MSU Alumnus: fraternity event was not a good idea

Amen

I was invited to that party. I’m good friends with a lot of Lambdas. If Facebook is correct, the party was renamed, ceremoniously I might add, to a “Stoplight” party, where no kegs and no glass bottles will be allowed. In fact, I believe it was changed before this article was written.

First, lets check your facts. The Greek Community has a better GPA than the rest of the MSU Community. So, obviously, we do well academically. Second, in my opinion, freshman, or any student for that matter, are much safer at a fraternity party where there are rules and guidelines that regulate their parties to insure that alcohol is not served and abused, drugs are not tolerated, and that there are many sober members available to watch over their guests. Lets compare that to any other party you would find on say, Bogue, Bailey, MAC, where alcohol flows freely to those who come and where it is a rarity to find a sober, responsible individual to watch the party and make sure those in attendance are safe. Stop tearing up Lambda Chi. If anyone at MSU knew anything about them, they are probably the most responsible and straight edge fraternity guys at Michigan State.

The greek community is specifically targeted because it is an easy target. They do more for the community then any other organization on campus. Name any other organization that has raised over $250,000 for cancer research and is involved in other organizations within the East Lansing and Lansing area. No one, keep hating but they are the best thing MSU has going.

Kristy: “Still the best thing MSU has going” are you stupid? Frats and Sorority’s are the best thing MSU has going for it? Right, because of that great example they set for the rest of campus? Not going to lie, the charity work the greeks do is very commendable, but most just use that as a excuse to do all the other crappy things greeks do. I mean, most just use the ‘philanthropy’ greeks do as an excuse to others to actually show that greeks do something worthwhile.

Ashley: I must say you are proud that there is no “glass bottles allowed” at frat parties….ooooo ahhhhh. Didn’t someone die at a frat house behind Dublin last year? Your right there are sober people at frat parties, but do not try to convince yourself that there is anything resembling responsibility. Thank God for the sober people actually, that means there are a few less people there that are going to try to take advantage of others, well maybe even being sober won’t stop that. Also, don’t use the GPA thing…please…just stop. Getting a 3.2 with a major in Phys Education or Kinesiology is a joke and 2.9 in Interior Design is as well.

The Greek community is a stain on MSU and the principles it stands for. Their reckless culture, justified by the few good things they accomplish needs to be dealt with efficiently. Plus who wants to see those bag toting fake barbie dolls walking down Shaw with their bad tan and blackberry.

Using the example that the freshmen “fifth-teen” party promotes “that extreme binge drinking is as natural as overeating. . .” and that “preying on emotional upset freshmen,” are rather extreme examples of our freshmen class. While the theme/title of this party was obviously a poor choice, I find this article to mirror every other bias stereotypical anti-greek written work posted in the State News or on campus.

MSU should in no way hold the hands of its students by banning Fraternity parties or barring them from recruitment for having welcome week parties or themed parties. Instead punishment for misconduct should be reviewed by the school’s inter-fraternity council.

Using the notion that not banning Lambda would be equivalent to MSU not caring about academics is ridiculous. Drinking does not correlate with a student’s academics; if their academics suffer due to binge drinking instead of spending time focusing on school it is because of their own stupidity and poor time management, not a Fraternity party.

Having great parties is not the only aspect of recruitment (It would be a complete lie if I were to say that they are not used as a recruiting tool.) Other areas of interest include scholarship, Brotherhood, social events, philanthropy, and opportunities for leadership. If fraternities mostly used parties as a type of recruitment, it would only attract what we consider “dead weight,” people who in no way help the organization in anyway.

OK, call me one of those parents who just doesn’t understand how things are at college. And, continue to try to convince me that…“don’t worry mom and dad- we are in control”. Sorry, I don’t buy it.

Researchers estimate that excessive and underage drinking among students ages 18-24 causes 1,825 deaths, 599,000 injuries, 696,000 assaults and 97,000 instances of sexual abuse a year, not to mention academic issues, health problems, property damage and about 100,000 cases of unprotected sex in which participants were too inebriated to know whether they consented.

This is an indication that kids just simply do not understand the risks they expose themselves to when they adopt the idea that “this is college mom and dad- I’ll be just fine”.

OMG how I worry.

Tony,
The whether they changed the name and theme of the event is a moot point at this point. What they were promoting is wrong and makes the entire Greek Community bad. Changing the name after the fact is equivalent to being sorry for being caught…doesnt deserve much credit.

