Calling all those that want adventure, want to expand their social life, and those that are bored for the majority of you time during the day! The thing that can give you more adventure, a bigger social life, and rid you of your boredom is being held back from you and you do not even know it. Brigham Young University does not allow students to start up or join any fraternities or sororities, and I do not agree with this. Yes we are allowed to join different clubs of our choice; however fraternities and sororities have things to offer that the simple club cannot. Clubs meet no more than once a week if not less than that. Yes these activities can provide one with a sense of excitement, but on the flip side fraternities and sororities meet every day since most of the members live in the same little area, if you will. BYU should allow individuals to set up fraternities or sororities as long as the members adhere to a set of rules that the university complies, including the Honor Code.
A fraternity is a home away from home for people. They are there so that students and members can have fun and forget about the struggles they are facing while away from their parents. Yes most of the times when you hear about fraternities you hear about the parties that can get out of control. For example, at parties there is usually alcohol present, and we all know that when alcohol is involved nothing good will happen. Another example of fraternity parties getting out of hand can be when the fraternity chooses to hold a party at a place that is not available, i.e. breaking and entering to have a party. These problems usually happen because the university does not have a set of rules that they [fraternity and sorority] are required to live by.
When fraternities live by certain rules they can help students take a break from studying or whatever is troubling them at that time. They can accomplish this by going on camping trips or participating in other activities that the members agree on. Since members will have something in common these activities will be easy to decide on. You may argue that these activities can get out of hand. This may be true, but if we really think about it, even without the fraternity sponsoring an activity the same group of individuals could get together and do the same thing. However, once you put a set of rules that they must abide by then the activities will stay under control, more often due to the fact that the students do not want to face the consequences. Yes there are people out there that break rules, to minimize this you can say that if these rules are broken, then the fraternity or sorority will be shut down by the university and the individuals involved in the rule breaking activity will be placed under probation.
The rules for the fraternities are really simple ones to make. Since Brigham Young University already has the Honor Code in place you can issue that same rule, if you will, to the fraternities. Some additional rules can vary depending on the type of fraternity. If it is an academic one you could set the rule that all members must obtain a certain grade point average. If the fraternity is a sport one, it could be required that the student be in at least one P.E. class a year or semester, while a member of the fraternity. Since BYU was ranked as the #1 Stone-Cold Sober Schools in America by the Princeton Review, I feel that if we accept the fact and let students start up fraternities that the university will not have a problem with alcohol.
Another aspect of fraternities that can be somewhat questionable is the initiation process. To make sure that these do not get out of hand, they can be overseen by a representative of the university to make sure the rules are being adhered to. If need be the university could have an individual present at all initiation ceremonies. Since this job, if you will, can be very complicated, a full-time employee may be needed. Only one will be needed since he or she could preside over all the fraternities and sororities that are at BYU.
Now that the basic rules have been set let us look at some of the different opportunities that fraternities and sororities provide for the individuals that consider themselves lucky enough to be able to belong to a fraternity or sorority. The leadership positions in frats are to be taken very seriously. These positions help individuals acquire the necessary skills that they will need in their futures. Whatever they choose to do for a career, leadership roles will greatly increase their ability to perform; whether it is a professional sports player or an employee of a highly accredited business. Leadership skills will help him/her to persuade others using ethos to change the way that they do things, or whatever it may be. For example, when Beth, a former secretary of a sorority, is asked in a business meeting, what a good way to manage the company’s money would be, she could use her knowledge that she used while in the sorority to help choose a good way to manage money. Yes BYU clubs have these same kinds of positions, but I not everyone that wants to be a leader is elected, and if we have more positions available then more people will get what they want.
With fraternities and sororities having a reputation for behaving in unruly and an illegal manner it is hard to realize the good and potential that they have for individuals. Here are just a few members of some fraternities; Carter D. Womack, executive of the Blockbuster Entertainment Group, and Scottie Pippen, famous NBA player, were members of Phi Beta Sigma (Williams). Bob Barker, ex-host of Price is Right game show is a member of Sigma Nu (Sigma Nu). This being said I think that it is a little easier to see the bright side of frats. Do you really think that Blockbuster would let their executive be somebody that was consistently getting in trouble while in college? These people went on to be great leaders, and we can relate that to the time that the spent in their respective fraternities.
In conclusion I would like to argue my case one more time that fraternities and sororities; although they have a bad reputation they can be a great addition to any college. They provide a sense of unity for a group of individuals. They can help shape us into the leader that one day may run a big company. Finally, with the right rules all things can be good, even a fraternity or sorority. Brigham Young University should take a deeper look at the great benefits of having a campus where fraternities and sororities are available for the college students.
Works Cited
"Famous Members of Sigma Nu Fraternity." 2007 21 Jan 2009
3 comments:
Thesis: BYU should allow sororities and fraternities for students who wish to participate in them.
Audience: I think the audience is two-fold. One is to students who, if they choose, should start supporting the rise of sororities and fraternities at BYU. Additionally, I think the administrators are being targeted because they are the ones with power that can make changes.
Arguments: One argument that should be revised, in my opinion, is the paragraph about famous people who were in sororities or fraternities. Personally, I don't find that very convincing. First of all, the NBA couldn't care less if Scottie Pippen partied every weekend in college and being in a sorority didn't help him be a better baller. Also, how old were all of the others when they obtained their current jobs? I know most, if not all, of those people didn't get those jobs right out of college. Therefore, did being in a sorority really impact them that much? I have my doubts. On the other hand, I think you make good points about what these organizations can do for people. It would be a good way for students to meet new people and become more acquainted with college life. Also, you give good reasons as to how to prevent these organizations from getting out of hand.
After going through the rubric I feel like you did very well in each of the categories. Obviously this is a rough draft so the conventions and punctuation errors will be fixed but aside from that I was very impressed. One thing that worked well in your paper was your thesis. It was clear and to the point. Your facts worked well too. You had citations and good examples to prove your thesis. Your organization was well put together as well. Everything made sense in the order it was in. Obviously mechanics can be fixed. Another thing to work on is the phrase "if you will" it was used many times. And the last thing I would work on is tone. Maybe be a little more formal but that is up to you! Good job!
There are a couple of things that I need to do as instructed my Prof. Cowley. I need to in each paragraph tell why frats will help in addition to clubs pertaining to the particular topic discussed in each paragraph.
Before the final draft is due I will read it out loud to help find punctuation and other conventional errors.
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