Greek life thrives despite its low profile

Greeks (fraternities and sororities), their wooden Greek letters, party flyers, and sweatshirts dominate countless campuses around the nation. “Greek” is not a club. It’s not just a group. It’s a way of life.It’s competitive. It’s selective. It’s based on the foundations that through a united front, a group of people can better themselves and their community.Over the years, the party scene has overshadowed the good that Greeks do, such as community service and charity work. Despite being considered a haven for wild parties and debauchery, Greek life is something to a part of. But on our own campus, Greek life seems nonexistent.”I didn’t even know we had Greeks on campus” said Ana Gaytan, a senior early childhood education major. “The only reason I knew was because I was told. Also, there was this event where they (Greek organizations) were all outside with their letters; that helped.” (Gaytan refers to the organizational fair earlier this semester).Organization numbers show the struggle on campus. One sorority kept a roster of fewer than ten, below TAMIU’s student organization standards, for several semesters. Now, in recent years, the number of Greek organizations has increased. Sigma Nu Delta, Sigma Lambda Gamma, Omega Delta Phi, and others have joined the ranks of the TAMIU Greeks, all having been here less than three years. However, during this period also saw the disappearance of TAMIU’s first all-male fraternity, Lambda Chi Alpha. Despite the overall increase in organizations, public activity and social events seem to be on the decline. Gaytan herself said she hadn’t seen Greeks until this spring. Gaytan is a senior. It isn’t all doom and gloom. Sigma Nu’s numbers are thriving, and their participation in intramurals makes them the lone highlight on this campus. However, publicized socials, mixers, or other events seem to be kept on an internal basis. Greeks should be spearheading student life and improving overall TAMIU morale-something needed at this university-not secluding themselves from it. It seems these organizations are more concerned with their appearances than offering social experience for those outside their ranks.Daniel Brown, a senior marketing major, shared his thoughts on Greek life.”Greek life as it exists at other campuses requires a demographic that doesn’t exist at this campus right now. Many campuses have a high influx of people from other places that have large amounts of disposable income and are looking for something to fill the hole created from being away from family and friends left at home,” Brown said. “At TAMIU, many of our students know each other from high school or are from the same areas.”Maybe, there isn’t a market for Greek life in Laredo. Maybe, the fact that we are, indeed, a commuter school cripples an explosion of Greek life. Maybe, Greeks should take the challenge of a commuter school and turn it around. Or maybe, Greeks just need to wake up.