The U has 28,211 students, 21,000 of whom are undergraduates. Of this sea of humanity, a mere 700 students participate in the greek system, yet the university has seen it necessary to hire an administrator whose primary function is to babysit Greek Row.
Jay Wilgus’ job is to reinvigorate the tradition of greek membership, a tradition that, at its high point, was integral to the lives of, wait, almost 1,400 students. This was back in the 1980s. The problem with this is the greek system, unlike the banking system, is not too big to let fail.
I’ve written a few columns about waste and misallocation of resources before, so add this to the pile (or pyre). Greek life has been immortalized by classic films such as “Animal House,” and who isn’t up for a toga party now and then? But what do fraternity and sorority members contribute to campus and the surrounding community other than public nuisance and obnoxious self-importance?
A student once argued (rather ineffectively, it turns out) that the greek system recruits only the best and brightest of students, though in this case it appears that mistakes were made during the selection process. If this student represents the ideals of greek life, then there is cause for worry.
The main raison d’être of any selective organization is exclusion, and the greek system is no different. To be greek is to mainly become part of a social circle whose criteria for acceptance is the ability to be perceived as cool (not to mention the ability to pay the membership fees). Subtle hierarchies exist even within the greek system and everyone knows which chapters have cache and which are passé. How this contributes to the growth and development of “tomorrow’s leaders from today’s undergraduates” is beyond me.
The public perception of greek life is undoubtedly colored by recent events, such as the death of a Utah State University student in an alcohol-soaked hazing activity last year, but the greeks have been, in fits and starts, trying to patch up relationships with the residents of the surrounding neighborhood, though I’m reminded of something Bill Clinton said about the Palestinians: They never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.
The Salt Lake Tribune ran an article this week in which neighbors complained of nude young men running around the neighborhood serenading an (un)fortunate female member of a nearby sorority, and another told of seeing a young man covered in vomit being helped down a flight of stairs behind a fraternity house. Lovely.
Part of this is just what growing up is all about, and puking all over yourself is not a moral or legal failing as much as it is a social one. But why on earth is the U taking an active role in fostering greek growth in a time when departments on campus whose faculty and students are working in earnest to contribute to the knowledge base of humankind are faced with strangling budget cuts and painful decisions?
The U is and likely will always be a commuter campus, and expenditures designed to increase campus participation seem misguided. If the greek system is about to fail, let it. If the chapters are interested in increasing their presence on campus and recruiting more students, then the national organizations which govern them are welcome to empty their coffers into the effort. But the U shouldn’t spend one red cent supporting a system of social networking of dubious benefit to the wider community.
James Sewell