When I first heard of the greek initiatives, I started to think about things and realized how much greeks participate in activities, bring school spirit, and improve RPI overall.
First, there’s move-in day. I remember being an excited, silly freshman who had two greek brothers help me carry all my belongings to my room. More so, I recall my mom’s face of relief. It reassured me that there are people on campus to help, if needed.
Next, I thought about the rush events that I was invited to by all the sororities. It was amazing to see the amount of support that each sorority provided. While it was not a significant interest for me, I appreciated the idea that this opportunity existed.
As all of this was going through my head, I also remembered the amount of philanthropy that each greek organization provides to the campus, community, region, and nation. Whenever volunteers are needed, greek organizations generally have endless resources that they are willing to send to any event.
I also appreciate the chivalry that has been brought forward by many fraternities. The most recent example that I can make note of was when several Tau Epsilon Phi brothers helped place signs and carry the larger items for the Women’s Mentor Program’s event, Design Your Future Day. It was nice of them to volunteer so early in the morning, and then come back later in the afternoon to help us again. I also started to think of attendance at events. Hockey games would have even lower attendance than they already do if it weren’t for the greeks. They bring the true spirit to RPI.
This doesn’t mean that independents do not do all of this as well. I am an avid supporter of many campus initiatives, but the greeks definitely have a presence on this campus, and sometimes it’s not appreciated.
I fail to understand how the administration can overlook all their efforts, and just put forth new initiatives without discussion. As they have demonstrated, the administration fails to be concerned with the fact that since many students oppose the initiatives set forth, the student body has little reason to work to improve Rensselaer. Instead of building a better community for everyone, they could just sit back, drink Pepsi, and maybe even sleep. Why should they be involved with all the student-led initiatives that have brought about campus improvement? If student morale lowers, people will stop putting up the rosy picture that captures prospective students.
