The Wake

Most would agree that college forces us to step outside our boundaries and experience new things. However, it seems that some students have sidestepped this process by joining fraternities and sororities.

That’s right. If you want to opt out of experiences that tend to make peoples’ life better, go Greek! Even better, maybe you can get back what you left behind in high school.

Start with something that most college students find enjoyable: making friends. Granted it takes some initiative to go out and talk to people about joining a Greek organization, but that time could also be spent making friends on your own terms. Sure, new friends will be made quickly by people who join the system, but members are relegated to spending hours upon hours with the same people, like it or not.

It’s still possible to have friends outside of the system, but I wonder how much this is encouraged. After hearing stories about pledges, specifically in sororities, not being allowed to talk to anyone un-affiliated with the Greek system during certain times of the year, it appears that little effort is put forth to make other friends.

The “secret” rituals that pledges endure, although exaggerated in many cases, seem similar to the type of hazing that occurs in locker rooms of high school football teams. It’s not uncommon to perform certain rites of passage to gain entrance into a group, but in the adult world this is usually done without fanfare or even a mention. What would happen if these types of actions were required to get a job?

Also, who wants to have rules that determine how to act in your house or among friends? Isn’t part of the fun of going to college getting away from the rules of parents and other authority figures? I certainly wouldn’t want somebody telling me when I had to be somewhere or who I could or couldn’t have over to my house. Even the thought of having a list of chores to do around my house makes me cringe.

School functions, such as meaningless sporting events, building floats and formal dances are something that many people are eager to leave behind upon entering college. But the Greek system can still provide these things to people who are not willing to let them go.

I could think of a million things to do while getting drunk on a Wednesday night. One thing that would not be on that list is venturing out to the wasteland behind Bierman Athletic Complex to watch a flag football game. The throng of people that I see pack the sidelines each night I work at intramurals proves to me that these people don’t think the same way I, or anyone I know does.

I have a hard time finding people who miss the formalities of high school such as homecoming and drivers education. I think most people who have sweet memories from their senior proms can get their fix by watching an episode of “Saved by the Bell” or a cheesy 80s movie. Do we really need excuses to get together with our friends or ask someone on a fancy date anymore?

People look for different things in life and some may join a fraternity or sorority to find them. While it may provide what they are looking for, it’s a good possibility that they could find these things on their own. It would be a lot less expensive and perhaps a bit more gratifying.

Grant Boelter is a Wake staff writer and welcomes comments at gboelter@wakenews.org.