“Freshman, or any student for that matter, are much safer at a fraternity party where there are rules and guidelines that regulate their parties to insure that alcohol is not served and abused, drugs are not tolerated, and that there are many sober members available to watch over their guests.”

Are you kidding me? You have no idea how many times I’ve seen alcohol being provided at a frat party to naive young freshmen. At any party where there are hundreds of college students packed in a small space, there is NO way that these fraternities can look out for all of its guests (especially students who aren’t part of the fraternity)…in fact, I’d argue that is much harder to do so just because of the amount of people who come to fraternity parties on average. Drugs are not tolerated…what world are you living in? How many times have I seen people half-passed out in fraternity party? Don’t act like fraternity parties have so much more legitimacy than the standard house party, because that simply is NOT true in any way or form.

The author makes a good point, but also advertises his ignorance. Clearly the title of the party reinforces what many thing “being Greek” is all about. What is ironic is that on the very next page, there is a an article about a very positive Greek Letter event. I’m guessing Mr. Lippi missed that.

Something else he missed is the fact the that University is not in position to ban private entities (like fraternities and sororities) from recruiting or holding social events. However, the IFC and PC do have such authority. Whether or not they should take such action is debatable, but at a minimum, I hopefully that they will engage the young men of LXA in an educational capacity.

As a 1970 vet school grad, non Greek and father, IMO the Greek system should not be “offered” until students are at least sophomores. Give them an opportunity to get used to campus life before exposing them to uncontrolled partying. My daughter (immature no doubt)flunked out of college after joining the sorority of her mother. Another year of growing would have been more productive to all including the university as well as my daughter….we all know what is going on with the Greek system so lets not act like we dont… sad

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Ok. Let’s see here… You’re an idiot.

I want to see some data on Greek GPA’s. Then I want that GPA correlated to the majors that they populate. Seems to me that a vast majority of the greeks I know are in sh*t-tier programs that a caveman could ace. They use their wealth of old exams and homeworks to regurgitate (and later forget) material that wasn’t worth learning in the first place.

You clearly have a very high (and innacurate) opinion of the greek community. Either you’re a troll, in some sort of denial, or are just really really ignorant!

first of all i know alot of greeks in pre-med. engineering, pre-nursing, pre-law,they r in Lyman Briggs, James Madison, and i am a history major going into secondary education minoring in french. stop watching the stupid Hollywood bull crap that doesn’t even put a positive look on the Greeks plus we aer not about partying when i went through we had to study as a requirement for or classes and do great in our classes i don’t know who you GDI’s are hanging out with but i am not the Greek person you guys are talking about. plus we have parties only to have people at the university to have fun but if you don’t want us to throw parties for non-Greeks then we can only make them only Greek parties ill agree with you on that.

@ student:
Please tell me where you will be teaching when you graduate. I’d like to avoid sending my kids to a teacher who uses ‘r’ instead of ‘are’ and doesn’t know how to use capital letters. Thanks.

I will begin this by stating that I am a member of a fraternity at Michigan State. So I will try my hardest to remove all bias that may be there.

To all of you individuals that have taken it upon themselves to voice your discontent to individuals that have chosen a different lifestyle then yourself:

I see that you have no facts in any of your rebuttals or opinions. Now that doesn’t seem to be a problem except for the fact that I do.

*76% of all Congressmen and Senators belong to a fraternity. 40 of 47 U.S. Supreme Court Justices since 1910 were fraternity men. 71% of those listed in “Who’s Who in America” belong to a fraternity.


* There are 123 fraternities and sororities with 9 million members total. 



• Of the nation’s 50 largest corporations, 43 are headed by fraternity men.
  

* A U.S. Government study shows that over 70% of all those who join a fraternity/sorority graduate, while under 50% of all non-fraternity/sorority persons graduate. 

* Less than 2% of an average college student’s expenses go toward fraternity/sorority dues.
  

* Over 85% of the student leaders on some 730 campuses are involved in the Greek community.

*Since 1877, 17 Presidents have been fraternity men *The MSU greek community has a higher average GPA than non greek members. *Approximately 80% of the executives of the 500 largest corporations in America are fraternity men.
These are all facts. You can say whatever you want about the system but it works. It has been the sole American system that has proved itself time and time again. Promoting philanthropy, leadership, and academics every individual in a fraternity or sorority chose to join to better themselves.
To the point on safer parties… we do in fact provide a safer party experience. On average there are 20 – 30 guys sober for every party. This is so that if anyone becomes too drunk we have the ability to help them. We are not in the businesses to stop people from drinking or doing an something they want to do. That is their own job. But we will be there to help if something goes wrong. When was the last time you walked into a non fraternity party and saw sober monitors.
Your preconceived notions are not going to be changed by me or anyone else that tries to talk to you. In my belief you are a bit bigoted, similar to how people of certain religions are not accepting of others. But no matter. I have done great for myself. The greek system has helped me in more ways than I could have ever dreamed possible. So for the remainder of my college career I will continue to party and get better grades than the average person. And if anyone is wondering I am studying International Relations while minoring in Economics and Chinese language. I now need to go work on getting into law school.

