Umich Greek Life

snorky
Mon, 25 Apr 2005 01:13:47 +0000

It isn’t exactly true that the administration doesn’t like the greek system - it’s just that many of the worst drinking incidents and hazing incidents have been associated with fraternities. In fact, the University’s approach to the greeks is pretty hands off - they try to encourage them to behave appropriately, but they don’t get terribly involved. This is partly for legal reasons - they don’t want the liability. It’s also not the case that a lot of fraternities have been kicked off campus. There is one sorority where the national organization revoked the chapter - this is the first time a sorority has closed for other than low enrollment. There were a couple fraternities that got kicked off this year - but at least one of those was again the national organization pulling the local chapter. I have never heard that if you want to go to a frat party you have to be in a frat.
There are all kinds of frats. Really good ones that generally behave themselves and do a lot of community service. And really bad ones that don’t. It’s my impression that living in a frat house - which is primarily a sophomore thing - isn’t necessarily a fun experience. The older members tend to live in apts, and use the frat house for parties - so it’s not exactly conducive to studying. That doesn’t seem to stop people from joining frats. There’s a big greek scene, but it doesn’t dominate campus life by any means. Sororities are a lot tamer - generally.