As we come to an end to our rush season here at Northeastern, it feels quite fitting to highlight the dark history and current reality of our nation’s Greek life. While many think of the Greek system and simply envision frat parties and bid days, for some students, this historical institution brings discrimination and trauma.
Although undoubtedly an integral part of the college experience, the Greek systems’ foundation rooted in institutions of oppression, cannot be ignored. Ranging from racial discrimination during rush to the terrifying amount of sexual assault cases linked to fraternities to the dangerous hazing process that both traumatizes and kills, this system causes more harm than good. While it may uplift the white and privileged, greek life cultivates a culture of rape, toxic masculinity, and white supremacy in our very schools.
University students from around the U.S ranging from Vanderbilt to Tufts to USC have begun a nationwide movement to dismantle the fraternity and sorority system altogether in the Abolish Greek Life project. With branches in over 50 campuses in the U.S, this movement only continues to grow as more students throw their Greek letters out the window and seek to cut this toxic culture at its source because “this is not about bad apples: it’s about the poisonous tree of fraternity and sorority life,” as noted by the organization. While many universities remain complacent in this fight to abolish fraternities, Abolish Greek Life challenges the Greek system and its damaging effects on college communities around the nation. This movement, along with its resilient student supporters, can no longer ignore the undisputed fact that this institution is broken at its core and there is no mending the long-standing, fatal consequences of its elitism. Greek life was and as always been for the white and the wealthy.
Looking at its foundations, Greek life grew out of a desire for wealthy, white college students to find a new means to exclude after universities became more diverse. Fraternities essentially “became vehicles, in a way, for the reproduction of inequality,” as stated by NPR. Therefore, at its root, fraternities and sororities were designed to keep marginalized students out of these elitist spaces while maintaining a racial hierarchy. Even looking at the numbers, it’s easy to see that the Greek system hasn’t evolved as observed by a 2011 Princeton research study illuminating the sad reality that “ 77% of sorority and 73% of fraternity members were white.” Unfortunately such statistics fail to surprise me seeing as the very first fraternity was born out of a desire to form an organization “reserved for wealthy and White Christian men,” as explained in the Washington Post. From its racist and elitist origins to its present-day lack of diversity, this system has always been intended to ostracize BIPOC students and form yet another space for white students to feel superior.
Beyond the obvious racial discrimination occurring in our nation’s frat houses, there too lies the rape culture that is left unpunished. As exemplified by the infamous FIJI fraternity at the University of Iowa, in which no arrests nor concrete action has been made despite strong evidence against the perpetrators, cases of sexual assault are simply part of the “culture.” This victim’s story is just one of the thousands of sexual assault cases linked to fraternities, as seen with a startling statistic from The Guardian that fraternity members are 300% more likely to rape.
Despite victim and witness testimonies as well as video proof, so many women are left without justice while the perpetrators continue to go untouched from any sort of culpability. Universities remain quiet, sweeping the voices of victims under the rug, ultimately perpetuating this system of sexism and toxic masculinity.
Not only are these rapists left unpunished, but they are bred. From the second they’re initiated into these institutions, these young men are thrown into a culture that normalizes, and oftentimes, encourages the objectification of women. As read in the eye-opening op-ed by a Dartmouth fraternity member “Confessions of an Ivy League Frat Boy,” with the overwhelming pressure for these brothers to prove themselves as a “man,” many fall victim to the “culture of pervasive hazing, substance abuse, and sexual assault.” Although there’s a myriad of environmental and psychological factors to consider when understanding the motives behind sexual crimes, we cannot close our eyes to the obvious connection between sexual assault occurring at our universities and the long-standing attitudes within fraternities that see their fellow female peers as “conquests.”
However, despite its racist, misogynistic, and elitist foundations, even I can see the allure that comes with joining a fraternity or sorority. Seeing my roommate make friends and find meaningful connections through her sisterhood makes me truly consider the positives of this system. I see her smile with excitement over rush events and I can’t help but feel as if I’m missing out on the college experience. Even in a university like Northeastern where Greek life plays solely a small part in the greater community, these organizations have seemingly taken over campus in recent days and it becomes quite easy to feel as If I don’t belong.
Yet as we scroll through our Instagram feeds filled with matching t-shirts and Greek letters, we must remind ourselves of the history behind these social organizations. I’m not here to shame or guilt-trip, but I am asking for us as both individuals and as a student body to reflect on how we have benefited from and continue to perpetuate the long-standing heinous Greek culture that dismisses sexual assault, discriminates on both a racial and socio-economic level, and divides universities rather than unifies. Now is the time to open our eyes and understand our contributions to institutions of oppression, because no matter how much our Greek life has “evolved,” we cannot fix what was already broken to begin with.