Glad to be GDI, good with the greeks

Sorostitutes and fratties.

GDIs and wannabees.

Even when slurs and labels aren’t used, an undercurrent of tension often separates the greeks from the non-greeks on campus.

To those not involved with it, the greek system can be a mystery. After all, chapters keep much of their policies and initiation practices a secret, and the majority of IU students choose not to partake in recruitment and rush.

So to many an outsider, it appears to be first and foremost a group of relatively homogeneous, similarly dressed men and women that live in large mansions and rage regularly.

Horror stories of binge drinking, hazing and eating disorders heard occasionally in the national news might cause many non-greeks to make further assumptions that the nation-wide greek system is one of moral-less, partying dude-bros and ditsy, judgmental females.

On the other side of the spectrum, greeks are often offended by the stereotypes and labels thrust upon them by the non-greek community.

Some make the assumption that the reasoning behind these oversimplifications is not just a general ignorance on the part of the majority, but jealousy.

Greeks assume that non-greeks are less attractive, less smart, less social or poorly dressed and thus bitter about their inability to get into a greek house or live the greek lifestyle.

Greek organizations are social organizations, so those that don’t participate in them must be self-conscious, socially awkward, dorm-dwelling shut-ins, right?

Of course these are the most exaggerated examples of misconceptions, and by no means do they represent the majority of greek and non-greek viewpoints. However, they illustrate a pattern of tension and ignorance on the part of both sides that pervades the IU community.

In reality, greek organizations are groups of men and women with multi-faceted purposes and missions.

One might choose to be a part of greek life for one or many reasons. The most prominent aspect of greek life to many is the social aspect: living in a house with your peers, making new friends, attending social events and being involved.

There are also other attractive aspects of greek life, including the opportunity for leadership development, philanthropy and a sense of scholarship.

However, many don’t know or chose to ignore these more positive facets of greek life.

On the flip side, individuals outside of the greek community may choose not to partake in greek life for a variety of reasons.

I myself am trying to become a Resident Assistant and graduate early; these alone prevent me from committing myself to a sorority.

I also have little time in my schedule for anything but a heavy course load, two jobs, extracurricular activities and the relationships that I’ve already built outside of the greek community.

It’s not that I’m some socially inept, uninvolved, greek-bashing shut-in that refuses to partake in the college experience; rather, there just aren’t enough hours in the day.

Stereotypes are convenient. They allow us to see behavior that we don’t quite understand, slap a label on it and be on our merry way. Instead of taking the time to get to know individuals and understand their motivations, we form instant impressions.

Stereotypes are almost always inaccurate in at least a handful respects.

In a school of about 40,000 students, roughly 20 percent choose to participate in greek life and about 80 percent do not. Logically, what are the odds that a group of 8,000 and another group of 32,000 possess the exact same thoughts, principles and characteristics?

The answer: low to impossible. And yet we continue to generalize in a way that prevents our student body from being the cohesive family that it can and should be.

It’s time we at least make an attempt to respect each other’s choices and priorities, realizing that we’re all peers going through a fundamentally similar college experience.

We go to class. We cram during finals week. We go to football games and find new and inventive ways to put off doing laundry that one extra week.

We sleep on the Union couches to catch up on Zs, cut through the Arboretum to save time and are perplexed as to why the crowning glory of our campus is a statue of a large nude woman with a fish between her legs.

We’re all students.

And above all, we’re Hoosiers.


E-mail: kabeasle@indiana.edu