Bidding For Lives
Bidding for Lives
College life brings many thoughts to mind
friendships, football , pizza, late nights, parties, fraternities, sororities, as well as racial discrimination, binge drinking, hazing and . The latter part of this list may not come naturally to most people, but they are frightening realities of the Greek system. Parents send their children to college assuming they will be in a safe, educational environment while enjoying all the benefits campus life has to offer, including fraternities and sororities. They do not expect a phone call in the early hours of the morning notifying them of their child's . Since March of 2000, over 60 people have died in events associated with fraternities, alcohol and/or hazing (Marklein p. A3). Greek life and all its implications should be examined more closely before anyone commits to join such an organization.
Thousands of college students across the country participate in the Greek System at their university. People generally become members of Greek organizations to aid in meeting new people and to participate in a social and community service organization. At many schools, the Greeks have their own headquarters or houses where the members meet, live, eat, and host social functions. The University of Alabama's website claims, "Greek life is a jointure - a time when friendships are cemented and close ties are woven between members through living, studying, working, and competing together. These relationships go beyond ordinary friendship and become like those of family - often lasting a lifetime" (Greek Life). These "friendships" are sometimes established after pledges endure humiliating and dangerous hazing leading up to initiation.
Often overlooked, excessive drinking plagues students on college campuses nationwide, but the drinking practices of sororities and fraternities have spiraled out of control. A national survey of college students by Harvard...
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