Brandon Steinbrook came to Ball State University with no intention of joining a fraternity. He didn't know much about greek organizations except for their portrayals on TV, which rarely painted an accurate picture.
When a friend from his floor freshman year invited him to a fraternity house, Steinbrook said he went with an open mind. He made friends from his floor during the first semester, but when he went back to the fraternity house during his second semester, he saw how inaccurate media portrayals were.
Now a senior, a member of Theta Chi fraternity and the president of the Interfraternity Council, Steinbrook occasionally is faced with defending Ball State's greek community from some people who believe the common greek myths and stereotypes - self-centered, chauvinistic, meat-headed frat boys and conceited, ditsy sorority girls who all paid for friends.
Ball State's greek students put in hundreds of community service hours and raise tens of thousands of dollars for charitable organizations each school year. However, Steinbrook contends that greeks' good deeds are overshadowed by stereotypes stemming from rumors and media coverage of the one or two incidents every year in which a fraternity or sorority member has a run-in with the law.
Cara Luyster, assistant director of Student Life, said she's worked exclusively with the greek community for about five years and believes in what she does.
"I would have to say I really enjoy what I do," she said. "Most [greeks] want to work pretty hard and better their chapters and communities."
Matt Lander, president of Delta Sigma Phi fraternity, thinks the key to achieving a wider acceptance of the greek community is open-minded interaction. He grew up near Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. He said the greek community on that campus is much larger than at Ball State. His interactions with greeks there perpetuated stereotypes. Once at Ball State, however, he found being social and friendly would dispel many preconceived notions people had about greek life.
The problem is reaching everyone. Greeks are outnumbered about 11 to one at Ball State. They comprise roughly 8 percent of the student body - about 1,200 people - according to Ball State's Web site.
Greek organizations have a few weeks at the beginning of every school year to attract people, mostly freshmen, before Rush Week, in which people pledge to fraternities and sororities.
Steinbrook said if people don't put in the effort to determine whether the stereotypes have some truth to them, they usually will be misinformed.
Delta Sigma Phi is relatively new to campus. Representatives from the national headquarters came to Ball State looking for students to found a chapter a few years ago. Lander and his friends took the opportunity.
"I was basically doing it because I knew I could make something different out of it and it wouldn't have to be a stereotypical frat," he said.
Some people reinforce stereotypes, Lander said, and look like they came out of a movie, but most greeks aren't bad.
Steinbrook said when some people hear news of someone in the greek community making a mistake or getting in trouble, they assume it's an example of how all greeks are.
"The biggest thing is that the positive media coverage is overshadowed by negative media coverage," he said.
The Daily News reported an incident at the beginning of the semester in which a former student was found to have a gun in his backpack after an altercation at Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity's new house on Riverside Avenue. Steinbrook said whenever one thing like this happens, it gets blown out of proportion and people overlook the positive things greeks do and point to the bad incident.
The Daily News has reported other incidents involving fraternities and sororities in the past few years. However, before the Sigma Phi Epsilon incident, the last article that reported a negative event taking place at a greek organization was nearly two school years ago.
In February 2008, the newspaper reported five members of Delta Tau Delta fraternity had violated an alcohol prohibition set to last until August of this year. The prohibition stemmed from a series of incidents in prior months.
In November 2007, members of Delta Tau Delta were arrested in connection with a burglary at Theta Chi fraternity's house. Paddles, trophies, photos and a flag, all of which Theta Chi reported stolen, were found in the arrested members' rooms. A subsequent review from the fraternity's national headquarters resulted in 19 members' expulsion and seven members' suspension.
In January 2008, Director of Public Safety Gene Burton speculated the motive for the vandalism of $1,500 worth of property at Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity's house and parking lot was some sort of retaliation from another fraternity. Sigma Phi Epsilon members defended other greeks and didn't believe they were responsible. Members said interfraternity pranks were usually light-hearted and fun and that incident was not. In the article, Burton said he based his analysis on experience.
Luyster said negative articles get more attention than the positive ones and do more to shape opinions. That is indicative of news consumption throughout the country, she said.
"The more dramatic the news is, the more people will care about it," she said. " ... Unfortunately, people are going to believe what they want to believe."
Despite the negative incidents during that school year, in April 2008, the Daily News published an editorial praising greeks for the amount of service work and charity events they do. The editorial board at that time admitted fraternities and sororities took "a lot of flack from the Daily News and students on campus," but overall, were a credit to Ball State.
