The Greek system needs to be drastically changed and improved upon if it wants to contribute to the world of higher education. Fraternities and sororities do little more than recall the drama of high school, degrading college to an immature level.

In high school, life was all about your image, oftentimes a projection of someone you were not. High school was more about what you had instead of who you were, which demoralized students seeking to find their true identities. The right car, cool clothes, new cell phone and whom you were dating were all part of the fake image, and let’s not forget the cliques that ruled high school society.

When we graduated, a lot of things changed as we made the transition to college and entered a mature reality — or so we thought. College helped us realize that in the real world, your character defines your life, not what you have or who likes you. But unfortunately, those disgusting carryovers from high school that many people spend years trying to forget, found a way into mainstream college life via the Greek system.

In principle, fraternities and sororities sound like amazing groups that will build up college students, helping them to achieve higher goals along with other similarly minded college students. Brotherhood and sisterhood are admirable concepts, promoting a sense of unity, acceptance and cooperation. These types of organizations would bring tremendous gain to colleges and help to electrify solid social interactions on campus for students.

But let’s be realistic: Fraternities and sororities have not been able to deliver this environment as promised to students for years. Greek life has created more problems than benefits on college campuses across the nation. Sudden emergence of giant cliques on campus has placed emphasis on beauty rather than content, creating an illusion that people involved in Greek life are better than the rest.

This focus on the importance of image has lead to a new era of fakeness, continuing the saga from high school. Greek life has dictated what men and women should look like if they want to be popular and accepted, outcasting anyone who does not fit this plastic rubric.

The image for men involves becoming a beer guzzling, unfocused, party animal who disparages women and could care less about anything other than himself. The image for women involves becoming a skimpy skirt wearing bimbo who gossips about all her friends and uses her body to get what she wants.

Sitting in class, you can easily see these people talking about how drunk they got last night, who was wearing a hideous outfit, who’s cheating on whom and the like. The professor tries to control the class, but the girls keep on gossiping and the guys zone out in the back row and make crude comments about the professor under their breath.

Laura Massman, a freshman nursing student, is like many students who are skeptical of the positive sides that Greek life offers. She believes that they are decent social organizations, but would never join a sorority herself.

“Sororities and fraternities may be a good way for the college student to get away from the stress and pressures of school,” Massman said. “But the demands of each may put off students from their education.”

Despite this short list of negative social achievements of Greek life, there are also negative academic results of membership in fraternities and sororities, which Massman alludes to. Gary Pike, director of institutional research at Mississippi State University, conducted a study in 2003 that examined the impact of Greek life on the academic life at colleges. He found that students in fraternities and sororities were “associated with lower levels of student learning and intellectual development” in comparison to non-Greek students.

However, there is a silver lining since Greek organizations often do an amazing job at public service, coordinating large groups of people to accomplish goals that help the community. These elaborate public relations wonders help to paint a pretty picture of Greek life that almost makes you forget about all the negative effects it has on college life.

There is no easy fix to this dilemma, but something needs to be done to turn students in Greek organizations into mature adults who are less like superficial drama queens. Maybe Greek organizations should turn to their bylaws and realize that they are supposed to be a fellowship of students who accept and help one another to achieve goals in life.

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Andrew Stewart can be reached at [email protected]