Cristian Valentin
Opinions Editor
Greek Life is an often stigmatized part of the college experience. This is due to its reputation of partying, drinking and drug use. However, I believe there is more to Greek Life and believe more people should give it a chance.
Many people think Greek Life is full of party animals who don’t take school seriously, but that is not true. Many of us are just regular people who get good grades and have passions, who also happened to find organizations of people that we connect with. Many people are also passionate about protecting the environment and doing charity work.
This passion for charity work extends to Greek organizations not only on campus but all across America. According to The Fraternity Advisor, Greek Life organizations raise over seven million dollars every year. Each greek organization on this campus also has several philanthropies that they raise money for.
These donations are not only to charities but also to many of the respective universities that these organizations are found on. According to Elite Daily, 75 percent of all money given to universities is from Greek alumni. Greeks at schools are also found to be more likely to graduate, at a rate of 50 to 70 percent.
One unignorable aspect of Greek Life is hazing and the countless tragedies that have made these organizations infamous to some. At Keene however, there are very strict no-hazing policies for all on-campus organizations, along with many education programs about hazing. Greek members on this campus are all just looking for new friends and people should not be afraid to check out Greek Life.
According to Business Insider, joining Greek Life can also help people not feel lonely or depressed. This is because it’s a support system that will always be there for you and is filled with people that genuinely care about you. This support has definitely helped me get through stressful times in my life when I just need friends at my side.
This goes along with another pillar of getting involved in Greek Life: connections. That is because once you join Greek Life, you are a part of a huge community where many people know each other. I can personally say that I have met a large number of people since I joined, many of them being very good people. These connections also include alumni who can help each other get all sorts of job opportunities and add to an overall network of people who are available for each other.
Another big setback for people looking into Greek Life is the price of dues. This is only a large amount in a vacuum however, because Business Insider says the average college student finds that Greek Life accounts for only 2 percent of the total cost of college. There is flexibility with these charges too, considering that we are all broke college students.
At the end of the day, these organizations are full of regular people and more of the community should be more open to joining Greek Life.
Cristian Valentin can be contacted at cvalentin@kscequinox.com
