Greek system should not be discarded

I’ve never been a fan of frat boys. Yes, as Christopher Scoville asserts in his Aug. 26 columns, they generally tend to contribute little to the intellectual atmosphere of the campus, preferring to wax apoetic about their weekend (or weeknight) exploits that have once been summarized in the worst of Roman poetry, and are not improved by their rehashing in these new forms. And yes, the composition of some of these cabals is more monochrome than an autumnal British cloudscape.

So why do I have Greek letters on my class ring?

It is an unfortunate truth that good deeds are too often quieter and less noticeable than the bad, and the same is true with campus groups. Sprinkled amongst the more cacophonous greeks, perhaps even outnumbering them, are some groups who actually live by the ideals of brotherhood, scholarship, etc. that they swear to as part of their initiation. Greek groups are not inherently rowdy or hedonistic, though some merely are. The good of the concept as a whole should not be judged solely on the failures of the few or even the many; democracy in the so-called third world has had a pretty poor success rate, but it would be foolish to argue that it should no longer be supported despite its idealistic underpinnings. The weight of history may rest heavily on its shoulders, but the greek system is something to be refurbished, perhaps rebuilt, but not discarded. Its existence can be used to foster exactly what this University needs in the way of intellectual vigor and to ignore such a powerful system would be shortsighted, hasty and foolish.

I’ve never been a fan of frat boys. Yes, as Christopher Scoville asserts in his Aug. 26 columns, they generally tend to contribute little to the intellectual atmosphere of the campus, preferring to wax apoetic about their weekend (or weeknight) exploits that have once been summarized in the worst of Roman poetry, and are not improved by their rehashing in these new forms. And yes, the composition of some of these cabals is more monochrome than an autumnal British cloudscape.

So why do I have Greek letters on my class ring?

It is an unfortunate truth that good deeds are too often quieter and less noticeable than the bad, and the same is true with campus groups. Sprinkled amongst the more cacophonous greeks, perhaps even outnumbering them, are some groups who actually live by the ideals of brotherhood, scholarship, etc. that they swear to as part of their initiation. Greek groups are not inherently rowdy or hedonistic, though some merely are. The good of the concept as a whole should not be judged solely on the failures of the few or even the many; democracy in the so-called third world has had a pretty poor success rate, but it would be foolish to argue that it should no longer be supported despite its idealistic underpinnings. The weight of history may rest heavily on its shoulders, but the greek system is something to be refurbished, perhaps rebuilt, but not discarded. Its existence can be used to foster exactly what this University needs in the way of intellectual vigor and to ignore such a powerful system would be shortsighted, hasty and foolish.