I am writing in response to Tim Sacco’s amazing editorial that was written in the November 10 edition of The Clock. As much as I enjoyed reading his work, I realized that some people have no idea what Greek Life might entail. Let me fill you in. It is true that you have Greek and non-Greek students; however you have members of certain organizations and non-members of those organizations. You have athletes, and non-athletes. Any way you look at different organizations at PSU, and in life, you are always going to have members and non-members. In response to your statement, “Greeks at PSU seem to see themselves as a higher power”; you are always going to have people that believe that they are above the system, but that doesn’t reflect every member in an organization.
I did a little research of my own about Colorado State University, the school in which our Greek life was compared to. I found that their Greek community only makes up 8% of their student population. They have roughly 1500 members of Greek life; however their entering first year class consists of 3900 members, which is close to our entire student population at PSU. You stated that they had a GPA requirement of a 2.5; our organizations here at PSU must uphold a 2.0 to be a member, and that is the same for Greek members as well. We are being held to the same standards as other organizations at PSU, nothing more, and nothing less. I find it difficult to compare our Greek community to such a large school like Colorado State University.
I think it is also hard to state that Greek life hasn’t changed since the 2003 moratorium, because close to 90% of the recognized Greek population now, was not here in 2003 to understand what happened to Greek life. As far as school events, there were two recognized sororities that participated in the Breast Cancer Walk a few weeks ago. There were also many fraternity brothers, unrecognized by the school that participated in this event and helped to raise money. We, the Greek community, also participate in campus cleanup after spring fling each year. We are continuing to collect food and clothing for shelters in town, and often have members of our organization working at the food shelter. Perhaps because you personally do not know all of the members of unrecognized fraternities, even members of recognized sororities, you do not know if they are present at school events or not.
I find it interesting that someone, such as you, can pass judgment on something that they are not involved in. I am involved in many organizations on campus, and would never give my opinion of something that I have no idea about. There has always been the misconception that we pay for friends, but that is not what sorority dues are for. We pay our national organization. That money goes to charities throughout the country and to our organizations insurance, which is required. But I’m sure if you took the time to talk to anyone involved, you would have understood that. In our sorority alone we have a member of the student senate, recreation assistants, interns, intramural workers and participants, members of the swim team, members of the cheerleading team, an orientation leader, members of other various clubs and organizations, and we are proud of what we stand for. Next time you, or anyone, would like to discuss Greek life and what we do and not do, talk to someone who is actually involved.
Sincerely,
Adrienne Davis & The Sisters of Kappa Delta Phi Nationally Affiliated Sorority,
Kappa Sigma Chapter