Well i'm just gonna jump right into it. I think the biggest problem is the stigma of "animal house" that has branded fraternities. I was a victim of it. My parents were victims of it. While both their's and mind has been changed that is only because I was lucky enough to find FIJI. If i had not been a part of this fraternity then I think I would still have the same attitude towards fraternities that I had growing up. I think the biggest challenge we face is how to we make that mentality disappear?
I remember when we talked about this in class and some interesting thoughts came up. More often than not "News" that gets around to schools and campuses and into people's homes is of the negative sort. Look at today's media. Very little is talked about unless it's in a "tragic" tone of voice. I think that is one of the problems Greek Life faces. Everyone knows about the bad things that happens but very little is done to promote the good that Greek life does
Another area is particularly troublesome in my mind. We have a saying that it only takes one person to screw things up for the rest of us. Well that goes for all of the Greek communtiy as well. It only takes one fraternity to make a ghastly decision whose consequences will screw us all over. Does anyone else feel like we're fighting an uphill battle? I do. I know how this fraternity has changed my life and my parents do as well. But how do we get others to know that. Especially one's who are not directly affected by Greek life.
I know this doesn't exactly answer the dilemma but i'm not sure I have one at the moment. It's a problem that is not gonna change unless a long term (many years) plan has been developed.
The media does really only focus on the negative. That is why we, as a Fraternity who is doing the right things, needs to continue to get our name out there. By recruiting as well as by advertising things we do (RR, Chariot, Greek Week, Involvement, grades, etc etc) then we can start making that dent. When we get multiple chapters doing that then we are on the right track.
ReplyDeleteAs for the one person screwing things up. I touched on that in my blog. It makes me happy and confident that IFC and OSU are starting to get it as well as the other chapters here. I think it is a uphill battle for sure, but we are heading in the right direction.
I agree that the media can be full of negative stories and it can sometimes be a burden to even convince them of telling a story that sheds a positive light on anything. People are mostly interested in hearing stories about crime and pain and people doing stupid or mean things. Greek Life will continue to be a target for bad stories but as Niko said, it is an uphill battle but OSU is changing that and we are heading in the right direction.
ReplyDeleteI think Alex hit the nail on the head: the media functions to report scandalous stories. They want to entertain people, cause controversy, and make people feel better about their lives by putting others down. I think the media could be effective if it reported more enlightening stories which could inspire people to go out and do good for their community, as opposed to bad controversial ones that put people down.
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