Personally, for the majority of my conscious life, I shared the opinions of Simon Ciccarillo. Greek life was a joke, a place for girls to paint their nails and boys to drink beer. Within the last year, that opinion has changed not just drastically, but astronomically. It’s reasonably safe to say that without the lovely sisters of Delta Nu, I would not still be at Dickinson, nor would I be the happy-go-lucky lady that most people consider me to be.

The article presented in the last issue of the Square highlighted all of the negative stigmas associated with Greek life from the perspective of a man who has no interest or background in any Greek-related organization, nor has he even considered that Greek life could be anything but detrimental. My goal here is to respond to his claims while promoting the positive parts of joining a fraternity or sorority, with examples, statistics, and well-founded statements.

Firstly, Ciccarillo states that “Exclusivity in members and as a foundation” is a main component of Greek life. While this statement has some merit, it is not entirely true. Any woman, sophomore to senior, or man, freshman to senior, has the opportunity to rush. This fact itself separates Greek organizations from merit-based organizations such as Alpha Lambda Delta and sports teams.

Exclusivity is far more prevalent in these groups, due to the fact that they select you and often have rules about which other organizations you may join. The new member education process in sororities allows for members to miss functions due to other engagements, unlike sports teams or many other clubs on campus. Not that there is any serious problem with exclusivity; many of these groups thrive on it. Sports teams need to be selective in order to win. However, the goal for Greek life is not to win a game. It is to foster a feeling of family, which requires no selectivity.

Greek organizations are also a largely diverse bunch. My sorority itself has women of many religions, from Jewish to Muslim to Catholic and all in between, and these women are of all shapes, sizes, creeds, and come from various places all over the world. Sigma Lambda Gamma, another sorority, was founded on the basis of celebrating women of all nationalities and races. There is no cookie cutter sorority girl; the days of WASPs selecting more WASPs and denying all others are over.

While it is true that all groups on campus are capable of accomplishing the same positive things, this is not a reason that Greek life is detrimental. There is a plethora of groups on campus all contributing to society in different ways, from raising money for research to serving food to the homeless. Each Greek organization chooses a different cause and spends a large portion of time working towards that philanthropy, which is the true founding principal of Greek life: to foster well-being for the philanthropic organization of their choice.

Yes, many Greek organizations throughout the United States have done terrible things, such as Georgia Tech’s Phi Kappa Tau brothers writing a manual on how to get women drunk, or the unorthodox practices of University of Maryland’s Delta Gamma “insane sorority girl.” However, one does not exterminate all dogs because one has become rabid. Greek life is in a constant state of change based on each class of new members. While there are bad eggs out there, it is unreasonable to generalize all Greek life members as awful, just as it is to state that all people from the Middle East are terrorists because of a few, or that all Christians are hateful because of the Westboro Baptist Church. Generalizations such as these are far more detrimental to society than the actions of the majority of members of Greek life.

Greek life helps both men and women find their places on campus by introducing them to myriads of students, faculty members, and alumni that they would not otherwise have ever known. These organizations pull people, such as myself, out of their shells and encourage them to participate in activities such as the Pi Beta Phi sorority’s “Pie a Pi Phi” or Kappa Kappa Gamma’s “Lipsync”. These programs create involvement with hundreds of students on campus, and to be quite honest, a campus without the energy and dedication of brothers and sisters would be exponentially dull.

While there are some points to Ciccarillo’s article that are somewhat founded, the most distracting and disturbing part of the entire work was his subheading, “Or How I Discovered Rufilin”. Nowhere in the article is this grossly false statement explained, and, speaking for many members of Greek life, this was the single most inflammatory statement in the essay. Associating fraternities and sororities with Rufilin use is a serious charge. Greek organizations pride themselves on never drugging any partygoers or forcing anyone, new member or otherwise, to do anything they are uncomfortable with (including this idea of “hazing”). There are specific bylaws set forth by the school and by each Greek group that state, quite plainly, the definitions of hazing and the fact that every part of new member education is optional.

Many members of Greek life come from different circumstances to find a family they can count on. Members of ROTC, the field hockey team, farm volunteers, and lone wolves step outside of their traditional boxes to discover an entirely new world filled with sisters or brothers that, despite the occasional argument, will love them unconditionally. Greek organizations create bonds not just for the four (or five) years of college, but for entire lifetimes.

1Phi Kappa Tau article can be found on totalfratmove.com or through the Huffington Post. The Delta Gamma article can also be found through the Huffington Post or on Gawker.com