WSU Her Campus

College is a tricky time for all students in one way or another. Leaving home for the first time and without having someone there to remind you, force you, or encourage you out of bed in the morning to “get your ass to school,” it’s easy to find yourself justifying skipping three classes in one day just to watch six more episodes of New Girl. One of the biggest problems that both young men and women in college face though is—relationships.

The cliché that college is the time to truly ‘find yourself’ isn’t cliché at all, it’s true. Many students find out things about themselves that they otherwise looked over in high school. Being an adult is hard and sometimes the experiences that you face in the first few years of being on your own, shift and mold your views and beliefs on various things. In high school, I was always in and out of relationships, never ever taking time to think about myself and what I need to succeed in life. I was so scared of being alone, obsessed with the idea of being in love whether it was real or not. Looking back now at the ripe age of 21, I had no idea who I was then, I have barely any idea who I am now. The thing is, nobody tells you that it’s OKAY. Friends or acquaintances that you see on Facebook or Instagram getting engaged while you’re sitting in the library studying for your third exam of the week or at the bar with your girlfriends drinking a beer, that is their life, not yours. The only one waiting for you at home is your roommate who always leaves their dishes in the sink or your cat who only wants your attention when it’s hungry. That’s okay, those engaged or pregnant people figured that part of their life out sooner, that doesn’t mean that its “normal.”

Pop culture has normalized the image of the ‘perfect couple’ who live their lives in their own personal spotlight, posting their relationship all over various social media platforms. Movies display perfectly happy couples or that oh-so common plot line in romantic comedy movies where they always end up together in the end. Going to parties and meeting the love of your life, or bumping into them on the way to class, or they seek you out and sit by you at a coffee shop, is rare. Waiting for this to happen, or actively looking for love isn’t going to solve that ache or fear in your gut of being alone. Investing your happiness in another person is a temporary fix, not a forever solution if you struggle with staying happy. Focusing on yourself and getting through school, getting into the career you want and love, you will find you drift towards people that belong in your life. Better yet, maybe you find someone who supports you in your ambition and aspirations.

Just remember, not having a boyfriend or girlfriend in college isn’t the end of the world. It doesn’t mean you suck at life or are failing at having “the best years of your life,” it just means the right person hasn’t come around. It means that you have some room to grow and learn more and more about yourself and have the opportunity to make selfish decisions before having to think about someone else first. Be selfish in this time of your life. Be you, do you, and don’t let the idea of being ‘alone forever’ or being a crazy cat lady keep you for achieving what you’re capable of.

Unity by definition is described as the state of being one, not being apart, or in multiple. Oneness. A feat that all Greek communities across the country strive for one way or another. Something college campuses as a whole hope to accomplish because it leads to higher retention rates of their students and makes marketing their campus to potential students that much easier. Unity is something that is often taken for granted and hard to achieve. So how do we gain ‘true’ unity here at Washington State University?

In the past, Greek communities were seen as the leaders of the campus. Only the most prestigious and studious individuals were apart of these organizations. Sororities were founded as safe havens for the first women who attended university. It was a place they could study, collaborate, and relax, away from male dominated classes where they were looked down upon, considering the first true sorority, my own, Gamma Phi Beta was founded in 1874. Older houses, such as Pi Beta Phi and Delta Gamma were founded even earlier and were considered a fraternity of women before Gamma Phi Beta coined the word sorority. Fraternities have been around far longer than sororities and only accepted the brightest and best young men into their organizations. Being Greek, used to be a whole heartedly respectable thing. Today, especially on WSU’s campus, it has turned into mostly a social call. Not only is a large factor to incoming freshmen, and other grade levels joining the Greek system ,the infamous parties that are thrown within the confines of Greek row, but it has also become a status symbol based on the letters you wear. Change has to come to Washington State’s Greek community or we might as well count ourselves as good as gone.

Justin Jones-Fuso, is an inspirational speaker who travels all over the world teaching anyone from college and high school students to corporate employees and employers at company retreats. Last week he delivered a message to Greek affiliated students about diversity and inclusivity. It wasn’t your typical, “love everyone, include everyone,” speech that we’re all so accustomed to hearing in various classes and programming’s from the time we’re in grade school, to now as adults in college. Justin delivered his message in a way that made diversity seem like the first and most minor step to truly embracing one another. Following his eye-opening presentation, I had the pleasure of interviewing Justin over the phone to follow up and dive deeper into some of the topics he talked about.

