Welcome to the third edition of The Daily’s crowd-sourced column, Frankly Speaking, which has community members weigh in on pressing campus news and debates.
Our third question is:
Does Greek life at Stanford do more harm or more good?
Please submit your responses via Google Forms here. Responses are due by 11.59 on Friday May 16, 2019.
A recap on how this works: every week we release a debate-worthy question. We will accept 250-word (max) responses to the question from readers until the next week. Then we will choose a few particularly incisive submissions to be published in the paper.
Some context you might consider when crafting a response: About 25 percent of the undergraduate student body are members of Greek-letter organizations. However, it seems fair to say nearly all undergraduates have encountered Greek life in some formulation, whether it be through social events, through seeing friends and acquaintances undergo recruitment or by reading about Greek organizations in campus news over the years.
In light of the Fountain Hopper’s recent story about Kappa Sigma’s military ‘Boot Camp’ party, the ResX report about a new campus housing system and the fact that Spring Quarter sees a solid proportion of frosh and some upperclassmen participate in Greek recruitment/pledging, we want to know what you make of the Greek presence on campus.
You could discuss personal or observed experiences, consider how Greek life fits into the larger campus culture, which values Greek life fosters (or does not foster) or address whether there is a difference between ‘typical’ and Stanford Greek. Or put your own spin on it! For this question, ‘good’ and ‘harm’ are purposefully ambiguous terms—make of them what you will. We look forward to hearing from you.
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Our hope is for Frankly Speaking to extend discourse and debate on important subjects beyond Daily staffers. We want to hear from students across disciplines and social identities about their unique takes on the controversial topics and important realities we confront as an institution.
Our main criteria for selecting responses are clarity, creativity and persuasiveness. We encourage you to draw on personal expertise and experience as you justify a stance.
-Vol. 255 Ops Team