2008 Woodie Awards
Defying the Stereotype
Marissa Kiple
Issue date: 9/20/06 Section: Greek Corner
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I woke up Thursday to a very loud knock at my front door. Still wearing my pajama pants and a set of letters I opened the door to find…a Frostburg Police officer. One of my sisters had parked illegally on the other side of my driveway and was blocking the entrance to a business garage. She'd been ticketed, but the officer noticed an Alpha Sigma Tau bumper sticker on her car, as well as on the cars in my driveway. The reason he had knocked: He'd seen our sisters the night before at the Candlelight Walk for Civility, and wanted to give my sister the chance to move her car before the company had it towed.
We'd defied a stereotype about Greeks by showing up to something that supported the campus' surrounding community. It wasn't just Alpha Sigma Tau in attendance at the Walk for Civility. The majority of Frostburg State University's Greek Life was there much to the surprise of our new president. Rumor has it, Dr. Gibralter was surprised so many Greeks attended the walk, and asked our Greek advisor how she'd persuaded all of us to attend. Her answer: She suggested it, and we came. That's the thing about stereotypes: Not everyone fits them.
The student arrested for the attack was wearing local unrecognized fraternity letters. News reports about the attack reported on what he was wearing, and so fuel was added to the stereotype that Greek men have alcohol abuse problems, anger issues, and are violent. There's other stereotypes about Greeks too, all of them negative. Most people believe we drink too much, we do drugs, we are stupid and do poorly in school, we're snobby and cliquey, and we haze. I could continue for the rest of this article and still not list all the preconceived notions people have about Greeks. What people don't realize is how involved we are, or how much we give back to the community. People forget, and maybe sometimes we don't even remember, nine months out of the year Frostburg is our community too.
Because this is our community, I'm proud of the Greek community when we defy the common stereotypes and when we give back to the Frostburg community. Sometimes people only see the outside view of us, and they don't understand the inside of some of our actions. We attended the Walk for Civility because we don't want violence in our community. We campaign for Homecoming because all the proceeds we make during Homecoming support local and national charities. Upon closer view we're not members of Animal House, we're members of this community who want to preserve it and keep it the small close knit quiet college town we've always known and supported.
We'd defied a stereotype about Greeks by showing up to something that supported the campus' surrounding community. It wasn't just Alpha Sigma Tau in attendance at the Walk for Civility. The majority of Frostburg State University's Greek Life was there much to the surprise of our new president. Rumor has it, Dr. Gibralter was surprised so many Greeks attended the walk, and asked our Greek advisor how she'd persuaded all of us to attend. Her answer: She suggested it, and we came. That's the thing about stereotypes: Not everyone fits them.
The student arrested for the attack was wearing local unrecognized fraternity letters. News reports about the attack reported on what he was wearing, and so fuel was added to the stereotype that Greek men have alcohol abuse problems, anger issues, and are violent. There's other stereotypes about Greeks too, all of them negative. Most people believe we drink too much, we do drugs, we are stupid and do poorly in school, we're snobby and cliquey, and we haze. I could continue for the rest of this article and still not list all the preconceived notions people have about Greeks. What people don't realize is how involved we are, or how much we give back to the community. People forget, and maybe sometimes we don't even remember, nine months out of the year Frostburg is our community too.
Because this is our community, I'm proud of the Greek community when we defy the common stereotypes and when we give back to the Frostburg community. Sometimes people only see the outside view of us, and they don't understand the inside of some of our actions. We attended the Walk for Civility because we don't want violence in our community. We campaign for Homecoming because all the proceeds we make during Homecoming support local and national charities. Upon closer view we're not members of Animal House, we're members of this community who want to preserve it and keep it the small close knit quiet college town we've always known and supported.
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Sarah
posted 9/20/06 @ 12:40 PM EST
GO NATIONAL GREEKS!!!!! FIGHT THE STEREOTYPE!!!
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