Need for sense of belonging counteracts societal labeling

Friday, October 16, 1998

Need for sense of belonging counteracts societal labeling

COMMUNITY: Stereotyping associated with Greeks not appealing to
most students

By Jeremy Jordan

When first arriving at UCLA, most of us are overwhelmed by the
huge community we realize we have become a part of. I think this is
especially true for freshman and those who have had little or no
exposure to a city like Los Angeles. (I assume this needs no
clarification for anyone who’s been here more than a week.)

The term ‘community’ refers a group of people dynamically
interacting with one another. Most of us are not content with our
lives of merely interacting with school and/or work (yet, I’m
constantly surprised at the number of people for whom this seems
not to apply). So, we seek to develop a social life of some sort or
another in the best fashion we know of.

For some people this means attempting to socially establish
themselves by associating with things the community views as good,
prestigious, etc. This applies in a bigger sense to most people
these days, but that’s another story.

Some people are intimidated at the idea of making choices about
their social involvement and behavior purely on their own. I
definitely don’t blame them, since the human race has developed
this annoying tendency to criticize people whenever possible.
Sometimes it’s just easier to go along with the crowd.

More and more people, however, are starting to develop an
awareness of the beauty and power of thought, and their minds,
regardless of what others may say about their choices. (Please
write this down if this is the first you’ve heard of this; I know
there’s a lot of you out there).

We are also beginning to realize how and how much of our
thought, behavior, perspectives, opinions, ideas, desires, morals,
goals and, sadly enough, our truths are shaped by things other than
decisions we make ourselves. This discovery can be accomplished
through thinking. (Does anyone else think this should be a new
general education requirement?) I think that this thought-process
is keeping people from joining the Greek system more so than it has
in the past. More people are seeking to define themselves on their
own terms.

I want to stop here to state that I don’t feel that everyone who
joins the Greek system need be doing it for one of these reasons.
Very many of my close friends come from a wide variety of
fraternities and sororities. I also feel they have a lot to offer
in terms of friends, a sense of community, parties, activities,
members of the opposite sex, parties, etc.

Yet, I think more college students are turned off these days by
the idea of being categorized or defined in some way. I feel that
no matter who you are, this can’t be completely avoided if you
choose to join the Greek system.

I also know and feel that some people join because it’s so damn
hard to meet people at this school ­ let alone get a smile out
of somebody ­ who (God forbid) doesn’t know you (excuse my
language but I’ve been waiting a while to publicly vent that
one).

The fast-paced, routine-oriented lifestyle of Los Angeles in
general is just not conducive to meeting people, and some of us
just can’t make it without a decent number of decent friends to
lean on once in a while.

Basically, we just need to get to know each other. This will
help expand our understanding of the ways of the world, which in
turn will relieve our social tensions.

Do this however you would like, and always remember to have fun,
and to love and respect everyone ­ because we’re all in this
together.

Comments, feedback, problems?

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