Greeks Gone Bad

September 14, 2005 · Filed Under theology

I don’t like the Greek system. I’ve never been able to discern a true, foundational, positive reason for Frats & Sororities to exist on higher-ed campuses. Any of the positive, service-related, reasons that are generally given as positive defenses for the greeks strike me as just window-dressing for the real reasons they exist — i.e., To provide kids with a social network of like-minded peers, generally in such a way as to let them feel special and/or superior to others. Thus, they are protected from the “common folk,” even as they are encouraged to feel superior (often, for no other reason than that they have enough money, are good looking enough, or know the right person/people…). It’s a perpetuation of a class-like stratification that, IMO, does the kids a disservice by preventing them from maturing through a more mature social interaction.

There’s also a theological basis for my dislike/disdain, which is nicely described in a recent posting by Rev. Marcus Zill, the LCMS campus pastor at the University of Wyoming. The posting is titled “Pledged: About Frats & Sororities.” Rev. Zill has to deal with this stuff on a daily basis, and he has some very good thoughts & observations on the subject. Highly recommended.

About the only good thing I can say about the greek system is that it provided the/some context for two great movies — Animal House and Revenge of the Nerds!
-ghp