Frat and balanced

Greek life at IU generally draws two opinions from the student population — you love it, or you hate it.

With men’s spring recruitment kicking off today, those viewpoints are likely to be cemented once the process concludes for greek hopefuls.

More than 5,000 students are involved in 65 different greek-related organizations. It’s pretty unavoidable around campus.

Most students form an opinion on the system one way or another, and usually the viewpoints are pretty black and white. If you’re in it, you support it. If you’re not, well, you don’t.

The non-greek population on campus has less than positive things to say about fraternities in particular.

Although there are many instances in which judgments are made off of cold hard facts and personal experiences, many of the stories spread about the greek system can be pinned to a small percentage of fraternities and sororities, making the criticism a blanket judgment.

Yes, fraternities get a bad rap for supporting an “eat, sleep, drink” lifestyle. But it’s also important to keep in mind IU’s greek system presents more than that.

Students involved in a fraternity or sorority consistently earn higher GPAs than non-greek undergraduate students. In 2011, the average sorority and fraternity GPA was a 3.2, compared to a non-greek undergraduate average GPA of a 3.1.

In addition to scholarship, the greek system at IU focuses on involvement in philanthropy and volunteer work. Thousands of dollars are raised annually by the sororities and fraternities on IU’s campus to support charitable causes. Zeta Tau Alpha in particular raises almost $200,000 each year for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

This isn’t a sales pitch. It’s an honest evaluation of what is commonly overlooked when analyzing fraternities.

However, while fraternities do plenty of good, some also display severe issues in their culture that can’t be overlooked by how much money is raised at IU’s Dance Marathon.

Hazing, cultural insensitivity, increased risk of sexual assault, sexism, a tacit belligerence toward progressive ideology, homophobia and a childish contempt for the larger non-greek population are all reasons many have a negative view of fraternities, even if it’s just a small pool that actually has a hand in this.

Though some may say it is questionable to use any sort of all-encompassing criticism of greek life — since so much varies from chapter to chapter — the fact is that these things do happen in at least one chapter on our campus. And one chapter is one too much.

If the greek system itself can’t or won’t keep them accountable, we will.

Becoming a part of greek life is a personal choice, and deciding either way isn’t right or wrong. But being greek is a privilege, not a right. Any group that hampers progress on our campus will continue to hear from the Editorial Board.

Still, we must keep in mind that even though there are unpleasant frat boys and rude sorority girls, there are also unpleasant and rude people across campus who don’t wear greek letters.

Most importantly, there are fraternities and sororities that are actively leading the way in making the greek system a safer and more inclusive space. And they should know they have the Editorial Board’s unilateral and continuing support in doing so.

­— opinion@idsnews.com
Follow the Editorial Board on Twitter @ids_opinion.