MAKAYLA AMITRANI – OPINION EDITOR
In society, Greek life is notorious for bad grades, big parties, and bumpy friendships. While that may be the case in other universities, St. Mary’s University’s sororities and fraternities prove societal expectations wrong. Students join Greek life for a number of reasons and most get everything they’re looking for and more.
New Greek members receive a lot of advice in order to teach them the values of the organization and to learn to love those values. Some of those values include academic excellence and time management, with most of Greek life requiring above a 2.7 GPA to maintain good standing with various organizations.
“Some of the pros of Greek life for me would be a support group and an organization that I can rely on to help me through whatever comes my way. [Along] with this, it is an excellent way to network and meet individuals you never would have had connections with [otherwise],” said junior finance and risk management major Joseph Napier.
These feelings are not only true with Sigma Phi Epsilon but also with Alpha Sigma Tau and Alpha Phi, who share the joy and excitement of going through recruitment and finding their home. They share the opportunities that joining Greek life has provided them.
“I joined [Alpha Sigma Tau] to build friendships I never had before because I was homeschooled. What surprised me was the amount of love I have received since [going through recruitment]. I never thought I’d receive as much love and acceptance from not only my big but the entire sorority,” said sophomore psychology and criminology major Autumn Gonzales.
Other reasons many students decided to go through recruitment were friendship, getting involved on campus and academic excellence. Clarissa Morales sophomore biology major discussed that managing her time after joining was a cause for concern at first, but realized the amount of support offered through Greek life completely eradicated those concerns.
“Alpha Phi has given me the opportunity to gain campus connections, as well as academic support. When I joined [Alpha Phi], I was fearful of not having time to manage school and my sorority events but when speaking out to my sisters, I was able to get assistance with time management. It’s true, whatever you put into your sorority is what you will gain out of it. I would not trade my sisters for anything in the world,” said Morales.
With all good things, there must be bad, as some students highlight some of the negatives to joining Greek life.
“I think one of the biggest cons is time. I’ve heard that being part of Greek life is very time-consuming to the point where you have no free time and the organization basically becomes your life. Consequently, that negatively affects your academics,” said Amanda Villarreal senior computer science major.
A student in Greek life also highlights the negative aspect of time management. “[A con] of Greek life is that it requires you to learn how to manage your time well, especially on campus where there is always an opportunity to engage in an event,” said Gutierrez.
Another concern is the monetary cost of Greek life. An understandable concern with the highest amount for new member dues being around $900.
“I’ve also heard the cost of being in Greek life can get very expensive, costs for memberships, shirts, dues, etc., and I imagine most college students are tight on money, Villarreal said.
Another student brings up the negative stigmas that are associated with Greek life. “I would say that Greek life has a lot of bad social stigmas. To be associated with a frat or sorority means it entails popularity, overlooking bad qualities in people or even not being as keen in your academics. Even if you practice none of those preconceived notions, you still are associated with them,” said Daija Vanegas junior music education major.
Within a large organization like Greek life, there are bound to be a few ups and downs and it may not be for everyone but doing research about individual organizations is the best route to take if Greek life is something of interest.