Elon a place to party?

3boymom
Tue, 16 Feb 2010 22:52:26 +0000

Off to college and looking for people to share something in common with… been there, as I assume many CC parents have also. I was not a recruited athlete or a musical theater major or a sociopolitical activist, etc. with a full schedule dictated by my passions. I went Greek, and for me it was a way to cope with the scariness of being one step closer to being on my own. I partied some, but it wasn’t what attracted me to going Greek. I was for sure quite sentimental about the whole college experience thing. I don’t think kids today are all that different. They are simply young people looking for group affiliations, Greek Life or otherwise, that will make them feel like they belong and perhaps help them grow into becoming more than they alone could dream for themselves. So I look at Greek Life from the perspective of having been there, seen the good and the bad, as well as from the vantage point of being an Elon parent whose lot is deciding to go Greek, too.

There’s a national trend that Elon University administrators seem to be following over the past several years and they appear to be making steady progress toward exerting influence on sorority and fraternity activities. It’s a pretty well known fact among Elon’s Greeks that the Greek Life director who came on board about a year ago arrived with a risk-management housekeeping agenda on her mind. Consider this… many Greek chapters on campus are now privately as well as publically setting a tone of taking responsibility for their actions and also showing signs of self-enforcing standards; those that are not are being put on notice. What’s at stake is possible loss of university sponsored chapter housing, recruiting privileges and ability to function as an organization. Belonging is a vibrant theme on campus, and as it’s turning out, also an excellent motivator. On the horizon, look for an expansion of Greek organizations to be installed over the few next years to fill anticipated voids and to meet increasing levels of interest in social, service and possibly multi-culturally oriented Greek Life. Elon is so much more than just parties.