As a freshman at UM, it’s great to be a Miami Hurricane. And as a pledge in this spring’s pledge class, it’s great to be going Greek.
Rushing matches you with a group of around 100 people who share similar interests. This makes finding friends or increasing your circle easier. But you’re not paying for friends. Just like any other club, you have to pay dues, and if the members didn’t want to be your friend, they wouldn’t have accepted you.
Contrary to popular belief, going Greek does not mean you are surrendering your soul for the sake of belonging. UM promotes a safe rush environment, and superiors observe the happenings of fraternities and sororities to make sure rules are being followed and the purpose of Greek life is being upheld.
Being a pledge does not make you inferior; in fact, being in a sorority guarantees being showered with gifts.
Being Greek provides you with opportunities to take on leadership and service positions within your organization and campus as a whole. Going Greek also gives you an edge. At UM, Greeks hold around 80 percent of all leadership positions on campus. UM raises an average of $150,000 yearly for charities from the chapters’ philanthropies.
Greeks also promote academics and school spirit. In fact, all fraternities and sororities have an average GPA of 3.262 and 3.451, respectively. And on other campuses, where the student bodies are big enough to populate small cities, being Greek encourages camaraderie.
Still skeptical? Greeks run 85 percent of all Fortune 500 companies. Seventy-five percent of Congress went Greek. And, most interestingly, 85 percent of Supreme Court Justices have been Greek.
Greek life isn’t just about the partying. Greeks succeed. Although rushing is not for everyone, what do you get from attacking those who choose to do it?
It’s not a phony club where people pay for friends, it is an honorable system of tradition that encourages belonging.
Stephanie Parra is a freshman majoring in journalism and political science. She may be contacted at sparra@themiamihurricane.com.