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I was walking home alone from Maloney's Friday night. It was 11:30 p.m., and my steps were quick. I'm not a troublemaker, and I didn't want any trouble. I was minding my own business.
I looked ahead and noticed that about 10 people were standing on the balcony of Alpha Gamma Rho, a fraternity house on University Avenue.
My instincts told me that this was not a good situation. I had no weapons and was walking toward a balcony filled with people armed with bottles.
I asked myself a few quick questions: Should I cross the street to avoid the inevitable confrontation; or should I keep walking, hold my ground, and proceed?
I am an enduring optimist, and my illusory faith in people's innate goodness kept me walking.
As I approached, I heard bottles clanging and muffled conversations. I held my ground and looked up again to see how many people I was up against.
I was directly underneath the balcony when I heard the words "hit him." One bottle landed six feet away.
Knowing my angry words wouldn't do anything, I didn't speak. Instead I kept walking, disgusted at the display.
It didn't do much for my image of the Greek system. Sadly, the incident only added to the Greek's negative stereotypical image, the one they are so desperately trying to get rid of.
With sorority rush over and fraternity rush beginning last night, hundreds of new pledges are starting their journey toward brotherhood and sisterhood. Some seemingly rush because they need a place to belong, some for the party scene, and some because the ir parents did it. Everyone's reasons are different.
I rushed Beta Theta Pi at the University of Michigan two years ago because I needed a place to fit in. I tried my damnedest to get to know everyone at the rush parties. I wore my best clothes and did my hair just right.
I was exhilarated when I got the call to come back the last night. I went back and worked just as hard to impress my future "friends." When I got home, I just knew that I got in.
But I waited and waited for the call that never came. The Betas didn't want me. Nope, guys that I had gotten to know for a couple hours rejected me.
It's sad, but I bought into the doctrine that fraternities and sororities represented the crÉme de la crÉme, the social gods and goddesses of campus. When I didn't make it in, I let my self-esteem be destroyed by a bunch of guys I didn't even know. If I h ad been accepted as a pledge, though, I would have been calling those guys my brothers.
It's ironic. When women get into a house, they cry tears of happiness, tears representing their need to belong. When they don't get in, they cry tears of despair, tears representing their need to belong.
Question why you're joining the Greek system, and take a hard look at what the system represents. By no means am I saying that all members of the Greek system perpetuate negative stereotypes, and I realize that there are non-Greeks who do that job just fi ne. What I am saying is that stereotypes do not become stereotypes without first being based upon some sort of foundation.
Fraternity parties that rage out of control add bricks to this foundation. People at fraternity parties who throw bottles off balconies add bricks to this foundation.
Are you willing to let your membership in the system be represented by those who unfortunately mar the positive image that other members try to build?
How will you help rid the Greek system of negative stereotypes, or will you even try by setting a positive example?
Do you want your name to be synonymous with that of your house's? Are you willing to give up your individuality for your house's collective identity? When a member of Kappa Sigma was accused of using a racial slur against a minority student, the fraternit y's name was tarnished because of the actions of one member.
Finally, are you prepared to stand by those brothers and sisters you don't like just because a Greek name binds you?
These questions are meant to provoke thought, and if I've put you on the defensive by what I've written, then I ask, is what I've said true?
Adam Djurdjulov is a journalism senior and Wildcat opinions editor.
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