I am embarrassed and ashamed to attend an institution of higher learning whose students would rather not question or think critically about institutions and structures as they currently exist. Aren’t we, after all, supposed to be receiving this education that demands, “magis”, more? Why, when an organization is called out for its possible contradiction to our University’s mission and goals are we so quick to fervently defend and not further ask questions? We are complacent about what role and purpose social sororities and fraternities serve on our Jesuit campus.

Plenty of Jesuit Universities, in fact, only 46% of the 28 Jesuit universities have recognized chapters of national social sororities and fraternities. The reason most don’t is because the mission and purpose of social sororities and fraternities are not in line with guided social justice practice.

Santa Clara University’s Student Development Division recently, in fact, reviewed the pragmatism of social sororities and stated:

 “The exclusivity often associated with Greek life brings into question its compatibility with our emphasis on community and the inclusiveness that our commitment to diversity implies.”

In the spirit of the letters published by Santa Clara University’s Student Development Division in regards to Greek life’s place on a Jesuit campus, I feel as if our Jesuit identity as a university demands more than the traditional college experience.

I came here because I wanted a non-traditional college experience and SLU looked as if it would offer me that. If I wanted to be a part of a university with a tradition of (implicit) exclusion based on race and socioeconomic status, I would’ve gone to a big, public university in Texas. God knows it would’ve been cheaper. Our Jesuit tradition calls- no, demands for more. It demands action at the space where intersecting socially oppressed identities gather and cry for immediate attention. Places like Ferguson, MO, for timeliness sake. And for those who believe that Ferguson is “too dangerous” or racially-charged and thereby “too political” for students, much less precious SLU students, I want to remind everyone that there was a time when this University was radical and controversial and did not care to be seen as neutral or traditional. When Saint Louis University became the first historically white institution of higher education in a former slave state to admit blacks, we didn’t care that that was highly political and controversial.

It’s isolating to have taken classes in critical social theory, urban poverty studies, African-American studies and Women and Gender studies and Intergroup Dialogue and to see how the models and examples play out in community and then to see campus at a glance and see mostly white faces, Greek letters and lots of fundraising for various causes, but no desire to put in the time, effort, energy and dirty work for collective action on issues of inequity, social disparities and economic disenfranchisement both domestically and abroad.

I think that Greek organizations can be good for sisterhood/brotherhood and the networking and elitism that comes with paying dues to wear letters and party with the best of them. But I think it is also a mode of complacency and enshrouded in “pat on the back” volunteerism and philanthropy rather than social change that seeks to reform structures that marginalize.

The racial homogeny in Greek life, as Ryan pointed out, is something we cannot overlook and must condemn as problematic. If our University has a commitment to diversity, we must think how these organizations implicitly “recruit” the same students every year.  All SLU-recognized organizations must value and respect the intrinsic value in having a diverse learning environment and recruit and appeal to students from minority racial/ethnic backgrounds/ socioeconomic status/ ability status/ sexuality and gender expressions. If we could hear and see how sororities and fraternities (and their affiliated national organizations) recruit and what they consider “diversity”, and see if those are aligned with our University’s supposed commitment to diversity, inclusion and justice, especially for underrepresented social identities.

I have nothing against the plenty of true friends I have who are members of Greek life, both here and at other universities. In fact, I know some women in sororities and men in fraternities who are partners in consciousness-raising on topics of oppression, power, privilege and identity that will lead to social reform and the correction of injustice, and they will keep on fighting the good fight, no matter what. However, I cringe at their affiliation with historically racist, sexist and homophobic (among other positive and negative things of course..) organizations with the same letters at other institutions, however. Again, this article isn’t to attack individuals, but rather to question and begin the conversation on whether campus chapters of a larger national organization whose mission and practices may or may not be aligned with our individual Jesuit mission and vision for the university coupled with the disproportionate amounts of power and influence that these organizations and their members constitute across campus despite their 20% of the actual population of SLU that must be looked at critically and discussed further on platforms where change, should it be necessary, and I believe it is, can happen.

I hope I do not lose any friends because of this article, but I simply cannot stay silent about the silencing of voices with deviating (anti-Greek) opinions on social media and conversations around campus. When are my fellow Billikens all going to concern themselves with issues of social justice, no matter their major or political views, Greek and non-Greek? I’m tired of hearing that my expectations of SLU students are “too radical” or “too much”. Because this university transformed my life for the better and gave me purpose and fire, I hold my peers accountable to a much higher standard than the traditional college students at non-Jesuit institutions. We have a responsibility to take our education and make a better world. So let’s get to it, all together.