It is understandable why fraternities have such a bad rep, especially when the only press they receive in the news is negative. To truly know what Greek organizations are about, one must be a part of one. Being a member of a Greek organization has greatly helped me grow as a person and has given me great opportunities to succeed after college. I have made so many great friends here, people that I would normally have never met. I have participated in many philanthropy events and raised money for great causes such as cancer research. I have made many great connections with alumni which have helped me gain interviews and internships at prestigious companies. Ever since joining a fraternity my GPA has skyrocketed, I attribute this to the hard work and success of my brothers which has been contagious to me. All these reasons listed are just part of the reason why joining a fraternity was one of the best decisions of my life. If more individuals were educated on the benefits of going Greek, not just the poor actions and decisions of the very few, fraternities would definitely be seen in a more positive light.
I don't think you need to get all defensive about fraternities to investigate why they are often portrayed in negative and stereotyped ways in the media or, alternately, to show the positives of Greek organizations in shaping successful grads. You also do not need to assume there is a media conspiracy out to get fraternities. Instead, you should find some angle on "fraternity bashing" that seeks to frame the issue -- or just focus instead on some positive way that fraternities give their members a boost (which research supports). I have three suggestions to give you some idea of the form this might take:
ReplyDelete1) Fraternity Liability and the Law
There is a legal debate about whether or not fraternities can be held liable for what happens in their houses or if the individuals involved are liable. The movement toward individual liability is a natural development given the increasing privatization of risk in American culture generally and the loss of an "in loco parentis" notion of college as a place where young people are supervised and protected by campus authorities. One example of this literature:
NON-HAZING INJURIES TO FRATERNITY AND SORORITY MEMBERS: SHOULD THE FRATERNAL ASSOCIATION BE REQUIRED TO ASSUME A PARENTAL ROLE? by Angela N. Marshlain, Appalachian Journal of Law 5.1 (2006)
A more popular (and very messily written) account of these issues can be found in Caitlin Flanagan's "The Dark Power of Fraternities" The Atlantic (March 2014)
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/03/the-dark-power-of-fraternities/357580/
Skip down to about the halfway mark and you will find the core of the argument involving the way that fraternities shift blame to individuals in their houses. Perhaps this piece could be your counter-argument, as she thinks fraternities are to blame. But you should be able to recruit a large number of legal scholars to help you trounce her scattershot argument against frats.
In constructing your argument, you can explore why fraternities should not be blamed for the behavior of college students. Along the way, you could explore the complete relationship between fraternities and the Universities with which they are associated -- including the way they are part of the "party pathway" that can benefit colleges.
2) Frats on Film, from Animal House to Neighbors
You can examine the way that fraternities have been portrayed at different eras and how the media itself may have helped to shape the way fraternities function. An article that might give you some ideas (though it is not a scholarly article -- just a place to start):
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/02/pop-cultures-war-on-fraternities/284126/
By doing a close reading of some film portraits of frats, and the historical differences between them -- you might discover some explanation for the negative stereotypes that dominate in pop cultures portrayals of Greek life. Perhaps those stereotypes mask a critique of "Generation Me."
More in next comment...
By the way: in looking at film portrayals of fraternities, you would be able to treat the films you examine as primary sources.
Delete3) A Benefit of Fraternity Membership
Rather than writing a "compare/contrast" argument that tries to portray all negative statements about fraternities as "false stereotypes" and then offers a laundry list of good things that fraternities do, you could just ignore the negative and focus on the evidence for some positive benefits of fraternity membership. I have had several students write successful papers like that, which discuss a range of issues from the way Greek life develops "soft skills" to the way it supports social and academic integration, especially among minority students. Here are some blogs from those students that might give you ideas:
http://franksblogbodega.blogspot.com/
http://alexis201college.blogspot.com/
http://gabes201college.blogspot.com/
http://successbound94.blogspot.com/
4) Finally, you could focus on a particular case where frats got a bum rap -- maybe in the fake rape accusations in Rolling Stone, for instance -- and, by looking closely at that case, discover what the real issue might be. At the worst, you would be able to go deep into a particular case and you would end up with an interesting project, even if you struggled to come up with a good argument about the case.
All of these suggestions depend on the assumption that you can't begin by making up your mind about the issue. You have to start by looking at the evidence itself and see where it leads you.