When anyone brings up a fraternity or sorority today it is usually taken in a negative context. Numerous movies, along with countless Instagram and Twitter accounts, celebrate the party lifestyle of Greek members. This disdain for frat boys and sorority girls, as they are known, have grown with these accounts. These false representations of what Greek life is miss what being a brother or sister is truly about.
Fraternities were originally made to discuss topics professors did not cover and help students prepare for future careers. The first fraternity — the Phi Beta Kappa Society — formed on Dec. 5, 1776 at the College of William and Mary, set out to exemplify the principles of freedom and liberty in a nation embroiled in the American Revolution. Since its founding, Phi Beta Kappa has had 17 U.S. Presidents, 39 U.S. Supreme Court members and 130 Nobel Laureates. Phi Beta Kappa is just one example of the impressive dossier of historical figures fraternities and sororities have accumulated over the years. Since 1825, all but three U.S. Presidents have been in fraternities as well as an astounding 85 percent of Fortune 500 executives. The first female astronaut and senator both belonged to sororities. It is almost impossible to deny the success fraternities and sororities have had. With vast amounts of alumni, being a part of Greek life allows the opportunity to get a foot in the door for careers after college.
With all of the opportunities fraternities and sororities grant, there are still downfalls. Since 1975 there has been at least one hazing-related death per year in the United States. There is also the countless rape cases that have arised from fraternities. These scandals make headlines — however, philanthropy and raising money for causes do not come as near to garnering national attention. Greek life does an extreme amount of good and is worth having on any college campus, but the wrong that it has allowed should certainly not be excused. So, is there a happy medium for Greek life at Biola?
Under Biola’s student organization section of the handbook it states, “No organization shall be chartered or given official recognition by the University that describes itself as ‘Fraternity’ or ‘Sorority’ or may be identified as such by advertising or related activities.” It does not offer any sort of reasoning as to why Biola will not allow these affiliations. Admittedly, Biola does have the reputation of being an outstanding Christ-centered university and it certainly is not known for its party scene. Yet, allowing Greek life on campus does not mean this reputation Biola has worked hard for needs to disappear. There are Christian fraternities and sororities as well as simply service fraternities and sororities. The Alpha Gamma Omega fraternity was founded in 1927 at UCLA. Their identity statement reads as such: “As a social fraternity on college campuses, our Christ-Centered brotherhood seeks to know, love, and glorify God and be used by Him to establish, equip, and encourage lifelong followers of God.” Allowing for a group of men and women to come together under the name of a fraternity or sorority to grow stronger in faith would only be beneficial to Biola.
