Stop favouritism for "Greek life."

I have never been a supporter of secretive or elitist organizations.  I completed my undergraduate degree at a university that had an unusually high rate of fraternity and sorority “Greek life” participation for a Canadian university.  Two organizations in particular operated like a political machine on campus.  There was almost no distinction between their chapters and the Conservative political clubs on campus.  The student union was about as much of a union as the John Birch Society is.  Its executive and board of directors always referred to the organization as a “corporation” and not a student government or a union.  Most of these people studied business, economics, or political science.  Some of them are now most likely working for big corporations or for politicians who worship corporations.

To me, joining a secretive organization just to achieve social acceptance or academic and career advancement is completely wrong.  It totally undermines human merit and the hard work people engage in to build their lives.  It also offers blatantly elitist opportunities and favouritism to a select few.  Everyone deserves fair opportunity based on their skills, knowledge, and equal opportunity based on the fact they are a living, breathing human.  Hiring or promoting someone because their resume indicates they are a member of the same Greek organization is completely wrong, it has doubtlessly happened for decades, and will unfortunately continue.  These organizations lead to a social stratification in not only the university community, but in greater society.  Furthermore, some of them have recently been the subject of significant controversy over the behaviour of their members.  That is a completely different topic for another day, however I recall taking a midsummer evening walk across the campus of a prominent university in New York State in 2009 and witnessed indications of behaviour that was less than becoming for people who so shallowly refer to themselves as “ladies and gentlemen.”  As for the social aspect, I prefer to make my friends based on their merit as individuals, and I am fortunate to have friends who have the same policy.  Submitting oneself to a group like a fraternity or sorority takes away individualism, it represents conformity and limits to creativity.

I was recently supervising a final exam at the university where I study.  I was sitting at a desk collecting the student’s exams as they left the room and making sure they showed proper identification and signed the register.  I noticed that some of the students had university ID cards affixed with a decal showing an unfamiliar abbreviation printed on it.  I finally asked one of the students what it was.  She responded; “oh, that’s what members of Greek societies on campus get, we get discounts and stuff that way.”  I probably had a sneer on my face that indicated I wasn’t impressed, and that’s because I wasn’t.  I wondered about how many students are being allowed to drink underage at certain establishments because of that decal?  What kind of discounts are they getting?  Where are they getting them?  What sort of purchases are they getting them for?  Why should these people get special treatment?  There are students out there with limited amounts of money.  They deserve to affordably have some fun and entertainment too.  Then, I started thinking about how many of these students with the little decal on their ID cards are going to get opportunities in life that students not part of these organizations will not get.  Will a company hire a new graduate because they saw on his/her resume that he/she is a member of a particular fraternity or sorority even though he/she only had a C average?  I really hope not, but I’m sure it has happened and will unfortunately continue to happen.  It is affiliations and behaviour like this that immediately puts the majority of young people who are not part of these organizations at a disadvantage for opportunity in our society and economy.

Universities which allow members of fraternities and sororities to indicate their membership on their student identification cards should discontinue this elitist practice.  No student should be put at any social, academic, or economic advantage over another.  “Greek life” should be limited to studying ancient civilization or drinking ouzo!