Hey everyone!

For this weeks article, I wanted to share a speech I gave for my rhetoric class regarding Greek Life. The type of speech I gave is called a Jeremiad. A Jeremiad is a type of speech in which we try to inform the society of a problem or a complaint and ways to fix it. Regarding Greek Life, we tend to find reasons to bash on the community, so I wanted to remind us why this community is so extremely amazing, and why everyone should pledge. Enjoy!

Why should you pledge next year? Well let me tell you. But first, let me tell you a bit about myself. I grew up in a very Greek life oriented family. My Dad was a Sigma Chi and my mom was an Alpha Phi at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. In addition, my brother, a junior at the University of Iowa, is a Sigma Chi. With this being said, I was destined to be a part of Greek life, too. And thank god I did. I am telling you to pledge because you will make friends that become family, create opportunities for the real world, and become extremely involved in the community.

Coming in Freshmen year, only knowing three kids from my high school, didn’t give me much of a head start on having lots of friends. Seeing my friends snap chat stories of their first few weeks of college at the University of Minnesota made me jealous. They all had each other, they all had friends. After rushing, it reminded me why I went to the University of Iowa.

The process of rushing, for girls, is rigorous. I can’t tell you it won’t be stressful, scary, tiring, and long; HOWEVER, if you trust the process, and stay positive, it is totally worth it.

Rushing, takes two weeks in total. I had to talk to each sorority, and if they liked me and I liked them I kept going back to their house. Each round the list of houses I went back to kept getting smaller and smaller, until I had two houses left. On the last day of rushing, I find out which house, out of my two options, gave me a bid.

Bid day starts off with sitting on our bid cards for thirty minutes. After the anxiety ridden 30 minutes are over, PHC counts down from ten… 10… people are getting anxious, 5… people are starting to sweat… 3 people can’t believe it isn’t one yet… 1… cards are ripped open, tears are shed, girls are screaming, hugging, finding their sisters. This day affects the next four years of your life and it will be the best four years of your life.

There are 54 girls in my pledge class and 157 girls in my sorority. That means I have 157 sisters that are going to be my life long friends. All the girls in my house are so similar; yet so different. We all have different stories to share and different experiences to bring to the table. Bailey Johnson, a Greek Life advocate, in a blog post writes, “Being in a sorority means that you'll have the biggest group of supporters around. Whether they're your #1 fan when you have exciting news, eating a gallon of ice cream and watching chick flicks with you after a breakup, or taking care of you when your night has been a little bit too crazy, they will always stand behind you and cheer you on. Your sisters want you to be happy and will always do whatever they can to be sure that you are.” I want the girls in Alpha Phi to be in my wedding. I love these girls with my whole heart. They are my best friends. They are my family. In addition, not only have I met girls in my sorority, I have met so many amazing girls and boys in other sororities/fraternities, too. Overall, the amount of people I have met through this community is incredible. And telling you I love them with my whole heart is an understatement.

By being a part of the Greek community, creates so many opportunities to make connections once you are out of college. A senior in my sorority was offered an executive position through alpha phi international for this upcoming fall. Without being involved in Greek Life, this opportunity would not have been presented to her. By going greek we have the opportunity to learn how to communicate with all different types of people, which, in the end, will prep you for the real world when finding a job. Career expert, Vivki Salemi states, “Greek life recruitment season primes you for social skills and emotional intelligence that employer’s covet. In addition Greek affiliation could be used as a networking tool and including it on a resume shows that a candidate is well-rounded and able to balance multiple responsibilities.” There are 9 million people in the United States that are affiliated with Greek Life, that means that there are 9 million connections one could make to grow their business, and find success in the professional world. You learn skills that are imperative to landing a job while having the best time of your life just by being associated with Greek Life.

While many people stereotype frats and sororities, we forget how much the Greeks are involved in the community. At the University of Iowa alone we have raised over $805,000 through philanthropies for charitable organizations. Some of the organizations include, Children’s Miracle network hospitals, Huntsman Cancer Institute, St. Jude and American Heart association. Not only do we benefit the community, we strive to excel in academics at the University of Iowa. In order to stay in the chapter, it is required to have a certain GPA. If you are under a 3.0 you are on academic probation and if you continue to be below a 3.0 GPA for more than one semester, your membership may be terminated. While, yes, fraternities and sororities like to have a good time, we take school very seriously. In fact, in order to be able to attend events, you must attend a certain amount of educational lectures, and volunteer a certain amount of hours per semester.

As Greek Life continues to be talked down, and reprimanded, it is our job to change it around. I’m asking you to pledge and make a difference in the community. Get away from the connotation that talks down Greek life. Our reputation can be changed. We can change the headlines about fraternities and sororities to all the good things we do, like raise millions of dollars for charitable organizations, rather than freak accidents that could happen to any child at any school Greek life affiliated or not. I’m asking you to pledge because it will be the best decision of your entire life. I’m asking you to pledge because without pledges Greek life will be gone. I’m asking you to pledge because you meet your best friends and family. I’m asking you to pledge because it’s great for real world experience. I’m asking you to pledge because it’ll make these next 4 years of your life, the best four years of your life. So just remember… don’t be a freak and go Greek.