In high school, getting into Penn was plenty to brag about. As 1 of the roughly 3000 students admitted each year, the acceptance rate spoke for itself. You quickly learn, though, that most of the peers you meet at Penn are more accomplished, more knowledgeable, and more articulate than you are. We start coffee chatting with organizations to build our network. We go to Pottruck for the sports expo and look into trying out for club sports teams. We also start gearing up to rush Sorority and Fraternity Life.
I went Greek, and I’m so grateful I did – but it’s important to make sure you’re getting involved for the right reasons. If you’re looking into rushing and joining, keep these things in mind and remember the purpose fraternities and sororities serve in society.
At Penn, there exists an unspoken social order, with Sorority and Fraternity Life often serving as an outlet for students to work hard and play harder. It is often referred to as “The Scene,” and has both its pros and cons. One of the most pressing concerns with the current state of greek life at Penn is everyone’s desire to climb the social ladder and maximize status.
Leave it to Penn students to make having fun a competition.
At Penn, we allow our affiliation to define us. Because of that, Sorority and Fraternity Life has become less about having fun or partying, and is instead about competition, exclusivity, and superiority. We’re all competing for the most exclusive internships and jobs, and for some reason, we allow that same competition to bleed into our social lives. You quickly learn that the social scene at Penn is very vain and superficial, ranking people based on made up perceptions of good and bad, cool and not cool. This shouldn’t be an issue because fraternity rankings are merely a social construct, but for some reason Penn students further perpetuate social hierarchy by choosing to seek the approval of the student body, glorifying these rankings in the process.
In our minds, we may see it as climbing up a necessary social ladder. In reality, perpetuating this status-based order severely harms our circles, and impedes our ability to truly connect with people.
To me, being in Greek life is about so much more than throwing a party or gaining social capital. When I came to Penn, I was completely lost. Looking for any way to get involved. I looked into rushing, and I was blessed with a vast community of people I wouldn’t have if I hadn’t rushed — a brotherhood.
Friendship, community, and philanthropy, will define the memories of my fraternity: Sigma Alpha Epsilon. While throwing parties is certainly fun, organizations like my chapter contribute to something bigger than themselves – bettering society. Penn students should choose to participate in Sorority and Fraternity Life because of its mission, not to gain social capital. Organizations like SAE and the dozens of other fraternities and sororities on campus are constantly working to serve the community through philanthropy. Don’t allow social hierarchy to outshine the purpose these fraternal organizations have.
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Whether affiliated or unaffiliated, it’s challenging enough to exist at Penn without feeling the need to conform to societal pressures. At this age, when we’re all already struggling to find our way in society, we must stop abiding by arbitrary social rules like hierarchy.
The easiest and most fulfilling solution to combat the systemic issue of social hierarchy, is to simply stop caring about it. Once you stop caring what other people have to say, we’re freed from the heavy weight of social pressure.
If you take anything away from this column, it’s to choose an organization for the people, not for professional prospects, or social capital. As young adults, now is the time to figure ourselves out, and that begins by forming genuine friendships, and surrounding ourselves with people who share the same interests. If you do go Greek, make sure you’re joining for the right reasons, it’s never about the place but always the people. Remember that your brotherhood aims to leave society better than they found it, so you should too.
ELIJAH RAMIREZ is a college sophomore studying political science and communication from El Paso, Tx. His email is elijah11@sas.upenn.edu.
