It’s Time to Own The Stereotypes
Rick Barnes is a leader in Fraternity & Sorority Life. He has dedicated his career to helping these organizations achieve greatness and now he speaks out about the stereotypes Fraternity and Sorority Life members typically receive.
By RICK BARNES
I love the work I do. The majority of my professional time is spent working with college students as a speaker and consultant. I spend a great deal of that time working with fraternities and sororities. I’ll admit that fraternity/sorority membership isn’t for everyone. I’m not one to suggest that it is necessary for a successful college career. But I would suggest that—at least in my case—the decision to join was one of the best decisions I made as an undergraduate. My fraternity membership provided me with opportunities that I doubt would have come up in many other situations. Leadership positions and opportunities, a home-away-from-home environment, lifelong friendships and colleagues, and a strong commitment to purpose and values—all of these aspects were taught and expected to be followed. For me, fraternity has been a great experience.
But, I’m also a realist with most things. I believe fraternities and sororities provide an awesome opportunity on college campuses. In fact, I believe—when done right—there are few other organizations doing as much for the betterment of students on your average college campus. But, I am also able to recognize that we have our challenges. Any legitimate fraternity or sorority leader recognizes that while we do great things, we also have areas within which we need to improve. Those members who simply espouse to how great “Greek Life” is, without an ability to acknowledge the things that need improvement, are really missing the point of fraternities and sororities in the first place.
We have issues that need our constant attention. Some may refer to these as “stereotypes.” But I have long suggested that much of what we might call stereotypes aren’t stereotypes at all. Much of these are actually facts. You and your organization may not be facing these challenges, but many are. Again, we all know what makes that infamous list. I firmly believe that as long as we call these things stereotypes they will continue to exist. Keeping them on the stereotype list rather than moving them over to the fact list allows us to blame the media, blame the non-members or blame those who dislike us in the first place. The blame game just allows members to complain while some other members continue to perform the stereotypical behaviors.
It’s time to own the stereotypes.
Fraternity and sorority members should be very proud of their membership but this pride should force them into a position where they work to overcome the challenges. They must work to put a stop to those things that make the stereotype list—to decide that enough is enough. To be very clear, it makes no difference that it used to happen that way… or that we’ve always done it a certain way. It’s time to acknowledge that we stand for more than that. It’s time to recognize that these unbelievable organizations are actually above the things that make the negative list of stereotypes. It’s time. Right now.
Rick has several keynotes to help make Fraternity and Sorority organizations the very best that they can be. Visit campuspeak.com/barnes to learn more about Rick and his available keynotes.
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