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The country and people of Greece have a rich history dating back to at least 2800 BC. Unfortunately, Greek contributions to civilization seem to both begin and end in classical times. When the Ottoman Empire took over Greece in the 15th century AD, a majority of the Greeks responsible for intelligent thought migrated to Western Europe. Since then, the remaining people in the Hellenic Republic have arguably done little more than ride on the accomplishments of their ancestors.
The modern country known as Greece began fighting against Ottoman rule in 1821 and established itself as an independent state less than a decade later. Although this could be seen as an accomplishment, the idea of a war for independence was far from innovative and the Ottoman Empire was in decline already. As if this lack of original thought is not enough to cause irritation, the flames of anti-Greek sentiment are constantly being fanned by the fact that Greek names are so damn difficult to pronounce and spell, making them difficult to complain about.
Further perpetuating the hatred of all things Greek is the presence of "Greek" organizations on college campuses across the United States. Here at the University of Michigan, Greek organizations are responsible for making thousands of students look like sluts and douche bags every year.
These organizations provide an alternative path through the college years. By committing their living space, money and time solely to their "brothers" or "sisters," members of Michigan's Greek community can sail through college without worrying about making friends or finding unique interests to pursue independently.
I won't deny that Greeks here have a right to brag about their average GPAs that are higher than non-Greek students. Be that as it may, I feel this is about as impressive as their claim to a higher number of sexual partners and levels of alcohol in their bloodstream than the average student. This may be unfair stereotyping, but a visit to nearly any campus frat house on a weekend around 2am and this stereotype will be confirmed.
Lifelong friendships and the philanthropic accomplishments are valid benefits to becoming a member of the Greek community. However, it is not necessary to join a fraternity or sorority to gain these things from your time here at the University. Chances are you will walk away with a more diverse group of friends, perspectives and experiences if you stay outside of the Greek system.
By only associating with the people who you bought freshman year and claimed you during your pledge time, there's a good chance you'll miss out on a lot of great friendships with people outside of the Greek system. Life inside the Greek community may not be as shady, exclusive and terrible as it seems from the outside, but you will be labeled by your affiliation and it will force people to make judgments about you before they even get to know you. This seems like a good enough reason to hold off pledging until you really can't find any other friends on campus.
On a side note, the negative attitude towards the country of Greece and its people was only taken in opposition to the "Greek" system at our university that has little Greek heritage and tends to give Greece a bad reputation. Greece's vast contributions to the world including democracy, the Olympics, gyros, spanakopita and the hatred of Turkey seem to be enough for society and the international community to give them a get out of invasion free card for the past 200 years. And that's good enough for me.
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