To go Greek or not to go Greek?
That seems to be the question running through many first-years’ minds right now. But is that the only thing going through their heads? Here at SMU there seems to be just as much focus, if not more, on the social lives of students, as well as the academic success.
In high school you hear rumors about Thursday nights being the big college party nights, but since when did Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday nights become designated nights to go out? On a typical night in my residence hall if you open your door after two in the morning, more than likely you’ll hear people just making it back to their rooms after a night on the town.
With the Panhellenic rules virtually cutting off all communication between first-years and girls in sororities, many freshmen think running into them at parties seems to be the only way to get to know older girls. So many first-years are taking this to extremes, trying never to miss a chance because they are so worried that if they do not meet enough Greeks, come recruitment week they will be left out in the cold.
What I find especially interesting about the whole recruitment concept is that the rules for sororities are so much stricter then the rules governing fraternities. Men in fraternities can talk to as many first-years as they want about joining their frat, the boys are allowed over to the house, allowed to ride in cars, can share meals and are invited to outings just to cement their loyalty. Maybe this is why boys are not as obsessed with getting into a fraternity and women seem to be losing their hair over it.
I have heard so many girls complain ‘if I don’t get into such-and-such sorority I will just die,’ or ‘I know where such-and-such girls go on Wednesday nights we should go try and meet them.’
I just wonder whether these girls realize that if they don’t get their work done at night, get some sleep and keep their act together in school, recruitment in the spring could cease to be an option.
A 2.5 isn’t a huge feat to accomplish, but if you don’t at least put as much effort into school as social activities, you are cutting yourself short, not only in the recruitment aspect, but lifelong as well.
Because I sure know I am paying $40,000 a year to get good grades, not get wasted every night of the week to get into a sorority. And while I do think about spring recruitment looming around the corner, my focus is on passing midterms and getting through final exams alive, not whether a group of girls do or do not like me because I didn’t run into them on Monday night.
Partying is not the only way to meet girls in sororities, there are girls in your classes and they are involved in groups on campus. Go to events they put on and meet as many people as you can; who knows what contacts you can make.
Personally, I would rather meet girls at functions I enjoy so I know we have interests in common instead of parties, parties and more parties. Even though some of the rules do seem slightly ludicrous, rules are rules, and there is no sense complaining now.
When meeting people around campus, it is easy to hear the stereotypes of each sorority. I want to laugh at most of these because no stereotype can include every single girl in a group of 150. Many of the stereotyes are probably not factual or perhaps they are vicious rumors.
First-years who already know which house they want to pledge might not even know the girls in the sorority and are basing everything on hearsay.
So please, ladies, let’s all just take a deep breath, calm down, attend the functions sponsored by the school for recruitment and quit freaking out about something that isn’t going to happen for another 3 months!
About the writer:
Rachel Carey is a first-year journalism major. She can be reached at [email protected].