Greek life on The College of Wooster campus is a unique take on the concept. The groups are not national organizations and there is no Greek row. Some groups are quite new while other groups have been a part of the Wooster community for longer than some buildings on campus. The clubs and sections on campus do more than make housing difficult for Residence Life and host social events.† Many of us involved in Greek life are at the top of our classes and are extremely involved outside of our sisterhoods and brotherhoods. As a first-year, I am already sick of the slighted reputation I get for wearing my letters on my chest. It is time for the administration to turn off† ABC Family’s hit show “Greek” and develop a real impression of what is actually happening on campus as opposed to the popular culture image by which they are confused.
If you go to any meeting of various groups on campus, you will see that much of the group is made up of and led by Greek members. On Campus Council, for example, six of the eight student positions are filled by members of the Greek community. All three at-large positions are filled by Greek students who were elected by their peers. Similarly, if you walk into The Wooster Voice office you will see the majority of the staff have letters they wear with pride. Of the 14 section editors, half of them are members of Greek life. The paper itself is run by two seniors who are active members in the Greek community. What is interesting about all these members of sororities and fraternities leading and working together is that they do so cohesively. If anything, their letters, though different, give each other a sense of comraderie that allow these other groups on campus to function so fluidly. Not only do we do more than “throw keggers” but we also assist in making clubs and student governing more functional on campus.
An aspect of Greek life that is often overlooked is community service. While imagining a Greek party that looks like a Ke$ha video, I am sure the nightmares that come with such Greek stereotypes make it hard to remember the 26 hours of off-campus service per person some groups do a year. Although I recognize the bias in my frustration, being Service Chair of my sorority, Delta Theta Psi, but, if anything, I think my position justifies my frustration. I see my sisters, the ones who share my letters and those who are my sisters and brothers in the larger Greek community† taking time out of their week every day to serve the Wooster community. I see them raising money for Relay for Life and tabling for various causes. Yet, I feel President Cornwell and the Board of Trustees struggle to look past the stereotypes of sororities and fraternities and the stories of national Greek groups hazing. Our Greek life is so much more than that. We get involved and help within the Wooster community. Just because we wear our letters while doing it does not mean it should be discredited.
To me, the Greek community embodies Wooster’s motto “Independent minds, working together.” While each group functions individually, serving the community in a different way, as a whole The College of Wooster would be worse off without the Greek community. Whether we are raising moremoney than any other group at Relay for Life or hosting social events that do not look like they came out of a Ke$ha video, this community would lose something without us.
Gina Christo is a News Editor for the Voice. She can be reached for comment at GChristo14@wooster.edu.