Are fraternities and sororities meaningful student groups
with an actual purpose, or are they merely superficial social
institutions made up of lonely students looking to make friends by
drinking and partying?
Eric Sun First-year Computer science and
engineering .::Your Response::.
By Randi Borenstein I joined a sorority my
freshman year even before I attended my first class. I spent the
first night in the dorms lonely and afraid, but before I even had a
chance to wipe away the tears, I had a brand new
“sister” at my door offering to show me where my first
class was. This was the first indication that my life was about to
change forever. I spent the next four years making the best friends
of my life. My sisters were there to hold my hand when I found out
my dad had cancer, to grieve with me when my grandmother passed
away. They were there to share my joy the first time I fell in love
(or thought I was in love) and they were there to take me out to a
celebration dinner when I got my first job. I have never
experienced such a support system that was nearly failproof. But
they were there for the little things, too ““ pulling
all-nighter study sessions, participating in fraternity sports
tournaments to benefit local charities and yes, by all means, my
sisters were the ones to throw me the best 21st birthday party a
girl could ask for. It is undeniable that sororities and
fraternites party. Their members probably have more fun than anyone
else on campus. But they also offer leadership, job networking,
community and campus involvement and friendships. Sororities and
fraternities offer bonds that last a lifetime. It acts as a
commonality between all of its members that is enriching, engaging
and everlasting. In response to the question of the week, while it
may be true that members party together, the very least I can say
is: they do a hell of a lot more than that. They dedicate countless
hours to their organizations’ well-being as well as the the
community that surrounds it. The only difference is that those who
make the wise choice of engaging in Greek life know how to do just
about everything while having fun at the same time. We should all
hope to go through life that way!
By Sandra Meinsen It’s hard to believe
that after three informational fairs on campus, an entire
supplement in the Daily Bruin devoted to us with articles and
advertisements galore, a Greek life booklet sent to your home and
on top of it all, 12 percent of the campus wearing Greek letters
that are visible to the new Bruins, for some to still be in the
dark about our organizations within our Greek community. Are all
the new Bruins honestly inquiring about the purpose and motives of
our organizations, or are they just judging us by the existing
stereotypes floating throughout the campus? I don’t believe
that anyone who is not Greek could answer this question honestly or
correctly. Over 4000 students make up four governing councils with
49 fraternities and sororities on this campus. Every
organization’s purpose is different and that is what makes
our community so unique. We make up a remarkable amount of ethnic,
cultural and religious backgrounds. We as Greeks all come together
to strive toward one common goal; to better our college experience
through scholarship, leadership, ritual, personal growth,
athletics, friendship (sisterhood/brotherhood), service, community
building and, yes, social enrichment. Contrary to popular belief,
we don’t hold our meetings around a keg, nor do we have
scales under our doormats during formal sorority recruitment. These
have all been juicy rumors in the past that have been fun to laugh
at, but have never been proven true. When does friendship with your
sisters and brothers become so important and necessary if we are
only sought out by lonely students? The majority of our Greek
community were active before they arrived at UCLA and are just
looking for a way to stay involved. In this case, Greek
organizations are the best way. If we are only superficial, social
institutions, how would you explain the scholarship of all our
members? All of the Panhellenic Council’s national
organizations on this campus have a GPA higher than not only the
All-Sorority average, but the campus’s All-Women’s
average as well. How can we focus on raising money for our national
philanthropies when we are constantly partying? Every year each
organization holds an annual philanthropy to raise thousands of
dollars for their adopted national philanthropy. Not only are they
donating thousands of dollars, but also hundreds of hours of
service to the community. Just this last year, the four governing
Greek councils came together to bring a speaker to campus combating
discrimination and hate crimes ““ a topic that we knew needed
to be addressed on our campus. This program was open to all UCLA
and community members. The attendance of non-Greeks was
disappointing. The result of this “being a Greek
event,” according to most students, was to stay disconnected
from the program as a whole. Last but not least, our social events
are our reward for being members of these “superficial”
yet renowned institutions. Due to these social events and our
involvement in the Greek community, I know ten-fold the amount of
people that I knew upon entering UCLA. If it comes down to it, the
unique friendships and learning experiences that I have gained
these past years are only going to push me ahead of anyone
non-Greek. Not only will I be successful, but I will have more
friends than non-Greeks and we just might be able to out drink you
if you’re up for the challenge, seeing that we are such heavy
drinkers and all. Instead of an attacking question in the Daily
Bruin, you might want to try to stop by our office and ask for some
information. Better yet, work your magic and actually approach one
of the 4000 Greeks and ask them the question yourself. You might be
surprised at what you find! Meinsen is the president of the
Panhellenic Council.
.::Next Week’s Question::.
Why are student groups so segregated between each other?
What can we do to combine our groups and better interact with each
other?
Ronnie Aguilar Third-year Mathematics
Why a “Campus Question”? Because you want to know.
The “Campus Question” allows the UCLA community to ask
and respond to controversial questions in order to facilitate
discussion on topics important to our readers.
If you have a question or would like to respond to this
week’s question, letters are due by Wednesday, Oct.17 at 12
p.m. and can be sent care of “Campus Question” to
[email protected].