Another year of fraternity rush has come and gone. Rush is the most pivotal event for any fraternity at UF. It is a modern example of survival of the fittest. Fraternities need a steady member count to persist or they could die out. Rush is intended to be a way for fraternities to get together and celebrate Greek unity, but it has drastically failed to accomplish such.
Stereotyping amongst fraternities has been worse than ever. I am a second year Greek. When I rushed my fraternity last year, I was out of the loop. I didn't know how to distinguish one fraternity from the other. I didn't know which fraternities were considered the "right ones to join. " And more importantly, I didn't know which fraternities were considered "top" and "bottom" tiers. To be honest, what I didn't know was unimportant to me. I wanted to join a brotherhood where I could make friends for life and form close bonds. I wanted to make the type of friends that would invite me to their weddings in 5-10 years.
Now that I am on the other side of the fence-an initiated fraternity brother-I see things a lot differently. The fraternity scene at UF is dominated by much ignorance. Members are immediately judged by their Greek letters. Elitism has reached an all-time high at UF. I thought the days of high school were behind me, but apparently not-the Greek scene is a popularity contest. Once a student joins a fraternity, they have lost their individuality. They are now a member of that fraternity, and will only be judged by the stereotypes of that fraternity.
For instance, I may see a student with a fraternity jersey walking around campus. I don't know his name. I don't know where he's from. I don't know anything about him. But I do know which fraternity he is in. Suddenly, I become a victim of my own philosophy. I start to stereotype.
It has come to my attention that rush this year has changed more than ever. Some students are using sites such as Get It Greek and Juicy Campus to feed into this vicious cycle. These sites libel fraternities by posting slander and obscenities. Such stereotyping ruins the beauty of rush week. My advice to you: rush every fraternity, and see if the stereotypes are true. You will be surprised what you find out.