For every negative article about greeks, the paper has published multiple stories about charity events, growth statistics and overall trends.
Greek organizations retain more freshmen to their sophomore years than those not affiliated with a fraternity or sorority, according to Ball State's Web site. In 2007, the most recent year for which data is available, 78.3 percent of freshmen enrolled for a sophomore year at Ball State. Greeks retained 90.64 percent.
Grade point averages also are higher for greeks. In Fall 2008, the average GPA at Ball State was 2.918, whereas greeks' GPAs were 2.986.
Greek organizations spent 7,418 hours doing community service during the Spring Semester of this year. They did 9,157 in all of 2008. While service hours have increased, the amount of money raised last semester is a bit off pace from both semesters in 2008. They raised $17,538.51 in the spring and $72,608.38 in all in 2008.
Delta Sigma Phi raises money for the American Red Cross. Lander said he and other members are organizing Ball State's first interfraternity paint ball tournament for later in the school year.
Julie Hankins, director of military and volunteer services at the Hoosier Heartland branch of the Red Cross in Muncie, said she has never had a negative experience while working with greek organizations at Ball State. In her 18 years at the Red Cross, she's worked with greeks every year.
"Our experience has been wonderful," Hankins said. "Anytime they have volunteered they have gone above and beyond the call of duty. Every one of them had the greatest attitude of just wanting to help."
Every year some of the best volunteers come from the Ball State greek community, she said. The employees at Red Cross love working with them and always welcome them because of their spirit and energy.
"It's hard when somebody's not really motivated," she said. "But it's really a pleasure and a joy to work with Ball State students."
Robyn Wood, development coordinator at Riley Hospital for Children, shared the enthusiasm for the greek community. Several fraternities and sororities have events benefitting Riley each year. Steinbrook said Theta Chi has been organizing Waterdaze every fall since 1990 to benefit the hospital.
"They've been good," Wood said. "They're very excited about the fundraising they do for us and it's not a burden. They're always upbeat and energetic."
Wood said Riley couldn't exist without volunteer work from various organizations, including greeks. The hospital's interactions with fraternities and sororities have always been positive and productive, she said.
Despite positive reviews from the people greeks do service work for, Steinbrook said most of the work goes unnoticed by a lot of campus.
"It's just definitely not something that's talked about when you think about Ball State," he said. "It's whatever negative media from the last four years that's floating around."
Luyster said greeks are held to a higher standard than unaffiliated students. They have access to the best leadership programs in the country. As leaders, they let people know about the good things they do in the community. Members represent themselves and their entire organization.
"I think the higher standard is why they are and why they should be held more accountable," she said.
When people claim to be the present and future leaders in the world, people will pay attention when they mess up, she said.
"I guess it's the downfall for people who achieve," Luyster said.
For Lander, the way to kill negative stereotypes, and any others, is for people to be open-minded and give the greek community a chance.
He said he meets some people who are put off by fraternities. Sometimes people are "stuck in their ways" and won't hear anything that goes against the rumors they heard, he said.
"Generally on our campus we aren't [stereotypes]," Lander said. "You run into them sometimes. You occasionally run into a guy that's a movie stereotype. But I would say for people to give it a chance and get to know somebody. It's just like any other stereotype."
Luyster said the only thing greeks can do is continue to be transparent. Being open and sharing information, whether it's positive or negative, will let people develop educated opinions.
Steinbrook said an important thing to do is to keep getting positive attention from media in order to improve students' perceptions of the greek community, and when greek students or groups of greeks get in trouble, to reprimand them accordingly and distance them from their fraternity or sorority.
"It's always one or two people," he said. "It's never the whole fraternity or sorority."
Greek communityThere are about 1,200 greek students at Ball State which is about 8 percent of the student body. They are outnumbered about 11 to one by the rest of the student body.
Freshmen retentionGreek organizations retained 90.64 percent of their freshmen in 2007. The rest of Ball State retained 78.3 percent.
Grade point averageThe average GPA for greek students in Fall Semester 2008 was 2.986. The rest of the campus averaged 2.918.
Service hoursGreek students spent 7,418 hours doing community service during Spring Semester 2009. They did 9,157 in all of 2008.
Money raised for charityGreek students raised $17,538.51 for charity during Spring Semester 2009. They raised $72,608.38 in both semesters of 2008.
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