So Greg Jerrett “fails to see the benefits fraternities and sororities provide to the communities they operate in.”

Please allow me to clarify this mystery to Mr. Jerrett and his readers.

The greek system provides benefits to communities on several levels.

Most obviously, there are the philanthropic events greeks are involved in.

Aside from the events of each individual chapter, there are also several projects through Greek Week, Homecoming, etc.

While these may seem trivial to many, they are definitely beneficial to those in need.

While in many cases these projects may not constitute a large chunk of time on the part of many members, greeks are doing something in the realm of community service.

This is more than I can say for many other members of the ISU community.

Beyond the obvious, the greek system has many other benefits for campus and community.

Here are some quick facts about the greek system that Mr. Jerrett may find interesting: 75 percent of legislators were in the greek system. 85 percent of Supreme Court Justices were greek. All but three U.S. Presidents in the last century were greeks.

But greeks have not only found success in politics. Forty-three of the top 50 Fortune 500 CEOs were greek.

Have you ever heard of Yahoo!? It was co-founded by famous Phi Psi Jerry Yang.

Greeks even excel in athletics. Nile Kinnick, Mark Spitz, Ron Yary,and several others were all Phi Psis.

Look around you. Have you ever noticed how visible greeks are? They are everywhere. They run clubs and organizations all over campus.

In fact, studies show that over 85 percent of student leaders on over 730 campuses are all greek.

There must be some reason for this.

Perhaps the most important benefits of fraternities and sororities are those felt by undergraduates.

Besides providing a certain amount of social structure, the greek system also provides leadership opportunities, networking, development of social and communication skills and more.

Perhaps the most important benefits for members are those of an academic nature.

According to a study done by the U.S. government, 70 percent of college students involved in the greek system reach graduation. This is compared to a rate of under 50 percent for non-greeks.

Obviously, there must be some benefits to the communities stemming from fraternities and sororities, considering the number of community leaders spawned by the greek system and the obvious benefits of membership.

It would be a tragedy for these organizations to return to an underground status.

A future without fraternities doesn’t sound all that realistic to me.

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Doug Bywater

Senior

Marketing

Member of Phi Kappa Psi