How Greek Life Can Create Better Students

Hi everyone, my name is Sydney Kaloustian and I am a senior at

Longwood University studying Communication Sciences & Disorders.

Before I get too far I have a pop quiz for you all: What do George Bush,

Kourtney Kardashian, and Mark Zuckerburg have in common? The answer

is that they all were a part of Greek life while in college. Did you know that

some of the most successful figures in our society were in sororities and

fraternities? Social media pioneer Mark Zuckerburg was a member of Alpha

Epsilon Pi at the University of Illinois. Social superstar Kourtney

Kardashian was a sister of Alpha Phi at the University of Arizona. Both of

the former president Bush’s were brothers of Delta Kappa Epsilon at Yale

University. Entrepreneurs, millionaires, and political figures are some of

the people that we hold to the highest standards of success in our country,
and many of them have Greek Life in common. Fame and fortune aside, I

want you to think of one word that comes to mind when I say fraternity or

sorority. Was the word “social-life”? Or maybe“party”? Probably something

along those lines. How about “academics”? I can almost guarantee it was

not that one. What I’d like to challenge is the question of “Why was it not

academics?” The answer lies in the media. Greek Life across the country has

far too many negative stereotypes, when in reality it can be an incredibly

beneficial involvement in many ways. Let’s unpack that.

Greek life has historically had a stigma surrounding it consisting of

rich, unintelligent individuals who do nothing but party and drink. While

the social aspect is a huge part of Greek life, there is also an underlying

string of benefits that come with it that many people never talk about,

specifically lying within personal and academic success.

 If you had asked me when I was a freshman why I was joining a

sorority, I would have told you “to make more friends,” and that was

completely true. What I didn’t realize was that there would come a plethora

of both academic and personal benefits. My understanding of sororities and

fraternities came from the media, which as we all know, tends to skew

things on a major level. Have you all ever seen the movie “Neighbors” with

Zac Efron? To make a long story short, the movie follows the story of two

neighbors: a group of buck-wild frat boys and a well-adjusted, mellow

young family. The frat house throws a massive “end-of-the-year” party,

fireworks are set off, people jump from balconies, and general chaos

ensues. You’re probably asking me why I’m spending this much of my five

minutes talking about this movie. Well, not only is it vastly entertaining,

but it’s a great example of the negative stereotype that comes with being a

member of a greek-lettered organization.

 At Longwood University, greek-affiliated women had a GPA that was

.15 points higher than non-greek women, and greek-affiliated men had a

GPA that was .06 points higher. The numbers don’t lie, and there’s clearly

an underlying trend here. The biggest, and most prevalent trend, perhaps,

lies in the academic stipulations that come with “rushing” a Greek

organization. I know what you’re thinking: How can someone handle such a

large commitment such as a greek organization, as well as a successful

academic career? Typically, chapters set forth rules for academics. In order

to join many chapters, you must have a GPA above a certain number. At

Longwood, the number to be considered is a 2.5, but many chapters have

individual requirements. In addition, many chapters put into place a sort of

“study hour” mandate, where each week, members have to reach a set

amount of hours spent studying and log it. A subcategory of academic

benefits provided by Greek Life also lies within leadership opportunities.

Many chapters have chair positions or executive roles revolving around

academics. In my personal experience, my own chapter has an Education

Director, who oversees members’ grades, GPAs, and academic

achievements. She reaches out to members who fall below the GPA, as well

as formally recognizes sisters who obtain academic triumphs. Greek life

builds strong students, and that builds successful citizens. That is why it

would be foolish of us to continue as a society to discredit and discount

Greek Life and the benefits that come from it. All of this isn’t to say that if

you are not or were not greek-affiliated you can never be successful. All this

proves is that if we lean into the benefits that Greek Life provides, the

narrative, stigma, and overall media-based distaste for these organizations

can be improved, and individuals can reap the rewards of joining one of the

hundreds of historical organizations in this country.