During the first couple of weeks here at Rensselaer as a freshman, I knew I was dead set on transferring to another school. I wasn’t impressed with the Navigating Rensselaer and Beyond events that the Office of the First-Year Experience put on when I first arrived and I also didn’t care for the “more to do on campus” activities. However, I was very (and I mean very) fortunate to have been introduced to greek life here at Rensselaer.
Participating in fall rush and getting to know people who actually left their dorm rooms and didn’t sit at their desks all day—which seems to be a trend for incoming students—helped put me at ease. And when I finally met students whom I would soon call “brothers,” I knew I wasn’t going to transfer anymore. I knew that this brotherhood and the values that they upheld were what I wanted to be a part of for the rest of my life. And I’m sure that many others on this campus went through those same problems and found that same solution.
Now, I’m wondering whether or not it was a good idea to stay at Rensselaer. I may or may not be able to come back as a grad and socialize responsibly. I may or may not be introduced to an individual who is living in my former fraternity house and who doesn’t know anything about my fraternity. I may or may not see my fraternity house with letters over the front porch. I may or may not see any fraternity or sorority houses at all at Rensselaer. For some reason, I have a feeling that the last statement is exactly what will happen, should these new “initiatives” occur. I guess everything that my fraternity taught me is worthless. The leadership, principles, networking, and communication skills don’t fit exactly what Rensselaer wants for us. I suppose students that they want to attract will somehow magically learn all of that in a classroom, or better yet, in their dorm rooms. I hope they have enough funding for those programs, or maybe just raise tuition. Since they violated the relationship statement, which was initiated by Rensselaer, and not greeks, and kept every greek and non-greek in the dark, I guess they have the power to do anything. If that’s the case, maybe Rensselaer’s new slogan should be, “Why not change the world … for the worse.” I hope that in the future, should Rensselaer wish to propose anything new, they use proper protocol and go about it in the correct manner.
