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English Essay
Thomas Korte

3/15/2013
English 102
Greek Benefits Greek life is a very big part of many colleges. Whether it’s a small community college or a big Division 1 school, fraternities and sororities can usually be found on the campus. But with Greek life also comes the negative stereotypes about it. People think Greek life is all about binge drinking and having sex with random people. They never truly get to know and experience the real side of the Greek community. They don’t know that Greek communities benefit the campus and town in a very positive way and are majority of the time more helpful than harmful. Greek fraternities and sororities are very beneficial to the campus and city that they inhabit. Greek life has always gotten a bad rep in the eyes of people. This could very well be due to the partying attitude that is portrayed in movies and TV. They portray fraternities and sororities and nothing but party going college kids who are inebriated all the time and do nothing but party, drink, and have sex. With movies like Animal House, American Pie Beta House, and The House Bunny people see Greek life doing nothing but partying. But what those movies don’t show is the hard work and dedication that is put into the fundraisers and philanthropies of those Greek families. Each year Greek fraternities and sororities put in countless hours into volunteering around their communities. My fraternity, Sigma Pi, is required to put in at least ten hours of community service each semester. And with thirty-four members in our fraternity, that’s over three hundred hours of community service hours each semester. Now does that sound like the extreme party life that is portrayed in the movies? Fraternities put a lot more work into giving back into the community than most people realize. One thing that Greek life does very well is they put a very large amount of work into their fundraisers. Greek life sadly isn’t funded by the school. Or any outside sources for that



Cited: 1. " DPhiE - 2012 Scholarship Recipients." DPhiE - Delta Phi Epsilon. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2013. <http://www.dphie.org/philanthropy/deltaphiepsilonseducationalfoundation/2012scholarshiprecipients>. 2. " Fraternity And Sorority Life GPA vs. Non-Affiliated Student GPA - College Confidential." College Confidential. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2013. <http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-life/868327-fraternity-sorority-life-gpa-vs-non-affiliated-student-gpa.html>. 3. "ACE Project." Sigma Pi Fraternity International. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2013. <sigmapi.org/index.php/our-fraternity/our-philanthropy/ace-project>. 4. "Alcohol ‘enema’ sends student to ER; fraternity chapter suspended." knoxnews.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2013. <www.knoxnews.com/news/2012/sep/24/ut-fraternity-suspended-over-graphic-alcohol/>. 5. "Amazing Day Foundation." Amazing Day Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2013. <amazingdayfoundation.org/>. 6. "Fraternity and Sorority Life - Division of Student Affairs - University of Connecticut." Fraternity and Sorority Life - Division of Student Affairs - University of Connecticut. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2013. <http://www.greeklife.uconn.edu/hazing_stats.html>. 7. "Philanthropy - Alpha Phi Epsilon Xi Chapter." Alpha Phi Epsilon Xi Chapter - Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2013. <http://alphaphisiue.weebly.com/philanthropy.html>. 8. "SIUE fraternity wins national awards : Sj." St. Louis Sports, News, Jobs, Classifieds, Entertainment & Weather. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2013. <http://www.stltoday.com/suburban-journals/illinois/education/siue-fraternity-wins-national-awards/article_6b369176-f055-11e1-8d0d-001a4bcf6878.html>. 9. "The Sigma Pi Educational Foundation Website." The Sigma Pi Educational Foundation Website. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2013. <http://www.sigmapiedfund.org/scholarships.php>.

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