After four days in the office, Associate Dean Roy Baker has already taken steps to revitalize the greek system.

Baker, along with representatives from each greek council, hosted a panel discussion Thursday night examining the stereotypes surrounding the greek community.

‘This is such an important issue,’ Baker said. ‘We have created these myths.’

Panel members included representatives from Omega Psi Phi, Sigma Alpha Epsilon and Lambda Upsilon Lambda fraternities and Alpha Phi, Kappa Phi Lambda, Sigma Gamma Rho sororities, where they exchanged views with Baker about myths including topics such as homophobia, racism, academics, self-identity and friendships.

Baker said that the actions of individual members of the community reflect on it as a whole, making each person’s decisions important to the way the university community views greeks as a whole.

Baker discussed the organizations’ recruitment numbers and statistics, touching on segregation between organizations.

‘If you’re not out there recruiting everyone, this greek system will not work,’ Baker said.

Members of the greek organizations dissected the image of the greek community from non-members’ point of view.

Craig Wilson, a senior political science major in Omega Psi Phi, dispelled the myth that fraternities in general are homophobic.

‘I don’t particularly hear that in my fraternity,’ Wilson said. ‘I don’t agree with that.’

Racism is another matter.

One audience member said he thinks that the reason black students join black fraternities and sororities is because they feel it that makes them feel like a brother or sister for life.

Many students feel that joining a fraternity or sorority takes away a person’s sense of individuality, and Wilson partially agreed with the myth.

‘You do lose some of your individuality to a certain extent because you join because you feel a connection,’ Wilson said.

Winnie Zhang, a sister in Kappa Phi Lambda and a senior international relations and political science major, also agreed with the myth because she said joining Kappa Phi Lambda helped to shape who she is today.

‘It helped me find my personal strengths and weaknesses,’ she said.

Leete Garten, a brother of Sigma Alpha Epsilon and a junior history major, argued against the perception that fraternities are composed of ‘dumb drunks,’ saying instead that they help the community. His fraternity is involved in service projects such as Patty Murphy week, which will take place next week and will raise money for the Syracuse University RAPE: Advocacy, Prevention Education Center.

Suspicions of a decline of students’ academic performance after becoming a member of the greek system was also discussed.

‘We stress the importance of education,’ Brewer said.

Garten said it is not necessarily because someone joins a fraternity or sorority that his or her grades decline. He attributed falling grades to an increase in the difficulty of coursework as students move through the grades.

‘We set up study hours in our organization,’ Wilson said. ‘It’s up to the person.’

Published on October 14, 2004 at 12:00 pm