To expand upon the discussion of Greek life that will commence during our deliberation in a few weeks, I tried to find articles which covered both sides of the argument that forms. The first article, a Time entry titled “Why Colleges Should Get Rid of Fraternities for Good”, discuss the immoral foundations of fraternities in our country up, as well as the unfortunate fraternity-related events which have taken place in the past few years, including the death of Penn State’s own, Tim Piazza. The main point the article makes is that the problems surrounding Greek life at our university as well as those all around the nation are inherent and unsolvable. Reform, according to the author, is futile because problems continue to occur even after steps are taken at fraternities. By the end, she acknowledges that the solution will be tough, but with American victories against slavery and the like, we should have no problem abolishing fraternities.
“Why Fraternities Will Never Disappear From American College Life”, from Business Insider, indirectly refutes the first by simply showing examples of failed abolishment across the United States. It also discusses the benefits fraternities provide to surrounding neighborhoods and the means through which they lower the stress on university administration, including campus housing, offering of outside social outlets, alumni donations, and the sheer value of student rights in the entire equation.
Where the connection between the two articles lies is in the back-and-forth debate they spark. It seems that for each point the first one brings up, the second one has a rebuttal and another point to be made somewhere within. Though they contrast in purpose, they both acknowledge that there is some sort of flaw in Greek life systems throughout the United States, only disagreeing in the feasibility of a solution that involves their removal. The articles could contribute heavily to our deliberation because they together provide such a diverse outlook on Greek life issues, spanning from one end of the spectrum to the other. Because our deliberation seeks to look at the issues from a similarly wide lens, we could easily incorporate ideas and opinions from both articles into our discussions of each side. We would look to place them primarily in the second section of our deliberation, where we hone in on the issues on the university level.
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