I'm so pissed!!!

[bolingbaker]

With respect, I think sometimes the greek life people can suggest to young fraternity men that they vote a certain way 'or else'. Yes, we are getting some bad publicity. Some of that is deserved. Some is because the people who make decisions about what to publish dislike us and what we represent. Some of our problem is that we do a poor job of aggressively telling our story. Yes, there are some chapters that wish to do nothing. However they do have the right to be lazy, if you will. Perhaps they SHOULD drop out of IFC. The university is required to recognize them (under law) whether they are an IFC member or not. IFC and the rest of the chapters might be better of without them. Let them go. I'm with you 100% on the desire to do well, to achieve great things and to encourage a great fraternity experience. But it's wrong to tell individual fraternities that they have to be philanthropic or academic or anything else. National, secret social fraternities were not founded to be charitable organizations. They were founded on the principles of friendship and the mutual advantages inherent in those friendships. I happen to believe that we are each enobled through unselfish service to others. But when it is required by bureaucracy, when it no longer voluntary, it loses moral value. The truth is that we offer a fantastic product that young men want. Don't believe the propaganda about declining numbers. Fraternities that offer an attrative product are strong and flourishing. Truth is that the people who dislike us for political reasons, for who we are, attack us on any pretext. No amount of 'community service' will lessen their attacks because they dislike the very fundamental fabric of our fraternity culture. Where greeks and their alumni stand and insist on being treated fairly, they win. Where they turn their bellies to their attackers in a gesture of submission, they are torn to pieces.

[thetakates]

I always thought that the main point of Greek life is a Philanthrophy. And why dont you pair with a sorority if they "stole" your usual? The main reason I decided to go Greek was becaue I like to do community service. I considered just joining the standard "Service Organization" but also wanted to social aspect that I felt Greek life would provide. I just have a problem with someone saying that they were mandatory for them to do one. It is a privledge to me that I get to be involded in such important events. But that is just my take. Do your schools pair? Or is it just my school that does for philanthropy?

[AZDZetaSigma03]

That's like a situation that occured at my school last year. The brother of a girl who is a member of Pi Beta Phi on my campus died a few years ago, so every year she has a basketball tournament to raise money for a foundation set up in his name. when she got going on it this last time, she was going to have Clarence Black, an alum of my college and a Survivor contestent, come to the tournament along with the other Survivor contestents. Note--this would have been great publicity for her cause as well as for the school. However, the president of our school forbade this happening because the money did not go directly to the school--it went to cancer research instead. Everyone was livid.