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Camille Mantoani

Ms. Gardner 4°

Honors English 10

2 May 2018

Is Greek Life Worth Saving?

A series of deaths due to fraternity hazing around the country has given rise to a new conflict: Are

fraternities and sororities worth saving, or have they become a lost cause? According to Hank Nuwer, a

journalism professor at Franklin College,” ​more than 200 university students have died from

hazing-related accidents in the United States since 1838—40 in the past decade alone”​ (Qtd. in Hazing

Deaths). Fraternity hazing often requires humiliating, dangerous, and in some cases deathly tasks as part

of initiation into the fraternity. Over the past few years, students, parents, and colleges have noticed an

increase in incidents due to hazing. This increase is impacting colleges, their reputation, the overall

atmosphere of the school, and bringing up new questions about fraternities and their purpose. Some argue

fraternities and sororities have gone too far and should be banned, and others believe they are worth

saving for the overall college experience and for the unique experiences they provide. The hazing that

college students perform has become dangerous, but I don’t believe that fraternities have become a lost

cause, but rather are giving colleges an opportunity to change the motives behind fraternities and

sororities on their campus.

While hazing in Greek life is not a new phenomenon, dating back to 1838, never before has it caused

such controversy. According to Frank Bruni, American journalist for the New York Times, “Across

decades, the toll of deaths related to fraternity revelry and recklessness is surely in the hundreds,” which

is higher than ever before. The rise in injuries and fatalities on college campuses has given rise to the

question of whether or not to keep Greek housing in the midst of college life. For some, the answer seems

simple: remove fraternities from college campuses. Lisa Wade, a professor at Occidental College, notes
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“​Of course ​we can get rid of fraternities. ​College presidents, administrators and trustees just have to

muster the will to do it. As for the rest of us, we need to keep pressure on them to do so, and keep

counting the bodies until ​they act.” Overall, Wade points out that reform of fraternities is too hard and

that it won’t work successfully; It is clearly not possible, so the only clear answer is to abolish fraternities

at schools for good; fraternities should also not just be removed from colleges who have dealt with the

effects of hazing, but from all colleges, because every student in every fraternity is at risk. The

overwhelming number of students that have been hurt or killed from fraternity hazing supports the

banning of Greek housing. This idea, however, is not supported by everyone - Greek life is essential to

the college experience and provides much more than just trouble for schools and their campuses.

Admittedly, removing fraternities would assure a reduction in hazing and deaths from hazing.

Nevertheless, when one considers the life they want to live at college, a lot of the times Greek life will

spark an interest. For instance,“​Fraternities foster a sense of belonging,” stated Liz Willen, author at the

Hechinger Report, “Their members do community service and care about social welfare. They boost

retention and graduation rates. They raise money for charity and provide vast alumni job networks. They

add value to the college experience. It's wrong to generalize from a few bad actors”(Strauss). Though

fraternity tradition can result in dangerous hazing, fraternities also provide all of the positive aspects listed

above - community service, boosting graduation rates, raising money for charity, and most importantly,

provide students with a sense of familiarity. Fresno State psychology professor Dr. Michael Botwin

stated, “It helps build your network of friends. I have colleagues who recently retired who were fraternity

members who still associate with many of the people that they were in fraternities with when they went to

college”(qt. in The Psychology of Joining Greek Life). Botwin shows that fraternities give students

somewhere to go where they feel they belong and can be successful. For those in a fraternity, it’s not just

housing that they are being supplied with, but social connections, new opportunities, and a pathway to

success with the support from others. Conclusively, fraternities do not exist to cause trouble and be a
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strain to school administration; they exist to allow students a place to explore new opportunities and to

add value to the college experience.

Furthermore, research shows that Greek life can and does offer academic guidance as well as a path

to students’ future careers. To illustrate this, American statistician, Susan Murphy states:

At Cornell, we believe that banning all Greek life would remove too many positive opportunities

for our students, both during and long after the college years. Within our Greek system are

chapters that focus on academic achievement, specific professions or areas of shared interest.

Almost a third of our undergraduates belong to fraternities and sororities, where they develop

deep, lasting friendships and learn a great deal about leadership, service and responsibility.

Murphy makes the point that fraternities can be geared more towards education and learning if need be.

