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We, the members of the Panhellenic and Interfraternity Conferences that make up the SC Greek community, want to formally apologize for last year. 

Starting on Black Monday and ending in multiple compromising positions on top of a roof, we know we messed up more than a few times. Despite all of the finger pointing and obnoxious rankings we use to compare houses, we know that we are a collective organization, only as strong as our weakest link. If one house messes up, every house needs to take responsibility on behalf of the Greek community instead of pushing each other off the metaphorical roof (last roof joke, I promise). 

It is a new year, though, so we need to put all of last year’s problems behind us and have a fresh start. That means lifting all extreme social probation and allowing the Greek community to prove itself this year.

We now know how seriously the University will act if the Greek community messes up again. We all understand that embarrassing SC on a national scale like we did last year cannot happen again. Everybody needs to be more vigilant and search out kids who seem to have had too much to drink, instead of just accepting ambulance transports as a nearly weekly occurrence. Talk to any member of any house and they will not hesitate to tell you about all of the changes their houses have made in policy regarding any parties for this year. Safety no longer comes second.

Ironically, as safety goes up in priority for Greek houses, it seems as if the University overlooks some major safety issues for Greek students. 

Not having parties on the row has resulted in a diaspora of students scavenging, looking for parties nearly every night. This means students are venturing into areas around SC with significantly less DPS and LAPD presence than the row. Meaning, in the case that someone passes out from too much alcohol, it will not be in a heavy traffic area where someone will help him or her out immediately. It means passing out on some random street where they may not be found for a much longer time.

It would be ignorant to think that just because the row gets shut down, students are going to stay inside and do all their work. This is college. Students will go a long way just to get a little bit of party in their systems. 

The recent shooting at West 37th Place further shows the necessity of having the row open. Despite the beautiful bubble we live in at SC, it can be easy to forget that our school still resides in one of the rougher areas of Los Angeles. Some of the locals are not friendly and could present many future problems as students travel further away from SC to party. 

Row social probation and restriction is a lot like pinching a hose. It may stop the beer from coming out for a bit, but once you let go, a lot of beer bursts out at one time. If that were to happen, Greek safety issues would only worsen.

As cliché as it sounds, students involved in Greek life actually are among the most active undergraduate students at SC. Most of us do not dream of being perpetually drunk. In addition to being full-time students, we are volunteering with Troy Camp, filming movies, establishing big budget start-up companies, working thankless internships, and writing opinion pieces for Neon Tommy. We could not party all the time if we wanted to. We love SC, but much like the middle child in a family of five, though, it always feels as if our major accomplishments go unnoticed, while our shortcomings are quickly chastised and blown out of proportion just because we’re Greek. 

In reality, students involved in Greek life want to be exemplary representatives of SC’s diverse and involved student body. We are a large group of individuals who find ways to balance flourishing social lives in addition to all of our work and responsibilities. Sure, some students may be social to excess, but that will be the case, regardless of whether or not the row is open for parties.

We are a group of mostly well-adjusted individuals who balance our social lives in addition to our work and responsibilities. Much like the university, we do not want to be associated rampant misogyny, alcohol poisoning, and general stupidity. Please work with us while we try to revamp our image and figure out better safety protocol, but do not punish us by taking away social events that are integral to the Greek experience and could lead to even bigger external safety problems.

Love,

The Greeks