Letters and Emails

Student rejects positive opinion of Greek life

Before picking up the latest edition of The Santa Clara I had considered sharing my concerns with the Greek system. When I read through Ashley Ritchie's column, I knew that I had to respond. Because the recent article attempted to undermine people's preconceived notions about the Greek (specifically sorority) system, I would like to present some questions that might serve as a gauge to see where the supposedly atypical Greek community stands.

If the Greek community seriously desires to shed their stereotypes as elitist social clubs, why does their rush week involve so much money? The girls have dress codes for each separate event and are expected to walk around in outfits that cost hundreds of dollars. What if, per chance, I could not afford that style of clothing, or for that matter the exorbitant amount needed to join one of your social clubs? What if I had ethical issues with spending two hundred dollars on an outfit when I knew that billions of people are suffering for need of basic resources? Three people have died on the streets of San Jose this year because they did not have a simple blanket, and you honestly expect me to be non-judgmental about a group of people wearing enough money to buy a car?

If the Greek community seriously wants to be considered as philanthropic organizations, why do all your resources go to parties and sweatshirts? You say that you have raised money for some "heart projects." What does that mean to me? Which "heart projects"? Where did the money come from (raising money implies getting it from someone)? How much do you spend on parties or trips to Tahoe compared to philanthropy? You are surrounded by poverty in this city. You have every opportunity to fully integrate service and justice into your organizations. Instead of becoming defensive and claiming that you give to "heart projects" (which, by the way, shows a complete detachment from your service experience), please evaluate the amount of philanthropy you are involved in compared to the amount of social activities and seek a more humane balance.

The traditional Greek organizations (I can not speak for the multicultural ones), as a whole, cannot claim to be philanthropic. Philanthropy is the effort to increase the well-being of humankind, a notion that theme parties and formal wear have little to do with. It implies solidarity with the suffering and true empathy for the oppressed - characteristics that your organizations do not display. If you want to change the stereotypes of the Greek communities, you must alter the intent for which those communities exist. Although I have many friends in Greek communities (some of whom I respect for their true dedication to their ideals), the organizations themselves remain, in my mind, shallow, self-absorbed, elitist, social clubs. These opinions of mine are not going to be changed by self-praise and defensive bouts about the value of sisterhood. If you want to change people's perceptions, change what they perceive.

Please don't twist my language and accuse me of not caring about people with heart disease. I was making a point about the extreme detachment and smugness in which Greek organizations approach their charity duties.

Blair Thedinger,

chemistry, '04

Rush selection raises concerns

Going through any application and selection process is very healthy and beneficial. It allows the group that is accepting people through this process to hold a unique sense of pride and accomplishment that they achieved something as individuals and as a group. It bonds the group together in a way not possible without such a process. The group feels a sense of brotherhood or sisterhood.

However, the application process needs one key element - criteria. When you apply or try out for something you make yourself vulnerable. You completely expose yourself for evaluation and critique. If you are not accepted after this process it is very important for your sense of self to know why you were not accepted and see some sort of justice in the denial. That is why lawsuits constantly spring up concerning discrimination and unfair evaluations in job hiring and other areas. Anything you try out for has some sort of criteria. A job: qualifications,; a sport: level of talent and effort; even a beauty pageant: beauty and social graces.

To have young, eager, self-searching adults putting themselves out for evaluation only to be told they are not the "right material" with no explanation is extremely detrimental to the growing process. Questioning yourself is good but doubting yourself for no concrete reason is cruel.

Rush week is the reason I felt compelled to write this letter. I have no idea how the application and selection process for this works. I have been asking for a couple of years and have never been given a concrete answer. More importantly, I get the feeling that the students turned down have few answers or reasons. I would love to understand this process a little bit better or at least have the people turned down understand it. I think that establishing a comprehensive criteria for acceptance would also help the Greek system's reputation. Criticisms are easier to deal with if the community knows what the members of your group stands for. I think a lot of the misunderstanding and critique stems from the idea that sororities and fraternities accept only the "right material." I hope someone is inspired to write in and help the community understand this process.

The purpose of this letter is not to put down any organizations, only to pose a question that may allow these groups to evaluate and strengthen their selection process and add to the compassionate and healthy growth of the members of this community.

Joahn Fauchier,

political science, '03