Article in Muhlenberg Weekly Issue Sept 13 2012.
Steve Feit
A patient of mine’s son was featured in this issue so she brought the newspaper in for me to see. I came across this article…
Is greek life that cool? THE MUHLENBERG'WEEKLY
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By EVAN KASAKOVE
Op/ED WRITER
I never wanted to be in a fraternity. So my opinion
and perspective of fraternities and sororities is one
from the outside looking in. Meaning I don't know
exactly how it feels to be in one but I know what the people inside of them look like
to everyone else (or at least to me).
We all have certain defined physical and emotional characteristics and when we
look in the mirror we see what we actually look like. And when other people look Jennifer Freed,
at us they see what we actually look like, but they don't see the same thing. It's sort News Editor
of like looking at a painting. We all see the same painting but we interpret it differ- Ryan Lee, Op/Ed Editor
ently based on how we v~ew things, such as our likes and dislikes, and most impor- Amy McGovern, Life! Editor
tantly how we view ourselves. There is a reason why we all look and dress about the OPEN, Sports Editor
same because we judge ourselves based on others; everything is comparative. Chelsea Lockwood,
My first opinion of joining a fraternity was that it was a way to "buy" or get Copy Editor
friends. Instead of having to make friends on your own, which can be challenging, OPEN, Photography Editor
you gain them almost by default. But while there is a small truth to that for some OPEN Online Editor
people that really isn't an accurate depiction of Greek Life, particularly at Muhlen- '
berg.
I asked in the title is Greek Life cool? And for me the question is irrelevant and
asked facetiously because Greek Life is what the people in it make of it. It's not
something that has to be divided between cool and not cool, in the are you popular
sense? It is cool in the sense that you get to become really close with a group of like
-minded people and bond over your shared experiences.
At Muhlenberg with the few fraternities and sororities it is very easy to group
them stereo typically. I'm not going to do that now because although stereotypes are
one of the ways we mentally group and characterize things, making it easier on our
brains, when it comes to characterizing their perceived commonalities you end up
insulting that group and putting them in a box.
The people in them should be alike because people are attracted to people like
them, but to stereotype them limits your perspective and pigeonholes people into
.roles that aren't necessarily true or fixed.
Even though my perspective on fraternities changed my desire to be in one hasn't.
Why? I don't like the idea of being judged and then placed into a group. I have a
found a group on campus which I can identify closely with (not the Muhlenberg
Weekly, no offense) and that has acted as a fraternity for me. It allows me social
ability and a means of combatting loneliness and reclusive behavior (not that I was
ever a recluse). I think having a group is important because as House (fictional TV
character) said when asked what he was looking for he wittily and sarcastically replies,
"Same as you. Love, acceptance, a solid return on investment."