With all of the good discussion around the honors college, great facilities, scholarships, friendliness of people, and openness to OOS students, is the greek system helping or harming UA’s climb in national prestige?
I was an independent and not a fan of the Greek system while I was at UA, but I am really tired of people obsessing over events at UA. UA’s Greek system is now more integrated than many other systems at major schools. We have an independent, Black student who was elected SGA president. There have been several Black homecoming queens since UA was integrated. The Huffington Post seems eager to provide a venue for any disgruntled student. Personally, I think critical race theory is a cancer, leading many bright young African Americans to embrace resentment, negativity and obsession with this notion of privilege, something very offensive to the working class or middle class of other races who have had to work for everything they ever received.
As much as I don’t like the Machine, there is nothing illegal about Greeks voting as a bloc. I am sure the sorority leaders would have liked to support their member, however, it might have already agreed to support the Machine candidate. The Machine houses make agreements with one another, well ahead of elections. So its likely that this sorority had already committed to a certain candidate from another house. If they had gone against their agreement with the other Greek houses, it could have impacted their ability to work with the other houses in the future. Of course, the fact that the sorority member who went rogue was a Black student is a big attention getter for those itching to pin another controversy onto UA.
As for the question about whether it is affecting UA’s ranking. I don’t think so. The Greek system is overall a key factor in pulling so many high paying out of state students to UA. There is no way UA would have invested so much money in building those gorgeous Greek houses if it wasn’t a big draw to potential students. The average GPA for Greek students is also a bit higher than the university average. The rankings don’t depend on opinions of disgruntled students or the Huffington Post.
The thing that most bothers me about the national discussion of the Machine is this focus on race. The Machine is a class, not a race issue. Most students are independent, and White and I maintain that many of these students can not afford to be in a Frat or sorority. It’s almost as if people would not care so much about the Machine as long as it took in traditionally Black sororities and frats into its little club.
I don’t hear anyone complaining about the Greeks or the secret societies in the Ivys harming their prestige or national rankings. This is a non-issue.
I think it’s like anything in life . . . it all depends on your perspective.
If you are ardently anti-Greek, maybe UA is not the place. Then again it sounds like there are plenty of independents.
When I was in undergrad, Greek life shrunk a large campus for me. I needed more outside validation of where I fit in. If I knew then what I know now, I’m not sure that I would have gone Greek. But if people love the Greek life, great!
Somebody in the HuffPo article made a comment to the effect that college life is bit of a societal microcosm, where you can learn some broader life lessons. I think that’s true, though the lessons are not always what we imagine they will be.
As a parent of a high school senior where UA is very high on the list, the greek issue concerns me because my son probably would not “fit” into that crowd. On the other hand, he’s much more secure in himself than I was at his age so I don’t think he would care either way.
The existence of Greek Life has no affect on rankings or anything.
SouthFloridaMom9: My son is a soph and not involved in social Greek life, though he does have several friends who are. As you’ve no doubt read, sororities are a fairly big deal on campus. Social fraternities don’t pull in the same numbers as sororities do. Around 20% of the guys are in them. The cost is prohibitive to a great many, and the conformity that is expected* (particularly during the pledge period) is distasteful to many also. I know there are many positives to the social Greek experience, but there’s SO, so much more to UA!!! (*Yes, I realize that the level of conformity varies from fraternity to fraternity.)
Honestly I think the obsession the news media have about the Greek system at UA is way over the top. Every fall they feel the need to report something and cast it in the most scandalous way. It’s a seasonal event akin to Shark Week on the Discovery Channel. Frats and sororities all over the country have events that don’t cast them in the most flattering light, but most of these never make it out of the local press.
DS is not interested in Greek life but he was invited to apply to several frats which had a more academic/honor society emphasis which might be a good fit for some. Now he is living off campus Greek life is barely on his radar. As others have said UA has a lot of clubs and activities for those who are not interested in pledging.
Good input, all.