It is easy to stereotype the Greek societies, especially during pledging season. Right or wrong, many are quick to fall into traps of stereotyping, defending rumors and decrying the society system as elitist, exclusive and damaging to the greater Hamilton community. Like many groups on campus, Greek societies become easy targets for Spectator contributors, Daily Bull and Duel Observer satirists or just the average Hamiltonian with complaints. Some of these comments are well founded. Many seniors can remember the broken Milbank window from their freshman year. The closing and buying of fraternity houses stand as a testament to the long-standing stigma attached with Greek life on campus, extending the stigma to societies that are not Greek, like the Emerson Literary Society.
    
    As many of us know, Greek societies do do a lot of good on campus and in  the area surrounding our college, especially when it comes to community service. Anyone who read the all-campus e-mail announcing the fundraiser for the Clinton ABC House saw an alphabet soup of Greek letters. This weekend, no less than 15 fraternities and sororities, as well as The Brothers and ELS, are sponsoring the event. The event will raise money for A Better Chance, a program for educationally disadvantaged students from New York City who live in Clinton while attending high school. We would do well to remember that this act of charity on behalf of these societies is not an exception, nor a random act of kindness. Charity and community service compose a large, albeit often hidden, part of Greek life at Hamilton.
    
    Many HAVOC-affiliated service programs draw from the Greek community. Sisters from Gamma Xi volunteer in a senior citizens center every week. Study Buddies, an on-campus tutoring and mentoring group, has partnerships with Kappa Sigma Alpha and Lambda Upsilon Lambda. These two organizations have made commitments to send tutors to Study Buddies every week. KSA was founded as a community service organization. Tau Kappa Epsilon holds the Andrew Sheridan '09 Chicken Wing Eating contest, and sends all the proceeds to the Andrew Sheridan Memorial Scholarship and the Underground Cafe, a youth center in Utica. On top of all this, many societies send representatives to Fall Fest, which is held every fall to encourage stronger town-gown relations.
    
    Other Greek societies go outside Hamilton-based programs. Delta Kappa Epsilon joined the Adopt-a-Highway program, adopting sections of state road 233 from the bottom of College Hill to Old Bristol Rd. Many societies also participate in both the Great American Heart Walk in Utica and Relay For Life.
    
    Discussions about Greek life often get heated, and many people have strong opinions about the benefits, drawbacks and possible dangers of having an active Greek community. The editorial board does not wish to weigh in on any of those debates with this piece. Instead, it is important to remind the campus community that Greek organizations do follow through on their promise of giving back to the community, and the community is better off for it.

Originally posted at:
http://my.hamilton.edu/Spectator/022609/Editorial/