The Clarification Project

I read two articles that were very contrasting on the ideas of Greek letter societies, better known as Greek Life. The first article was titled, “University Announces Ban on Fraternities and Sororities” from the Metropolitan Desk, and the second was titled, “For Some Women at Harvard, Greek Is a Scream” from the Style Desk. One was about banning Greek Life, and the other about how Greek Life can be a positive for social life at Harvard University.

In “University Announces Ban on Fraternities and Sororities,” Alfred University argued that deaths, drinking problems, and low grades all resulted from Greek housing. To better the learning environment at the school, trustees of the school voted to ban fraternities and sororities. They think that this change won’t have much affect on the campus since Greek interest has gone down 30% from the 1960’s. I think this decision to take away fraternities and sororities is not going to solve anything. People coming to college are forced into a new environment. They are learning about themselves, and sometimes they turn to alcohol to help them cope with the changes. With or without fraternities, they would party and get bad grades as a result of the drinking. Taking away fraternities doesn’t do any good, because the students will revolt by making secret clubs which will be much worst since the university has no control over these. So my questions are, now that they have banned Greek letter societies, has the school noticed a change? And is this change good or bad? And has there been any secret underground societies been made as a result of this change?

The argument to this side comes from “For Some Women at Harvard, Greek Is a Scream.” At Harvard University, they are finding that women are joining sororities more for social reasons. But the social agendas do not include going to bars or partying, instead, they consist of kickball tournaments, pajama parties, apple-picking trips, or outings to Finagle a Bagel and Au Bon Pain. And these sororities aren’t about leaving people out, but instead focus on welcoming women who want to join to be a part