The Rush to Abolish American Greek Life
The Abolish Greek Life Movement: how it started and where it’s going.
By Trina Mollicone
In 2019, eager to begin his college experience and make new friends at Washington State University, Sam Martinez pledged the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. He died due to alcohol poisoning after consuming more than half a gallon of alcohol in one sitting with another pledge. Martinez’s hazing horror story and many others contribute to the toxicity surrounding Greek life culture.
Along with this, women in sororities are 74% more likely to be raped than women who are not affiliated with Greek life, according to a 2013 article in the Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice. Drunk and delirious, these women are cornered, preyed upon and taken advantage of by fraternity members. The dangerous atmosphere arouses fear, and it is no wonder that women are known to travel in groups when attending fraternity parties.
David Mollicone’s 1995 University of Michigan Chi Phi Paddle. Photo by Trina Mollicone
So, as students move to campuses over the coming weeks, fraternities and sororities are calling all brothers and sisters, all rushers and recruiters, all bidders and pledges, to announce that the time has come to initiate into chapters of unjustness. That’s the realistic assessment of a group that’s on a mission to abolish the fraternity and sorority system at colleges and universities across America. Fraternities and sororities, however, argue that the institutions are a valuable part of the college experience, laying the foundation for lifelong friendships and professional networking.
“The inequity and violence inherent in Greek life always has and always will harm marginalized students and Greek members themselves,” says Sylvie Ashford, an active member of the Abolish Stanford Greek coalition at Stanford University, which is one of hundreds of campuses across America with chapters of this organization.
American “Greek life” is an umbrella term used to describe college fraternities and sororities. A world in itself, with a history of being so problematic, many believe it is time to abandon it.
To tackle the toxicity, the Abolish Greek Life movement was started in 2020 by Vanderbilt University students who were fed up with patterns of privilege and exclusion within fraternities and sororities. Other universities soon began to champion the movement as well. Whether it was schools as large as Stanford University or smaller schools such as George Washington University, both west and east coast campuses came to the conclusion that Greek life is a double-dealing deception.
Ashford feels that Greek life has a consistent history of prejudice and overall negativity.
“Greek life was built on exclusion and entitlement. Unhealthy behaviors such as hazing, drug and alcohol abuse, and eating disorders are notoriously more common in Greek houses than other student housing, and sexual violence is more prevalent within the Greek community than outside of it,” she says.
Summer Kaltner, one of the founders of George Washington University's AGL organization, has similar opinions toward the Greek life chapters at her school. The group is starting a social media campaign to encourage people to not rush and draw attention to more inclusive organizations. Their most consistent action has been posting over the last year on @abolish_greeklife_gw on Instagram, letting the community comment on the harms raised in their own words.
Spring 1965, Kappa Alpha Theta Sorority at Fresno State College. Via Creative Commons
“There are systemic ways in which predominantly white Greek life gives unfair advantages to its members,” Kaltner explains. “Many people took this as a call to action for a tangible way for change. Disaffiliation takes away the (Interfraternity Council and InterSorority Council’s) money and influence on college campuses.”
Critics say that what keeps these national chapters afloat is their ability to conceal flaws in the system. This means that many issues often go unnoticed in the Greek life scene.
“National fraternities are infamous for using litigious and shady practices to retain their properties and defend their chapters, from covering up sexual assaults to denying responsibility for hazing deaths,” Ashford says. “While officially nonprofit foundations, many national Greek organizations quietly contribute to FratPAC, a political action committee that donates to nearly 200 political campaigns and advocates for policies like tax breaks for Greek donors, anti-victim barriers to investigating rapes and sexual assault on college campuses, and transphobic protections for single-gender student societies.”
According to Kaltner, the problems caused by Greek life chapters affect members just as much as they affect those on the outside.
“Many have spoken about demolished self-esteem after not getting in a chapter or other indiscretions,” Kaltner says. “It solidifies an ‘in’ group and an ‘out’ group within campus life.”
The pressures placed on fraternity and sorority members also contribute a great deal to their mental health. They are essentially tied to a group that comes before all other college priorities.
“Organizations can fine members for missing activities or levy other penalties, forcing members to deprioritize hobbies, academics and frosh-year friends,” Ashford says. “This predisposes members to have insular social lives and miss out on other communities. Some struggle to keep up their GPAs, which pressures Greek members to disproportionately engage in academic cheating.”
Many believe that the Greek life community does more harm than good. It is likely that disaffiliation rates will continue to increase in the coming years. To ‘greek’ or ‘not to greek’ is up to the student of course. With the unveiling of what these organizations truly stand for, however, it can be hard to want to rush into these twisted cliques.
