THE ONLINE HOME FOR CO 4713 MULTIMEDIA JOURNALISM
editor in chief / instructor of record : wendy roussin, mfa
The Benifits of Greek Life
Greek organizations have been a mainstay at college campuses around the nation for a little over a century now. The first fraternity was started at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg VA in 1776. This organization was originally founded as a way for like-minded individuals pursuing the same career to get together and study and network. Since then, the benefits and drawbacks of fraternity and sorority life have been a hotly debated topic. It's no secret that fraternities and sororities in the past have been responsible for some awful things, and this article in no way will attempt to undermine or undervalue those things that organizations have been rightfully called out and punished for doing. This article will attempt to highlight the positive side of Greek life that goes far too underreported.
The head of the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life here at Mississippi State, John Michael VanHorn, says that it is a constant uphill battle to maintain a positive reputation across campus and throughout the state. This criticism of course does not come without merit as according to thebestcolleges.com blog “more than 40 male college students died from hazing-related events between 2007 and 2017 alone additionally in 2019 there were four hazing-related deaths all within a one month span keep in mind these are just the documented incidents many more instances of hazing may go unreported.” This is a statistic that cannot be ignored, it is a problem within the Greek life organizations across the country however it is not an all-encompassing fact that can be used to umbrella all fraternities and sororities together. Unfortunately, most of the research that is done into fraternity and sorority life is about hazing and about mitigating those problems as soon as they arise, this unfortunately led to the overshadowing of all the positive things that Greek life can bring to a college campus and as a result created a negative stigma around the whole idea of Greek organizations and not just the bad ones.
“We graduate at higher rates, we persist at higher rates, a very successful job placement rate, grad school, military, all of that slumped in. All of those are higher if you were in a fraternity or sorority, so the numbers showed that it's successful. Mental health factors increase when you join a fraternity or sorority, and general happiness as a student increase for fraternity and sorority students.” -John Michael VanHorn
John Michael reiterated over and over the countless benefits that are afforded to the men and women who join Greek organizations. According to John Michael, in just about every single academic facet the men and women who joined Greek organizations are statistically more likely to not only graduate but to achieve higher education and more likely to receive a job out of college. The consensus as to why members of Greek life tend to receive more job offers coming out of college is because of the connections they can form with fellow chapter members or former chapter members who have already proven themselves in the workforce. This general opinion about the social and professional aspects of Greek life highlights perfectly one of the biggest positives of joining a Greek organization. This positive is the social aspect of Greek life as a whole. The invaluable connections that a student can make in just four years at a Greek organization have a long-lasting positive effect on the success of the student.
One of the other major detractors from Greek organizations outside of hazing is the total cost of being in said Greek organization. When asked about the biggest thing John Michael is fighting when it comes to convincing parents that their children should join a Greek organization he responded by saying “it has all been about cost and the things aren't free, there's no way to avoid it, it just is what it is”. Which admittedly is a bleak way to look at one of the bigger problems with the ever-growing presence of Greek organizations around college campuses. However, he continued to say that the public perception of how much it costs to be in a Greek organization and how much it costs tend to be two different numbers. Essentially saying that people's perceptions of Greek organizations tend to come from a place of misunderstanding. In the same article from the Best Colleges blog, titled “Is Greek Life Worth it”, the author brings up South Carolina as an example when talking about average cost for fraternity and sorority members.
“At the University of South Carolina, the average housing cost for a fraternity or sorority member ranged from $2560 to $3650 per term for the 2018-2019 school year and meal plans ranged from $1200 to $2000. “
When compared to the cost of living on campus at South Carolina and having a meal plan through the university even on the highest end most if not all students involved in a Greek organization were saving money by living and eating there. This is by no means to say that all Greek organizations are affordable or even worth the price of admission, instead, it is to show that there are many Greek organizations out there that are more than affordable when compared to the alternative, and even here in Starkville most if not all of the fraternities charge less per semester than any other apartment building or dorm on campus.
The article titled Research Reaffirms Fraternities' Positive Impact for First-Year Students, gives a long summary of the research by Dr. Gary R Pike of Indiana University, who conducted several studies about the impact of Greek involvement on first-year students. The results of his studies were overwhelmingly positive, he found that Greek membership is very closely correlated to significantly higher levels of engagement inside and outside the classroom. Stating that “fraternities play an integral role in helping new students successfully transition to college life”.
“There have been several studies, including mine, that find positive relationships between fraternity/sorority membership and student engagement and student learning. While specific findings on a scale differ from study to study, the overall results are consistent about fraternities and sororities having this positive effect on students’ engagement in college,” said Dr. Pike.
The research that is out there is almost entirely about the negative aspects and the transgressions of past Greek organizations. Unfortunately, this virtual oversaturation has led to the indictment of all Greek organizations with little room for any of the positives to be seen without digging. Not everybody is willing to dig, and biases exist consciously and unconsciously whether people are willing to admit they do or not. As of right now in 2024 the overall perception of Greek organizations is about as good as it has ever been, these men and women are working hard not only to better themselves but also to better their community and I think it's time they get some recognition because not all Greek organizations are bad Greek organizations.
Email me at dle169@msstate.edu