Centers for the rich elite?

Fraternities and sororities are perhaps the most visible student organizations on college campuses. They are also part of the longest running student system in the country. IU is home to one of the largest and oldest greek communities. The Bloomington campus has 25 fraternities and 19 sororities with the oldest house having been founded in 1834.\nThe greek community, particularly fraternities, have gotten a lot of negative coverage over issues of "hazing" and alcohol violations. But this is typically the realm of isolated incidents that unfortunately stigmatize the community as a whole. Many chapters are quick to emphasize their philosophy is centered on scholarship, philanthropy and community service.\nFor example, grades can play an important role in the selection process during "rush," the formal period during which houses recruit new members (the average GPA for initiated members in 2002 for both fraternities and sororities was 3.10). Also, greek philanthropy for spring semester this year alone saw 4,351 hours devoted to community service and $85,428 donated to 116 projects. \nIn other words, the grassroots, fraternities and sororities offer benefits to both members and the Bloomington community as a whole.\nThat said, the mansions along 3rd Street and Jordan Avenue demonstrate going greek is not simply about good grades and finding like-minded brothers and sisters -- there is money involved, and in some cases, a lot of it. According to the "Greek Life Recruitment 2002-2003" CD handed out to all rush participants, fees for joining a house can cost from $190 to $1,730, with a regular social/activity fee of $150 to $370 each semester. In addition, all houses (at least sororities) require new members to live-in during their first year, and this can be anywhere between $5,000 and $6,500 a year. \nMy point is, being greek costs money.\nAbout 17 percent of undergraduate students come to IU join a fraternity or sorority.\nAccording to the "Indiana University Factbook"\n, full-time university tuition fees at IU are around $4,000 per semester -- out of the Big Ten public institutions for 1999-2000, IU was ranked fifth behind Penn State, which was the most expensive at about $6,000 per semester.\nIf you're from out of state, multiply your instructional fees by at least three. \nMany universities require students to live on campus their freshman year. For IU (which intends to implement a similar policy) that's an additional $5,700 (room and board rate for 2000-01). As a consequence, simply attending college is extremely expensive, regardless of whether you join a fraternity/sorority (admittedly, accommodation can be cheaper in some greek houses, but this is generally the exception to the rule).\nThere are scholarships and grants that waiver much or all of these instructional expenses for some students, but at the end of the day, it is essentially the financial elite that frequent American college campuses. \nWhether fraternities and sororities are values-based, character building organizations or glorified social clubs is not the issue. The question is, does the student demographic become further homogenized in favor of the wealthy by the presence of a large Greek community? The structure of the American university system -- the expense of actually going to college -- is undoubtedly the most significant economic filter. My concern is, when greek organizations are prominent on a campus, the student body becomes further skewed towards the rich.\nThis cannot be a good thing.