The Importance of Greek Organizations
You may be one of them. You see them across campus wearing their chapter t-shirts or formal attire. They are an ornament for the college campus atmosphere. We are talking about the fraternities and sororities of the American college campus. With the rapid increase in media coverage of the Greek system and membership within Greek chapters, many college administrators and faculty are debating banning the presence of fraternity and sorority chapters from campus. This general push from college administration has been in large part, due to infrequent poor behavior on campus by a small portion of fraternities and sororities. The presence of poor behavior, and slight negativity coming from these infrequent and mostly rare incidents does not need to overshadow the impressive and large positive accomplishments that the Greek system has achieved within its chapters.
In this brief blog, I hope to convey the importance that fraternities and sororities hold for America’s college campus and especially the University of Tennessee at Knoxville (UTK) as a result of the camaraderie that the Greek system creates, the impact these organizations have on their surronding community, and personal development that these organizations build in their members.
How do fraternities and sororities develop brotherhood or sisterhood positively and build their respective organizations? By attending chapter meetings or participating in chapter executive councils, members develop a wide array of interpersonal qualities that better prepare them for an internship or initial job. These are qualities such as: leadership, honesty, determination, citizenship, and public speaking skills. Also, outside of the chapter house, members bond during chapter events such as: cookouts, caving, hiking, game nights, and other exciting activities. Ray Plaza states in his informative article, “Value of Brotherhood in Fraternity Experience”, exactly how members feel about the bond that his chapter has among brothers, “I have learned a lot from my experience as we have come together as a fraternal family. As brothers, we have suffered when one of us has lost loved ones, we have celebrated each other’s accomplishments, and have been there to support each other” (2). As you can see from this brief list, Greek organizations build deep friendships within their chapter.
Fraternity brothers at the University of Tennessee
What kind of impact do fraternities and sororities have on their community and even nation? This fact from UWGREEK.com effectively summaries the depth of service that Greek organizations have, “The Greek system is the largest network of volunteers in the US, with members donating over 10 million hours of volunteer service each year.” This is a huge number and increasing every semester as chapters across the nation increase their membership. I attend the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and I am a member of the Alpha Kappa chapter of Alpha Gamma Rho. I have personally been involved with many service activities and I have seen the commitment that the Greek organizations here at UTK hold for their philanthropic events and the pride they take in raising the greatest sum of money in a philanthropic event. Simply, Greeks give back.
How exactly do the Greek organizations here at UTK promote personal development within members? Leadership positions within a Greek organization allow members to effectively network with past alumni in order to further develop themselves to successfully enter the marketplace. Also, by holding a chapter leadership position, members are able to integrate into other campus organizations very well and be a step ahead of their peers when it comes to leadership qualities and vision. Lastly, members are able to develop themselves through social events with other fraternities or sororities such as mixers, philanthropy events, formals, and tailgates were members develop interpersonal skills that better equip them for the job market.
Now its up to you, the professor, student, administrator, to see the real value that Greek life holds for our University. What will you say?
For additional information see the following websites:
No comments:
Post a Comment