The Greek System is Evil

It sure is, at least according to one Nina Maja Bergmar ’11. In her article, entitled Embracing Unaffiliation, Ms. Bergmar lampoons the Greek system with several unassailable arguments.

Edit: Full post after the Jump.

Her first qualm with the Greek system (and her cited reason for dropping out of sorority rush) is the politics involved; of course, it makes no sense that the existing sisterhood should accept and embrace someone before handing out bids. Granted sorority rush has its handful of idiosyncrasies, but that doesn’t engender an assault on a system which has left several quite happy with their respective houses. Another argument against Greek houses lies in the “fake bonds of loyalty” that come with affiliation. Bergmar details two experiences where entire houses turned against her without knowing any more about her than her name just because of altercations with one or two members. Considering the several op-ed pieces in the daily dartmouth authored by the complainant, I’m willing to go out on a limb as saying that a good portion of Dartmouth’s campus knows her opinions. That aside, I’m surprised that Ms. Bergmar finds it hard to believe that her “encounter” or “argument” with certain members caused their friends to turn against her.

Just because a fraternity or sorority inspires brotherhood or sisterhood, doesn’t mean those loyalties are forced or fake. I don’t think anyone joins a house for the sole reason of belonging to an institution; I’d be quite disappointed with my affiliated experience if I was stuck paying several hundreds of dollars in dues to hang out with people who weren’t close friends. Frankly, it’s inane to say that the bonds between fraternity brothers or sorority sisters aren’t true friendships. Exactly how would a true friendship develop naturally outside the Greek system? A couple of people meet each other, hang out together, share meals and libations, and perhaps endure joys or hardships together — does that not happen in a Greek house? Also, I suppose it must be true that anyone who joins a house immediately relinquishes his personal identity in favor of the house’s stereotype, rather than a process of (self) selection occurring before bids are distributed. I guess we should forego these “phony relationships” and, instead, “portray ourselves as who we are,” so that we can make friends with those who mirror our extracurricular activities or who live in close proximity.