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Explaining
Stereotypes:
Answers to questions asked during the roundtable
Q.
What’s the point of joining a fraternity or sorority?
A. “It’s is like a giant fishbowl.
When you’re on the outside, you are looking in
saying ‘Why are you in there?’ When you’re
on the inside, you’re looking out saying ‘Why
aren’t you in here?’”—Jon Moore
Dana
Orlando said that going through the process introduces
you to friends you wouldn’t have met otherwise.
“You
connect with that one person and it makes it all worthwhile,”
she said.
Q.
Do the fraternities and sororities compete?
A. The majority opinion here was that Greeks
do compete, but it’s a healthy competition. Intramurals,
recruiting and Beta are all healthy forms of competition.
They need the competition to keep them on their toes.
Outside Greek events though, there is little competition
between Greeks. But some organizations take it to an
extreme.
“I
don’t like the competition to get ugly,” Mark
Verkhlin said. “I don’t like it when I hear
about one fraternity bad mouthing another during recruitment.”
Q.
Do fraternities and sororities haze?
A. Most fraternities and sororities are very
against hazing but there are the few that do haze, even
though it is against University regulations.
Q.
Why do people have to pay so much to be in fraternities
or sororities?
A. A lot of the cost goes to paying for the upkeep
of the house, activities that the organization does,
programs that they put on and collectibles like T-shirts.
Contrary to the stereotype, you’re not paying for
your friends, you’re paying for the upkeep of that
community.
Q.
Can a white person join a minority fraternity or sorority?
A. Yes, minority fraternities and sororities
are for everyone. They were initially founded by minorities
but have expanded since then.
“If
a white person were to go through rush, even though
it is off the beaten path, they would probably let you
join,” Verkhlin said.
“Our
chapter was started by Latinos,” Florinda Hernandez
said. “ But now we have every culture in our sorority.
We accept everyone and they could all be sisters if
they wanted.”
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