'Juicy Campus' comes my way

News of a college gossip site adding State College's campus to its online database rippled through the Fraternity Monday night, and continued to be discussed and read well into Tuesday afternoon.

The site, Juicy Campus, allows users to anonymously post about "the juice" on their campus. Most of the posts have to do with Greek Life, discussing everything from what the cool houses on campus are, the easiest sororities to hook up with and where the most drugs are done.

It also has a nasty side. Several girls have threads all to themselves, and some of the comments are down right nasty. Reports were surfacing that a thread about one girl was so ruthless, she was seen fleeing her sorority house in tears after reading it.

The site quickly traveled through my Fraternity, and we all had a good laugh as the users discussed what fraternity is most guido and who throws the best parties. E-mails were issued from our president warning us not to get involved, his argument being that it simply makes us appear childish, stupid and a little nerdy to have to defend ourselves over the internet. Further e-mails were sent warning that the site was not anonymous, because every computer has a unique number that can be tracked and used in civil law cases. I myself have enjoyed it, even as Eleanor Roosevelt's timeless words ran through my head, if for no other reason than to chuckle over the pissing matches the fraternity guys get into debating who is the coolest on campus.

But, the site also epitomizes a tragic truth about Greek Life on our campus. The Greek community is supposed to be just that; however, more often than not, chapters become bitter rivals and spend more of their energy competing against one another, and in the process, alienating themselves from the rest of the community and campus. On a great number of campuses, mine included, non-Greeks have little regard for the Greek community, because they view it as a superficial drinking club, and this stereotype is only furthered by our boorish behavior.

Now, I will not deny I myself have gotten caught up in the rivalries, but I truly regret I haven't worked at trying to bridge the gaps my chapter has with others. The Greek community is easily the largest on campus, and our potential to impact the university as a whole is unparralled becasue of our sheer size. But, we are bogged down by our petty differences and need to establish supremacy.

We follow the classic -ism mold in Greek Life. We look down at the "GDIs" because they fail to affiliate with a Greek organization and therefore are not worthy to hang out with us. We look down at other houses and stereotype them as "nerds, meatheads, guids, sluts, coke heads," etc, all to boost ourselves up and feel better about our chapter's place amongst the community.

Greek life takes such a beating in media and public opinion, and it is sad to see that we feed the beast over a public domain no less. Fraternity life has benefited me and my college career, but it is certainly sad to see how much potential the community and myself have wasted.