Two weeks ago, new members of Syracuse University fraternities got bids to their new houses — many of these new members were freshman or first-year students.

The ability to go through recruitment freshman year prevents the process of independent self-discovery. Because houses look for very specific types of people, members of Greek life go through self-discovery while being a part of a homogenizing organization.

Currently, there’s a 12 credit minimum requirement in order to be eligible to participate in recruitment.

“I think that Syracuse’s way of making recruitment happen in the spring is a great idea. It gives you time to adjust to being at school and see what your life is like without Greek life,  if you really need it. I think one semester was enough time for me, but I totally understand the appeal of waiting a little bit longer,” Bobbi Whitney, a sophomore in the School of Information Studies said in an email.

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With more than 30 percent of SU students in a fraternity or a sorority, the SU campus would be a better and more diverse place if students waited for their sophomore year to join Greek life.

Joining Greek life is a huge time commitment, this makes it difficult to not be completely dedicated to the process. I think the expectations for students are too much for students who are just learning how to balance their academic and social lives.

“During our new member process, I learned a lot about time management, which is obviously a very important skill,” Whitney said.

For first-year students, it’s important for students to focus on extracurriculars that appeal to their individual interests. But, people have reasons why joining spring of freshman year was the right decision for them, and they are valid.

Going through recruitment freshman year means that students would have more time with their new sisters or brothers.

While Greek life does help to connect students with a social life and academic support, too many freshmen feel pressured into joining for the wrong reasons. This can lead freshmen, a particularly vulnerable population, from being more likely to end up in situations involving hazing, alcohol and drug abuse.

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With many of their friends going through recruitment, students can feel like they have to participate despite not being completely set on joining Greek life yet. In the first year of college most students are struggling to figure out who they are and what they want out of their college experience. Many students join Greek life just to get involved in the party scene on campus.

“I would be false to say that all Greek letter organizations are uniformly good in terms of students, in terms of their learning and development. On the other hand, they’re not all uniformly bad either,” Gary Pike, professor and researcher of higher education at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis said.

When students struggle to find their place on campus, Greek life can connect students with opportunities and friendship. But, first year students should look to other opportunities on campus to connect to people before joining Greek life.

Bethanie Viele is a junior biology with a focus on environmental sciences major and religion minor. Her column appears biweekly. She can be reached at bmviele@syr.edu

Published on March 4, 2019 at 7:47 pm