Preppy College Greek Columnists Lash Back

'Frat Boy' Speaks Out About Misconceptions
Cornell Unzipped

Two college newspaper writers lashed back against Greek stereotypes in recent columns.

Nikki Nusbaum, a writer for Cornell University's Daily Sun, and Chris Compton, who writes for the Phoenix at Swarthmore College gave students their opinions on why some peoples interpretations of Greeks is wrong.

"There’s something incongruous about a Frat Boy appearing in a play, not making incessant fart jokes, or looking a girl in the eye rather than at her chest," writes Compton, a brother of Delta Upsulon at Swarthmore.

"I am not some token member, nor am I a mascot or a figurehead," writes Compton.

"For many Swarthmore students, fraternities are emblematic of the sort of white male conservatism that lies at the root of the world’s problems, " Compton continued, "for many Swatties that’s all we are,"

The choice of joining a fraternity or sorority is the freedom of the individual who choses to do so. It is important for students making this decision know how it can change their lives. In some cases, fraternities or sororities are what they are usually stereotyped as, but in the majority they aren't.

"Despite the variety of personalities within each house, stereotypes still influence us at Cornell," writes Nusbaum. "While some fraternities’ brothers have acquired reputations for smooth talking and fast walking, others have become known for having glasses and wearing white socks with black shoes," she continued. "Similarly, some sororities are thought to mandate popped collars and pearl necklaces while others are rumored to … um … not require clothing at all," she wrote.

Nusbaum, a sister of Cornell's Sigma Epsilon Xi, was interested in how fraternities and sororities change students Cornell after they join. "So," she write, "who do we blame for the morphing personalities of our sweet, Playstation-3-playing freshman boys into beer-guzzling, girl-chasing jerks? And who do we blame for the shifting ways of our shy, self-conscious freshman girls into miniskirt-wearing, frat-guy-swooning sorostitutes?"

Pointed fingers aside, we must realize that if we wish to maintain the relationships we have with even the geeky pre-frat boys and the innocent pre-sorority girls, we must not determine their romantic value based on their belonging (or not belonging) to a fraternity.

Compton, informing readers about false stereotypes at Swarthmore, wrote:

"The brothers of Delta Upsilon are not rapists, misogynists or elitists. The brothers of Delta Upsilon are not potheads, alcoholics, lost causes or coasters. The brothers of Delta Upsilon are not assholes, racists, homophobes, thugs, hooligans, fools or rebels."

"We’re friends. We have our fun, we have our flaws, and we make our mistakes like everyone else. We are not filled with spite or lethargy or uncontrollable lust — at least, no more than the average human being."