Every time I see the word Greek marketed on a college campus I grind my teeth, squint my eyes, and shake my head slowly. When I am asked in public whether I am, “Greek,” I smile with a fictional bubble above my head, grinding my teeth, squinting my eyes and shaking my head, very slowly. Of course, I have to inform them that I am in a Latino Greek-lettered organization and the Greek letters are only meaningful symbols, not defining characters. Then I have to be specific about the organization I am in, emphasizing international fraternity incorporated at the very end. Then I have to break it down even further once I get the confused look followed by the, “Oooooooo, ok,” as they nod their heads with a smile, confirming what I just said. I get this reaction most often than not from staff members, faculty, administrators, business people, political figures, and many others; even people who call themselves “Greek.”
The truth is that most people do not know about the true impact of social organizations in this country, about Sigma Lambda Beta or about the historical context of social organizations around the world. The problem is that we are not informed or choose not to be. When people do decided to listen, the messages lack continuity, they are manipulated, and strictly one sided or hyper exaggerated. This is the direct formulation of what happens next: what we hear is what we see what we see is what we believe and what we believe becomes ingrained-it becomes, “the way it is.” Now, every organization has room for improvement but some just pass on old pointless traditions. If we do not challenge our traditions, our customs, our language or our image, we give more reason for others to believe the hype.
If you’re feeling what this article is trying to convey at this point, you can start by choosing to challenge yourself as a member of a Greek-lettered organization, don’t worry every one will follow in time. I know this because I have slowly done so myself, and I mean slowly because out-right change is hard for individuals to comprehend; animals adapt better to drastic change. I started by sharing diverse stories of my experience as a brother with others and not just brothers, not just on excess but pure substance. From time to time, I submerge my blogs, videos, pictures, quotes, posts, updates, and wikis with rich substance. In that substance, I believe the perspective of who we are and what we represent will change leaving a chill in the thoughts of many. Then and only then, can we be blamed for nothing but good deeds, and believe me when I say that people will find something to complain about.
In sum, I want to grow old with my brothers, stroll around in strollers, call out, cook out, and mentor young brothers with out any explanation of why I do what I do. I want to walk into a place, be around prominent figures, wear my fraternal pin and cause silence. Not an awkward silence like I face now, but a silence that signifies respect. How great is that? No explanations, nothing to defend because your actions will speak louder than any words. I can truly say that we are headed in the right direction, but we have more work to do, more trials to face, more seeds to plant, more plants to water, and more water for the plants and seeds. All in all, I would like to hear more about the positive spirits, hearts and minds of our fraternal brotherhood embedded in the pillars of our society for generations to come.
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