The leaves have begun to change, the Beaver stores shelves are stocked with fresh textbooks, and pumpkin spice is in the air and in our lattes. Fall is upon us. The first week of school is steadily approaching, and with it, fall sorority recruitment and fraternity rush. Recruitment and rush are a great time to reunite with brothers and sisters and revive the love of our houses. However, its also a time that competition rears its ugly head and sets its gaze on Greek Row, ready to pit sorority against sorority, fraternity against fraternity, making campus a Greek battleground.

As Greek Row fills with both men and women moving in to their beloved houses, tensions are high enough that Benny could cut through them with his chainsaw. Sorority girls eye each other across the street and Fraternity brothers puff their chests in passing. Rumors and gossip are traded like lipgloss, trash talk litters the sidewalks of Greek Row like empty diet coke and red bull cans. Everyone is on their toes, ready to defend their houses and bid the best freshmen they can find- before anyone else does. But it doesn't have to be like this. Recruitment and rush don't have to have the stigma that they do, one of bad mouthing others, calling inappropriate dibs on freshmen, and battling it out to be top house.

I'll let you in on a secret -- there is no top house. At least in my opinion. Nor is there a ranking system or totem poll, if you will, that shoves sororities and fraternities into cookie cutter placings and stereotypical tiers labeled top, middle, and bottom. I know members of Greek life in almost every house represented on Oregon State campus, and I know them not by their letters, but by their personalities, aspirations, and achievements. Not one house is the same, but the men and women who represent them are not the same either. Each house is filled with an array of amazing men and women, all who work hard as students, employees, and members of the whole of Greek life.

If you think I'm shouting a little too loud from the top of my soap box, fair enough. But I stand proud atop it, firm in my belief that instead of bad mouthing and trash talking one another, we can support each other during the crazy whirlwind that is Greek recruitment and rush. Each house wants to give the incoming students and freshmen a home, a family. When we take a second to realize that we all want the same thing for these incoming students, we can see that its not a competition amongst ourselves, but a Greek wide event to celebrate. Our community is going to grow, and we all can be proud of that. Each house should be proud of their members, and also of their neighbors. Our Greek community betters our campus and community each year through our philanthropic work, hours of volunteering, and school spirit. Everybody works hard, and we all want to give our new pledge classes the best Greek experience they could have. So instead of talking behind backs, give each other a pat on them. Recruitment and rush are filled with long exhausting days, I think we could all use a little friendly encouragement.

As we get closer and closer to that time of the year, we must all remember who we are. Not only are we a part of an individual house, we are members of IFC Greek life, students of Oregon State University, and proud inhabitants of Beaver Nation. We stand together wearing black and orange, raising awareness for philanthropies and charities, and making our Corvallis community one of the best in Oregon.

Love your house, but also love your neighbor. Recruitment and rush are about giving the new freshman and students a home filled with brothers and sisters that will support them through their entire college career. So throw what you know and welcome them with open arms.