In recent opinion articles published by the Daily, a strong anti-Greek viewpoint has been demonstrated. While I completely understand that these articles are merely opinions, the fact that they have even been published in Iowa State’s newspaper is offensive to members of our greek community.

As a member of a greek chapter, I am not only offended, but also deeply hurt by these accusations, especially those of Monday’s article about greek girls and fraternity boys. This article alluded to the fact that sorority girls are hunting for the ideal frat guy, someone who wears name brand clothing, participates in intramurals and binge drinks on the weekends, by teasing their hair and wearing stilettos. This accusation is obscene.

I take a lot of pride in my greek letters and not because it will allow me to meet the frat boy of my dreams. I am not a member of this community because of some deeply seeded desire to be overly tan or to wear layers of makeup. I didn’t pledge a chapter so that I could parade around greekland in a skimpy dress to attract members of the opposite sex.

I pledged a chapter because of the opportunities the greek community would offer me. I wanted more from my college experience and I chose to do that by joining a sorority. By no means am I saying that those who choose to not join the greek community are of a lesser value, I am simply saying that for the 12 percent of Iowa State’s campus who did choose to go greek, it was the right decision.

In fact, this 12 percent represents some of Iowa State’s most valued leaders. Past and present leaders in the Government of the Student Body, heads of Veishea and homecoming, chairpersons in Dance Marathon, directors of the blood drive, and career fair coordinators have all been greek.

And beyond that, professional leaders at Iowa State were members of Greek chapters.

Our own President Geoffroy was an active member of a fraternity in his undergraduate years.

So where are these statistics in our student newspaper?

Where are the statistics about greek–run philanthropies? The greek community raises tens of thousands of dollars for local and national causes every year. This is unreal for college students. While I know many students at Iowa State participate in volunteer and philanthropic events, I doubt they raise as much as members of the Greek Community.

And what about Iowa State’s two largest celebrations: Veishea and homecoming? As I pointed out before, greek students largely run these events. So what would we do if greeks did not support and participate in these events? Would they just disappear? Without the hard work of greek students, all of campus, greekland, Welch Avenue and the area surrounding Jack Trice Stadium would not be brightly decorated with large displays and paintings of our pride in Iowa State.

Without the greek community, what would happen to the tradition of the Veishea parade?

I am not suggesting that greeks made all this happen on their own, but I can guarantee things would be drastically different without our participation.

Beyond that, greek students consistently have grade point averages above that of the all university average. Obviously we are not spending our every waking moment taking beer bongs and doing keg stands. The accusations that greek students binge drink more than that of the average college student is ridiculous. Binge drinking is a problem that is widespread through college campuses, not one that is merely focused in the greek community.

greek students at Iowa State are much more than these past two articles have made us out to be. Maybe these are real problems at other universities, but at Iowa State greek students are some of the most capable and motivated students this campus has seen.

We are not reflections of the characters from “Animal House” or “Greek.” We take deep pride in our letters and in our involvement on this campus. And to stereotype us in a negative manner is both inappropriate and offensive.

The next time the Daily chooses to publish an article about sorority girls with loose morals and frat guys looking to get some, they should take a deeper look at what is actually going on in the greek community at Iowa State.

Jill Kassel is a junior in English education