Greeks deserve better recognition

Breeze Reader's View

After such a successful week for the Greek community and for the larger Harrisonburg one as well, I flipped through the April 14 issue of The Breeze looking for an article covering all the amazing accomplishments achieved. I was shocked and disappointed to find an article which consisted of seven sentences that hardly enumerated any of the important events that occurred that week.

It seems to me that this lack of coverage merely reflects the readiness that journalists and the general public have to point out the flaws of Greek life and to ignore the substantive quality of many of the fraternities and sororities on campus. I cannot believe that, while still professing journalistic integrity, bias would factor in so greatly that journalists would be as dismissive to the concrete and extraordinary achievements of the Greek system as those seven lines were.

I wonder where all the journalists were when, in the course of one week, the Greek community raised over $8,000 for its designated charity, or when we completed over 7,000 hours of community service in one day. And how about when a sorority raised over $3,000 at a fun kickball tournament to dedicate to its philanthropic endeavors? Let's not forget the fraternity who raised over $2,000 for muscular dystrophy through the organization of and participation in an enjoyable football tournament. Should I go on?

In all fairness, I cannot blame the iniquitous stereotype on society completely. Shows like MTV's "Sorority Life" add greatly to such misconceptions. On such shows, so-called sorority girls live in a million dollar house, run around fighting with fraternity boys, drink excessively and bicker over petty issues.

Shows like these reinforce the common delusion of what it really is like to be part of Greek life. Yet the sororities and fraternities on these shows are not even nationally recognized. Why is society so eager to grasp onto this falsehood and perpetuate these misconceptions?

The sad thing that I've come to realize is that most people would rather believe these stereotypes than venture past them into the uncharted territory called "truth." I only ask that people shed their biases and be willing to look at the Greek community at JMU with an objective eye. It would be even better if people could show appreciation and well-deserved respect toward members of Greek life, but I know that is asking too much. Proper coverage would not only be nice but is necessary for the realization of such objectivity. Yet people would rather live in ignorance than admit that Greeks actually can be more active members of this society than they are.

The next time that a paper decides to run an article that consists of seven sentences titled "Shake that body," I hope that they realize we have been "shaking" ourselves exhaustively in pursuit of bettering the community in which we have benefited so much from being a part. We have selflessly and wholeheartedly engaged our bodies, our minds and our hearts, and the only thing that we ask in return is a journalistic voice that accurately will communicate it.

Ashley Polo is a sophomore accounting major.