On the topic of Greek unity, he told me he could sense a kind of rift and lack of participation from the crowd from the get go, which were predominately Greek affiliates. He tried his best to engage and get us to move around, and be involved, but the energy wasn’t there. The majority of the crowd started off sitting in the back of the famously large, Todd Hall Auditorium, and lazily sulked closer to the front when prompted by Justin. He was honest in telling me that his time at WSU speaking to us was not his favorite time, that he did not have as much fun with our students as he has with other universities and Greek communities. This is unfortunate being that he was an amazing speaker with lots to teach, specifically on topics that our community needs to learn about. On top of that, after his presentation we chatted about how the unity within just Greek row alone was a little off. That houses pretended to be buddy-buddy to save face but in reality, there is a lot of tension and social laddering amongst our neighborhood. Sororities and fraternities have created a social structure that places some houses over others in social status which is the sole proprietor to our issues of becoming closer as a community. Just as any kind of rift would, this causes a domino effect that ultimately creates the wrong image to our non-Greek classmates and colleagues. On many occasions, I have overheard students at WSU and other campuses at different schools speak incredibly negatively about Greek life, and though I love my house and I can’t imagine my life without the support of the Greek system, I can’t say I blame them. When organizations that were created to devote time and energy to the community, and to scholarship, are seen spending more time and energy on various ways of socializing, problems tend to arise.

Some solutions that Justin proposed to these issues is taking our new members just after they are accepted into a house and hold a retreat. Just an on-campus retreat like we already have, but this time have them network and go through programming that allows them to make connections with each other and make strong friendships. The only rule being: no telling anyone what house you belong to. That way, the focus is made on the connections versus, “oh you’re from this house, they’re from that house.” A phrase Justin used often was, “You make your letters, your letters don’t make you.” Another solution is creating these connections during rush week before the potential new members even have a chance to draw judgement based on chapter affiliation. Having them come together for one big community service project so they’re connecting with the community and each other right from the beginning.

On top of that, he suggested that Panhellenic and IFC become more driven to include multi-cultural fraternities and sororities as well. They are just as part of the Greek community as we are and deserve the same benefits (social, scholarship, and community opportunities). The only time we really see Panhellenic and IFC include these other houses is during Greek Week which is usually thrown together last minute, therefore, making it difficult for houses to create true and real connections beyond the one week. Another thing Justin mentioned during our interview was that it’s difficult to want to make lasting connections with people that only reach out when they’re expected to. Being that Greek week is the only major time that Panhellenic, and IFC affiliated Greek chapters, reach out to the multi-cultural houses, it doesn’t create that much of a warm and welcoming environment for them. If Panhellenic and IFC affiliated houses established those connections early on and kept them throughout the year, we would have a much more fun and successful Greek Week overall and it can only help our image as a Greek system too.

As for the image problem regarding non-Greek affiliates, all we need to do is ask. Ask them directly, what it is they don’t like. How can we be better? What can we do to make you think differently? What is it that rubs you the wrong way? Instead of assuming or listening to a small population of non-Greek students, another option would be doing a yearly Greek climate survey that students can participate in and give us feedback as a community on how we can give back or improve the school and our row.

Ultimately, Justin truly believes that with the right amount of want and try, WSU’s Greek community can really break free of its current issues. As a community, Greek’s need to be more inclusive to those on the outside, and set future pledge classes up for success in the path towards a greater Greek system and change the minds of not just non-Greek students at WSU but everyone around the world who has developed a negative idea of what we’re all about.

The video below is a deeper example of the kind of stuff Justin presented during the programming the other week. Check it out!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6qUdHKy6nw

In light of the recent article, Greek Houses Promote Unhealthy Conformity, released by an ex-Greek affiliated student and Daily Evergreen columnist, I’m writing to set the record straight. The facts in this article are unfair and frankly, blatantly untrue. The author is a former member of one of the organizations on campus and was speaking from her own personal experience at that chapter, and pinning negative energy on WSU Greek culture, and Greek life as a whole. Greek life suffers from negative attention regularly and is no stranger to those who attempt to shut it down due to accusations and focus on the wrong issues within the community.

Right off the bat with the introduction paragraph, the columnist referred to Greek life as a “blight” on college student’s health/safety, humanity, and critical thinking skills which is an interesting term to use. The use of the word ‘blight’ is a term commonly used to describe an ugly, run-down or neglected urban area, however, literally, that wouldn’t make sense when considering the impact that Greek chapters have on their members. The Greek system truly isn’t an ugly run-down urban area, it’s an organization, a community. Those who chose to be a part of these organizations know exactly what they’re signing up for. And, if they don’t, they learn pretty early on. On that note, Greek life often does improve the college experience for many who take part in it. Greek houses do amazing things for the community, and their own individual philanthropies, which plays an important role in the “American college experience,” and staying mentally healthy. Its clinically proven that doing community service improves mental health and self-worth, which is crucial when dealing with the stress that college puts on students. Just this week a 20-year-old woman died of a random heart attack due to stress, and suicide is the leading cause of death for the 18-25 demographic which conveniently lines up with the ages of college students.

The quote used by the columnist from a psychology professor on campus stated, “…certain unspoken rules might change your behavior.” It is important to know that these “unspoken rules” are in fact forbidden in IFC and Panhellenic bylaws and when these unspoken rules are seen in action, or reported, they are dealt with in an aggressive and appropriate manner. A sorority within the community was shut down for 5 years because of activities they forced their freshmen pledges to take part in. Multiple fraternities on Greek row have been both suspended and/or shut down and replaced on WSU’s Greek row due to these so called “unspoken rules,” which is commonly known as hazing. WSU is a no-tolerance campus for hazing and houses tip toe around what is and isn’t considered hazing with the threat of getting their chapter revoked. The might in that statement is referring to the choice that Greek members have. It is not a requirement nor is it at all expected to act outside the rules given by each individual chapter and their organization overseeing them such as IFC or Panhellenic.

