Why do people treat Greek Life like a plague?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Vanderbilt University
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<p>1) Again about this: Intellectualism in the atmosphere does not correlate with the caliber of the student body once it is beyond a certain point (again, Vandy essentially= all top 10-15 schools including HPY statistically for the past few years. Duke has been this way for a while and still…not much change). It probably correlates more so with the academic offerings/requirements the and environment (could even stem from departmental activities). Places w/ lower incoming talent levels have more “intellectual” atmospheres than many schools w/very high stats. </p>

<p>Or curriculum structure: An example would be the person who is a math genius attending Harvard because of its freshman course offerings, such as math 55a and the level just below it. More academically oriented students will be more aware of what schools are unusually strong in their area of interest and know something about the curriculum before attending. They are looking to enhance themselves further in an area they are good at and can tell which places facilitate this goal best. It’s not “good time, good teachers, good grades, and a great degree” for these folks. Given this, there is an intense halo effect where reputations for certain depts at certain schools are really well known. You can go to dept. websites at some of these schools at look at the options and clubs that heavily involve UGs to get a feel for what I’m saying. The fact certain schools have a more “nerdy” or “brainy” environment is unsurprising once you notice this.</p>

<p>Anyway, places w/ lower incoming talent levels have more “intellectual” atmospheres than many schools w/very high stats. </p>

<p>2)I can’t see how a huge Greek presence would take away from the social lives of others. This makes no sense. For one, you can attend many Greek sponsored events w/o being a part of the org. And secondly, places like Vanderbilt are decently large and relatively diverse, so there is simply much more to be a part of. Third, it’s in the middle of a festive city with quite a bit of attractions, so there is plenty to do.<br>
3) While the Greek presence is large, I don’t think it’s a majority, so it should certainly not “dominate” the social scene. There shouldn’t be any worries about “fitting in” if you don’t join due to this simple fact.<br>
4) Agree with person who said that “fitting in” socially at HYP may be much more difficult than one would think (I know this will be almost oxymoronic, but here goes: super average joe w/very high stats and plenty of pre-college accomplishments may not be the best fit for those three, MIT, Chicago, or many LACs. Such places my feel almost too nerdy, “stuffy”, and “overly” intellectual for their tastes. These are more “I’m brilliant and I want to constantly show it” type of atmospheres).
5) At elite schools, many fraternities tend to actually be a bit less stereotypical. Sometimes they don’t seem to behave any differently from other non-Greek organizations. In addition, they usually perform solidly academically (often better than the general student body, especially sororities. I mean, it also functions as a giant support group, so that just makes sense), so they must be working hard enough to keep up with whatever their workload is.</p>

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<p>Thank you for your post, Lauren. It’s a helpful counterbalance to the “Greek life dominates social life at Vanderbilt, so if you’re not interested in that don’t bother coming” type of posts or “If you aren’t Greek and you want a social life, you’re going to have to really work” posts – which are MANY here and elsehwere on the internet. We’ve even had a little taste of that sort of nonsense on this thread. Other posts I’ve come across praise day-drinking, elitism/snobbery, hooking up over dating (which is for the GDI’s), make disparaging comments about GDI’s – a term I learned from a particularly repugnant post from a Vandy frat member – and have mentioned rankings of sorority girls who give the best b-------. We can add to these stories we’ve all heard from elsewhere about hazing (one huge video of a hazing incident went viral last year), a recent disgusting email from a frat kid from a southern university, sexist and dangerous behavior, and even our own personal experiences of Greek life. It may not be the whole frat experience, and not at all the experience of many involved in Greek life – and Lauren’s post is important to read, I think – but there’s been enough disturbing information to make surprised incredulity about wariness of Greek life sound somewhat disingenuous. There’s a reason why some schools have eliminated fraternities, and it’s not all Animal House. My own daughter is a freshman at Vanderbilt, happy to be admitted, and happy to be there. She has no interest whatsoever in Greek life. She did try to attend a frat party with some friends, but they would only admit the gals in the group (there was a guy with them), so she left. She didn’t like what she was seeing there anyway. Not for her. When she takes the Vandy Vans home on Tuesday nights (I think it’s Tuesdays), after a hard day or work, she’s always joining drunk folks – freshmen – coming home from fraternities. It’s not everyone, by a long shot. She has friends who are in or plan to join the Greek system, but it’s definitely not for her. And she’s not alone. She has tons of friends who aren’t part of Greek life, has a full social life, no regrets about coming to Vandy whatsoever, and would recommend the school to anyone, those interested and those not interested in Greek life.</p>

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<p>It would be nice if everyone at Vandy who wanted to be involved in Greek life actually got to be. From my experience as a sophomore, it is pretty much impossible to get a bid unless you know someone from your high school days. And “rush” is a semester long process instead of just a week or two like other universities, but you can get cut any time. No such thing as legacy and 0-2 spots for transfers or other sophomores, with more than 100 guys going through, not including freshmen. They don’t stand a chance.</p>

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<p>There are fraternities at Vanderbilt that would accept absolutely any person wanting to take a bid. It is hard to get a bid to a top tier fraternity, yes, but it is not hard to get involved in Greek life.</p>