It would seem that the recent fraternity scandals, most notably the SAE situation at OU, have caused many to call for the abolition of Greek systems all together. While we’ve heard it from everyone from reporters to university officials, an unexpected voice has now jumped into the fray.
Will Ferrell, an actor who has seemingly made an entire career of playing overgrown frat boys (oh, hi “Old School”?), answered a few questions at South By Southwest. When he was asked to comment on his own fraternity experience as a Delta Tau Delta at University of Southern California and whether “fraternity membership is still a worthy consideration for a college student,” he did not seem too supportive of the Greek system.
From The Huffington Post:
The incident in Oklahoma, that is a real argument for getting rid of the system altogether, in my opinion, even having been through a fraternity. Because when you break it down, it really is about creating cliques and clubs and being exclusionary. Fraternities were started as academic societies that were supposed to have a philanthropic arm to them. And when it’s governed by those kind of rules, then they’re still beneficial. But you gotta be careful. I was lucky in that the one I was in, we were really kind of the anti-fraternity fraternity. We were considered good enough to get the exchanges with the good sororities. We couldn’t get anyone to vote on anything, but if you needed 40 guys to show up and build a 20-foot-tall papier-mâchéversion of the Matterhorn, we were there and ready. But we didn’t take it too seriously. It was just about having fun. But I think it’s an interesting dilemma for universities these days.”
You know what? Based on that, it sounds like you weren’t in an “anti-fraternity fraternity” at all. It seems like you were in the same exact kind of organization we are all in — the kind where people show up and do the work. The kind that has both an academic and philanthropic focus while at the same time creating social opportunities. The kind where things like what happened at OU are the exception rather than the rule.
You’re lucky you’re so funny..
[via The Huffington Post ]
Nice Move253
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Jenna Crowley
Jenna used to be known as 2NOTBrokeGirls, but then one of the girls actually went broke, so she's struck out on her own. Jenna spends her free time saving the world, one sorority girl at a time (usually while wearing yoga pants), questioning why she decided to get a doctorate, and documenting her love of all things cheese related. You can ask her anything you want about football, using your boobs to get what you want, and pizza at @JennaLCrowley on Twitter or via email at JennaLCrowley@gmail.com.
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