Good press for good people
Being a member of the SMU Greek community, as well as a reader of The Daily Campus can sometimes be a difficult combination. It seems that the only mention of any of our Fraternities comes in the form of police reports and allegations of wrongdoing. Sororities do not even get that small bit of ignoble publicity, but must provide their own in the form of the quarter or half page self-promoting ads we have all seen so much of in the last few weeks.
With my own bias openly proclaimed, I find it extremely disappointing that a Greek system as important to the vitality of its university as we have at SMU cannot get more exposure from the DC.
The possibilities for very readable material on the Greek system are nearly endless. Writers could cover some of the more popular philanthropies that each organization puts on yearly. The coverage of last spring’s Pi Kappa Alpha PowderPuff football tournament was a good start, but there are other annual events with great tradition, attendance and effect on the community that get no publicity whatsoever.
An article was published this past Monday in Hilltopics by a non-affiliated writer in which he speculated that perhaps the secret to the Sorority selection process was magic. As someone heavily involved with rush for my Fraternity I can tell you there is nothing magical about it. The secret is the hard work of hundreds of Greeks determined to bring in a new class better than the last — an effort that lasts from August to January, not just one week.
Why not explore this world that non-Greeks admittedly find perplexing by attaching a reporter to a fraternity or sorority rush chair for the week, or interviewing the newest Greeks as they run to their houses on bid day? A good reporter ought to be able to get inside the system and shine some light on it for the rest of the campus.
Now let me be clear that I am in no way suggesting that the DC or its writers have an anti-Greek bias; we can simply be hard people to get information from.
Many organizations are secretive about their traditions and inner workings, but good reporting and personal connections between reporters and members of the organizations they are researching can help break through this barrier. There is also the problem of conflict of interest — a Greek reporter cannot write about his or her own organization without bias, and therefore probably shouldn’t at all.
The Greek system has too long been saddled only with articles about drinking or hazing or other negative press and so I will close with a call to all of you out there who have always wanted to know more about Greeks than where the party is — pick up a pen, knock on the door of a Greek house, and start asking questions.
Its time the Greeks get a fair shake.
