of social organizations is to help people assimilate properly into society," he said. "The consumption of alcohol is a part of social assimilation into society and if a person wants to drink, they should learn to do it responsibly."
And though he supported a lower drinking age, he stopped short of promoting kegs.
"Having kegs is not even close to the best practices of a house," Scarborough said. "Kegs are abused more than any other method of dispensing alcohol."
For any chapter of SAE that violates the no-keg policy, SAE national fines them $5,000 per keg. The College's SAE chapter, however, is exempt from the policy on kegs and instead must be in accordance with the College's policy.
He added that in SAE, like many other societies, philanthropy is emphasized. Therefore, members tend to be more civically-minded and continue giving back to their institution and to society even after college.
Scarborough began the informal discussion by opening up the floor, mainly comprised of members of SAE, to questions about the Greek system. He spoke about the general image of fraternities and the scrutiny that they often fall under on college campuses. The subject was introduced after one student asked Scarborough for his opinion on the role of free speech inside Greek houses in connection with the closing of Zeta Psi fraternity here on campus.
"The Greeks are the one group colleges feel they can control," he said.
Scarborough said, however, that many times such scrutiny is self-afflicting.
"We create our own weather," he said. "If some chapter for instance, has a philanthropic event one afternoon and raises $10,000 for it but that night, one or two of the brothers do something stupid, you know what the press will write about."
He said he was impressed at how well young people today watch out for each other in situations involving alcohol. Scarborough noted a definite shift from the time he was in college where students often drove home after drinking.
Scarborough said, "I wish it was growing faster," regarding the current trend in the expansion of fraternities and sororities.
He explained that, "on a micro-level," some colleges and universities' Greek systems are expanding rapidly opposed to on a national basis, where there is a very slow increase in the number of new organizations.
Most the students at the event were engaged in discussion and felt it was important to have someone like Scarborough come and speak.
"Having him here reinforces the importance of the national network," Mike Hart '07, a member of SAE, said.
Scarborough praised Dartmouth's SAE chapter and the College's Greek system in general.
"This house is a model of what we like to see in our chapters, they are a good group of guys," he said. "I wish I had come here, it's a perfect setting for a Greek house, it's a great school, and the administration is very supportive of the Greek system on campus."
The lecture was a part of the Andrew J. Scarlett Lecture Series that the chapter hosts throughout the year.
