I was scrolling through my news feed the other day and I came across a picture that really caught my attention.
Now to some, this may seem like just a huge jumble of craziness that doesn't make sense, but to the Greek community, it means a lot.
There are a lot of stereotypes that surround Greeks. We pay for our friends, we drink to much, we haze, we treat others poorly, we come from wealthy families....this list can go on. But in reality, these are mostly the epitome of a "stereotype" and they aren't true.
There's always going to be some that ruin it for everyone. So there may be a chapter that gets caught hazing, but others shouldn't be condemned for those bad choices. And to say we pay for our friends is always a laugh considering most of our dues go to having fun bonding activities like movie and bowling nights, keeping up with home repairs of the house we all use and meet in, and hosting philanthropy events....which is just the use of any other club dues that don't have a greek affiliation. Are they paying for their friends too?
Putting those stereotypes aside, the much bigger ones that bother me are that Greek members are as I once read on the lovely Yik Yak "immature alcoholics who barely participate in school and wouldn't survive without daddy's money"
Well first, I'll stop you right there because many girls in my chapter, myself included, work to pay our dues ourselves. So the last point is irrelevant.
And if we want to get into the scholastic and immature part, let's go ahead and break some numbers out.
1. 20% more Greeks graduate from
College than non-Greeks.
2. The Greek system is the largest network of volunteers in the United States.
3. The overall Greek GPA is higher then the normal collegiate GPA.
4. Of the 50 largest companies, 43 are lead by Greeks.
5. Both women that have been elected to the Supreme Court were sorority women.
6. 76% of the U.S. senators are Greek.
7. All but 2 presidents since 1825, have been fraternity members.
8. 85% of Fortune 500 company executives are Greek members.
9. Greek donate over 7 million dollars to charity every single year.
10. And to end, here are some sorority and fraternity members you may just recognize.
Brad Pitt
Condelecza Rice
Alicia Keys
Babe Ruth
Every member of Apollo 11
Sophia Bush
Steven Spielberg
Rosa Parks
Elvis Presley
Georgia O'Keefe
Pope John Paul II
Frank Sinatra
Katie Couric
Michael Jordan
John Wayne
Chuck Norris
Kate Spade
and.....
Martin Luther King Jr.
Just to list a few.
I'm not going to lie. Being in a Greek organization does have a big "party" aspect, but at the end of the day, Greek affiliates have a lot more to offer then we really are given credit for.
So I think it really is time, to look past the cup.
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