This article was making the rounds on Facebook and Twitter earlier this week. It's pretty easy to bash on the people in this article, and frankly, I'm not going to come to their defense. I'll pile on.
My biggest issue with this article isn't with the coaches; instead, it is with the entire conceptualization of a fraternity or a sorority in this context. I joined a fraternity because a handful of guys who were already my good friends happened to join the same house. It also helped that it was cheaper than other options available, offered a single room, and allowed us to live without an RA. While those perks were nice, for all of us, it was friendship first. This whole sorority interview process with people you've never even met just seems to put the cart before the horse. It formalizes the sorority as an institution of status rather than a place where truly meaningful friendships and interactions happen. For teenage kids just entering college, it is sad to think that they are sacrificing the opportunity to really meet new and different people because they are going through this whole process and being assigned to a sorority or fraternity house ahead of time.
Am I being too judgmental of the more "traditional" Greek system? Or should we just acknowledge and accept (rather than judge) that many people are joining frats and sororities for networking and social status?
"Pledge Prep" by Abigail Sullivan Moore
Published in the New York Times, July 16, 2012
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/22/education/edlife/prepping-students-for-sorority-rush.html?_r=3&smid=tw-share&pagewanted=all
Eric
I am thrilled and honored Miami made the list. May our sorority girls remain shallow, bitchy and hot
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