In a recent Post column, “The secret life of the American college bro,” the author presented a rather stereotypical view of fraternity brothers, and as a brother myself I found the article to be rather offensive and small-minded. The article painted all fraternity members as rude, aggressive, abrasive and consumed with the sole objective of being as drunk and rowdy as possible. As an objective newspaper, I feel it is only right to present both sides of the story, and there were several things your author failed to include. I am a fraternity brother with a high GPA who regularly contributes to the campus and community service, and I’m not the only one: Greek members represent the largest collective community service network in America, contributing more than 10 million hours of service a year. A recent study from the University of Missouri found that Greek members across the country are more involved on their campus and rate their overall college experience higher; that same study found that Greek members contribute more to their community and alma mater than their peers as well.
Furthermore, we are highly successful as well, despite the drunken imbeciles your author paints us as. Nationally, the overall Greek GPA is higher than the non-Greek average, with a higher graduation rate as well. This success even extends beyond campus: Since 1910, 85 percent of Supreme Court Justices have been Greek, 85 percent of Fortune 500 key executives are Greek, and all but two U.S. presidents since 1825 have been Greek. Need I go on?
When Mr. McAndrews writes offensive articles like this, he fails to realize that people actually read it and form their opinion of people based upon his inaccurate assessment. If Mr. McAndrews really wants to know what it’s like to be an “American college bro,” come talk to us. I think he’d be quite surprised, because yes, we party, but we also do much more.
Max Schmidt is a senior studying child and family studies at Ohio University.