Maybe I will see you at the top.

@student, you’re doing a major disservice to your intelligence by not using punctuation or capital letters when typing. And we won’t even get into your horrendous grammar.

Additionally, just because you know a few greeks majoring in engineering or Madison doesn’t really mean much. You can look at non-major specific campus group and find people majoring in those.

I am very offended that you would suggest that overeating is normal for college freshmen. Obesity in America is a very serious health concern and healthy eating should be promoted at all times, especially to college freshmen who are developing habits that will last a lifetime.

I wonder what the thousands of successful students and graduates who are or were members of a Greek organization feel about this. I know from personal experience that individuals are to blame for their own wrongdoings, regarding fraternity parties. If the party were called ‘time to study’ or ‘let’s booze hard’ I do not think, actually I know, it would not make one difference in the actions of people who choose to attend. Furthermore, the name of the party and fraternity cannot and do not, force people to attend. Maybe people should start being accountable for their own personal actions and not attack an organization for things they do or say, no matter how stupid whatever was said or done. Freshmen, although younger than the rest of their fellow students, with the exception of a very few, are adults. Let’s start by being concerned for the individual who does not have the capacity to make sound judgments for themselves. Like I said, I know of thousands of outstanding, successful, and intelligent people who have graduated from the Greek system, and even more so, people who have attended a Greek party, who have managed to not be self-destructive. If you have a problem with the party, don’t go. If you’re concerned about your son or daughter, talk to them. I think it is time we finally grow up and quit blaming everyone else for our own problems.

I wonder what the thousands of successful students and graduates who are or were members of a Greek organization feel about this. I know from personal experience that individuals are to blame for their own wrongdoings, regarding fraternity parties. If the party were called time to study or let’s booze hard I do not think, actually I know, it would not make one difference in the actions of people who choose to attend. Furthermore, the name of the party and fraternity cannot and do not, force people to attend. Maybe people should start being accountable for their own personal actions and not attack an organization for things they do or say, no matter how stupid whatever was said or done. Freshmen, although younger than the rest of their fellow students, with the exception of a very few, are adults. Lets start by being concerned for the individual who does not have the capacity to make sound judgments for themselves. Like I said, I know of thousands of outstanding, successful, and intelligent people who have graduated from the Greek system, and even more so, people who have attended a Greek party, who have managed to not be self-destructive. If you have a problem with the party, don’t go. If youre concerned about your son or daughter, talk to them. I think it is time we finally grow up and quit blaming everyone else for our own problems.

@Steve:

AMEN

One thing I know about frats:

I work at an engineering firm, about 100 people work here at any time. I share some HR responsibilities with the person who is basically my boss, and I handle most of the interviews here. When my boss sees ANY reference to a fraternity on a resume, he drops it in the trash!

It’s quite funny. He’s not an old guy, either. Mid 30’s, he knows what frats are all about and doesn’t want people like that on our teams. I agree, we just can’t trust them, especially if we send them away on a project. Drinking alchohol seems to be a universal problem with them, especially if you fly them to a bigger city. Then they are hung over, or “off”, the next day, productivity suffers and so does our companies image!!!

@Obsessively Worried Parent:

Mom…stop posting on my college school newspaper message boards. You are embarrassing me.

Oh, and stop writing my name on the label in my underwear.

Love,

Every Student

@Steve

Thank you. Finally some sense.

Oh Darko :)

Creed:
We believe in Lamda Chi Alpha and it’s traditions, principles, and ideals (Truth, Honor, Justice, Industry, Christian Principles, Morality, Fraternity, Learning, Patriotism.) The crescent is our symbol: pure, high, and ever growing. And the CROSS is our guide, denoting service, sacrifice, and even suffering and humiliation before the world, bravely endured if need be, in following that ideal.
May we have faith in Lambda Chi Alpha, and passion for its welfare. May we have hope for the future of Lambda Chi Alpha, and strength to fight for its teachings. May we have pure hearts, that we may approach the ideal of perfec brotherly love.