Night life on Greek row does not glorify drugs and alcohol. Every college has a party scene that select students take part in regardless of having a Greek life or not. I transferred from Western Washington University when I was going into my sophomore year of college and Western has a much higher rate of drug use than WSU does, believe it or not. The party scene is much calmer but that is because of the location of the school. Bellingham versus Pullman is the only major difference in this scenario. The Pullman community, outside WSU, is small, therefore, the attention put on the party culture that EVERY college has is much higher considering the majority of Pullman’s population is college students. The news in Seattle has bigger issues than exploiting the Greek culture at University of Washington, can’t say the same for Pullman, obviously, here I am defending it. It does not take being Greek to binge drink and use drugs. It is also not a requirement as a Greek to take part in any parties and or attend parties under the influence. Being 21-years-old, I have plenty of access to alcohol, but I personally choose not to partake 90% of the time and I’m a very active member of the Greek system. I choose to go to parties every weekend to hang out with my friends and have a good time, even sober. The house nicknamed “Cocaine Castle,” are actually a house full of incredibly hard working and ambitious fraternity men, who of the multiple that I am friends with do not partake in the use or dealing of cocaine. That is an outdated and unfair nickname for a respectable house.

It’s a shame that the quote, “I am secretly wondering why women even go to college with the chances of sexual assault being so high,” was used. Coming from a former sorority member, this quote is disgusting. Sororities were formed for women to have a safe place to study and grow in a very toxic university atmosphere since the 1800’s is when most of the houses were founded, it was still taboo that women were to be just as educated as men. Women now make up the larger percentage of universities and are making leaps and bounds in equal rights on all platforms. Calling “getting a drunk pep talk in a stranger’s bathroom while shitfaced” a rite of passage for women who joined an organization created to protect women and their rights to education is inappropriate. Saying that women should be scared to come to college because of rape culture just normalizes it, and doesn’t put a negative light on Greek life, considering rape culture isn’t only limited to Greek communities, it gives the wrong attention to rape culture. Instead of fighting that supposed ‘norm’ it’s used as ammo against a community that actively fights it and only makes the writer look bad.

Recruitment. A week that all sorority women prepare for over months and months of practices and incoming freshmen or transfer students or even current WSU students look forward to all summer. This week of value-based recruiting has its own method to the madness and works its best to place women into the best house for their ambitions, personality, interests, etc. It truly works. Sororities choose women who they spent a week getting to know, and who they think would fit within the core values of their organization, and that is how it should be. More hardcore Greek communities such as those in the south don’t necessarily follow the same path that WSU does, and I believe we are rather lucky to have the opportunity. This system places over a thousand young women into their rightful sisterhood and for many of my sisters, and many of my friends in other houses, it has given them the support system they truly needed to get through their four years of college. It’s a myth that you must be friends with all 160+ sisters in your sorority. It is not a social categorization, its’ an opportunity to really find that “home away from home.” I am a Junior in college who plans to move across the country post-graduation, I still call my mom every day, sometimes multiple times and had I not had my sisters the past year and a half, I could say without a doubt I would no longer be in school. As cliché as it may sound, I am 100% where I belong and am proud to be able to say that I am a member of my sorority at Washington State University. The fees “slapped” on to everything from social events to not showing up, or incomplete community service hours, are an incentive to get members into gear and to finish their duties to the sorority. As for social, those are entirely optional in most cases for chapters, and now with the new system, you are well aware of the expenses even BEFORE you choose to rush.

Being reminded that you are always wearing your letters is not an active loss of identity whatsoever. You represent your chapter to the rest of campus when you go to class or work. Same thing goes for when you begin working for a company, you are always representing that company. Posting inappropriate or illegal things on social media, talking shit about sisters or other chapters in public, or just blatantly being a bad representation of your sisterhood/brotherhood reflects on you as an individual. The reason these rules are in place are to protect your future and make it, so you don’t ruin your shot at that future corporate job, or any job for that matter. What you do reflects on your chapter and will eventually reflect on you. You are one of 160+ that builds your chapter to be what it is. That’s not a loss of identity, that’s finding people similar to you, who you do college with, and it doesn’t get more exciting than that. On top of that, being Greek isn’t a summer camp. Girls don’t “sneak” out to visit boys, we are adults. We can come and go as we please and for the most part, sorority girls are usually more concerned about food than boys in my experience.

Overall, it’s hurtful to those who cherish Greek life, and have truly flourished in its care, to have to read such a column that questions their everyday life. For 2019 freshmen, this will surly deter them from wanting to become a part of the WSU Greek Community. My two cents, Greek life was created to be a prestigious community that prides itself in building relationships within the community, scholarship, and community service. The brotherhood and sisterhood you will find among those streets is unmatched by any club on WSU’s campus. Being Greek isn’t an extracurricular activity, it’s a family.