Cornell college has functioning fraternities that focus on academics and future occupations, but still

provide the same atmosphere and close knit group of people that other fraternities do. In the same article,

Murphy writes, “Besides, banning fraternities won't completely solve the problem. True, a nationwide

survey conducted by the University of Maine found that 73% of fraternity or sorority members had been

hazed. But so had 74% of varsity athletes, 64% of sports club members and 56% of performing arts group

members.” She proves that though hazing is a problem in fraternities and sororities, it’s a problem in other

places and with other people as well. Not only that, but hazing stems from within the morals of Greek life,

so changing the focus of students in fraternities will help to solve the problem. Those with the opposing

idea of banning fraternities argue that it’s impossible for a reform to happen, but Cornell is a prime

example of a fraternity reform, being guided by mostly the principles of education.

Education is important, but perhaps the most significant aspect of Greek life is the culture behind

it. Colleges with fraternities will have trouble getting rid of them, because they’ve been such a huge part

of college campuses for a long period of time. Greek housing also holds a large amount of a school’s

students, so removing them will result in possibly thousands of students in need of housing. Fraternities
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and sororities are an important part of going to college for some, because they have such a unique history

behind them and have existed since the late 19th Century. During the early 20th Century, “the fraternities

involved themselves very deeply in the business of student housing, which provided tremendous financial

savings to their host institutions, and allowed them to expand the number of students they could admit,”

stated Caitlin Flanagan, writer for the Atlantic (Qtd. in Jacobs). Sororities and fraternities opened many

doors for colleges and provided them with more money and more students; they still help colleges in the

same way today, raising money and implementing new ideas for schools and their campuses. For

example, Flanagan also claims “one in eight American students at four-year colleges lives in a Greek

house, and a conservative estimate of the collective value of these houses across the country is $3 billion,”

so fraternities are home to a large amount of students on campus (Qtd. in Jacobs). Removing Greek life

will surely disrupt the culture that they bring to college campuses, and the population of students normally

housed in Greek housing.

Fraternities have undeniably caused disturbances for college administration in the United States over

the last decade. With hazing accidents and hazing deaths, schools have struggled to decide what to do

with sororities and fraternities. The simple answer to this problem would surely be to ban fraternities and

sororities from college life, but what about all of the unique aspects they offer? Fraternities not only add

value to the college experience, but provide students with a place of familiarity, provide academic

guidance, provide fundraising, and provide rich culture for college campuses. Eliminating Greek life will

remove everything greek housing provides for students and schools, and will leave thousands of students

displaced. Though fraternities have been known to cause trouble, they have the potential to implement a

more academically geared system into the morals behind Greek life. Providing academic guidance along

with every other feature they offer will cease all questioning about the existence of Greek life.
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Works Cited

Bruni, Frank. "Their Pledges Die. so should Frats."​ New York Times​, 19 Nov, 2017, pp.

SR.3​. SIRS Issues Researcher​,​ https://sks.sirs.com.

“Hazing Deaths on American College Campuses Remain Far Too Common.” The

Economist, The Economist Newspaper, 13 Oct. 2017,

www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2017/10/daily-chart-8.

Jacobs, Peter. “Why Fraternities Will Never Disappear From American College Life.”

Business Insider, Business Insider, 3 Dec. 2014,

www.businessinsider.com/why-fraternities-will-never-disappear-from-american-college-life-2014

-12.

Mendoza, Ana. “The Psychology of Joining Greek Life.” The Collegian, 30 Aug. 2011,

collegian.csufresno.edu/2011/08/29/33867/​.

Murphy, Susan H., and David J. Skorton. "Dismantling the Hazing Culture."​ USA

TODAY​, 20 Aug, 2013, pp. A.8​. SIRS Issues Researcher,https://sks.sirs.com​.

Strauss, Valerie, and Liz Willen. "Are Colleges really Doing enough to Stop Fraternity

Hazing Deaths?" Washington Post - Blogs, 16 Nov, 2017. ​SIRS Issues Researcher, https://sk

s.sirs.com.

Wade, Lisa. “Fraternities, Sororities, Greek Life Must Be Abolished.” ​Time​, Time, 19

May 2017,​ time.com/4784875/fraternities-timothy-piazza/.

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