I would like to respond to the hideously uncouth (and largely misinformed) online comments following April Windham’s story “Residence hall to house Greek members.” As a Greek woman and former employee of the Department of Housing and Residence Life, I feel particularly bound to respond to this online Greek-bashing.
Several commenters spoke out, saying Greek housing is unfair to non-Greeks. What these individuals seem to be ignoring, though, is the fact that Hathorn Hall will only be a primarily Greek residence hall. According to Heidie Lindsey, Associate Director of the Colvard Student Union, Hathorn will also house PGM majors and ROTC members.
Also, did you know that every student organization on campus is given this opportunity? According to Lindsey, every student organization receives a letter from the Department of Housing and Residence Life every year offering them the opportunity to have block housing in an on-campus residence hall.
So is it really showing favoritism when Greeks are just one of the only groups taking advantage of this opportunity? No, it’s not.
Isn’t this the same concept as living-learning communities? There are specific requirements for being a part of these groups, yet no one speaks out against them.
What about honors housing? To live in Griffis Hall, you have to be a member of the Shackouls Honors College. To quote one online comment, “What sort of message is this university trying to send to its students?”
Let me be clear. I support honors housing and living-learning communities, and I don’t think there is any room to complain about Hathorn Hall becoming a primarily Greek residence hall.
It seems to me that the students speaking out aren’t worried about this opportunity because it’s unfair to non-Greek students (which, since every student organization has this opportunity, it’s not); they are just speaking out because they have, in my opinion, an unfounded bias against the Greek system.
I’m confused as to why these students are speaking out so vehemently when MSU has had similar systems in place in the past. Greek floors on residence halls were in place as recently as the 2006-2007 school year.
The practice of housing sophomore Greek women in campus residence halls is common in many universities that also have sorority houses. For instance, 8 out of 9 sororities at Ole Miss require that their sophomores live in an on-campus residence hall, Crosby Hall. The University of Alabama has a similar system.
In response to the numerous comments that this will add to the housing problem on campus, yes, there is currently an issue with space in on-campus housing, but you have all ignored some pretty important facts.
One, there is a new south zone residence hall (South Hall) opening next fall, so the housing situation is already vastly improving.
Two, Ann Bailey has been the director of housing and residence life for a long time. She would not agree to a primarily Greek residence hall unless she was sure that there was ample room for, as one outspoken commenter put it, “the common student.”
Lastly, I would like to address the outrageous use of stereotypes in many of the comments. To those of you who classified the Greek community as STD-ridden “trouble makers” who sleep around for fun, are you kidding me?
Sure, this stereotype applies to a miniscule percentage of Greeks, but the same can be said for non-Greeks. I find your use of these stereotypes especially ironic since you are participating in the same ignorance you seem to be accusing Greeks of.
Another stereotype that I was particularly appalled to read one comment that “a learning community is an academic venture, a concept you may be unfamiliar with as a member of a Greek organization.”
Actually, Greeks at MSU have a higher GPA than non-Greeks, with the Greek GPA usually falling around 3.05, while the non-Greek GPA is usually 2.8. Evidently, we Greeks do care about academics after all.
In conclusion, I would like to formally express my support for the primarily Greek residence hall and encourage all of you to check your facts before you speak out, and, for goodness’ sake, be intelligent enough not to participate in degrading stereotyping.
Jennifer Puhr is a senior majoring in communication. She can be contacted at [email protected].
Editor’s Note: Due to a high volume of comments which violate The Reflector’s terms of use, commenting on this article has been disabled. (March 10, 2010, 9 p.m.)