Five years as an active Greek — including a year as the AEPi president — taught me that if haters gonna hate, they’re probably going to do it without even really understanding what it is they’re criticizing.

Take the criticism of Greeks that we pay for friends — it’s just not true. We’re groups of friends who pool our money together to pay for things we couldn’t afford on our own. You try throwing over four dozen large-scale events per quarter and see if you come out on top. 

Greek orgs not only navigate that kind of calendar, but we still manage to cover everyone at our events with insurance that tops UC SHIP. For the record, you currently pay more in mandatory quarterly student fees to A.S. Council than you would pay in chapter dues.

Then there’s the opinion that we’re stupid. The IFC and PHC average GPA is higher than the average UCSD GPA, meaning that if you take a test next to someone in letters, they’re probably going to beat you on the curve.

At Round Table Friday, do you actually see douchey jocks and judgmental betches, or do you read that personality onto Greeks based on how you expect Greeks to be? Maybe you’ve met Greeks who live up to the stereotypes. Yet, that’s because in reality, Greeks are a diverse group. We actively recruit to make our community composed of people both similar and different from ourselves to foster everyone’s personal growth. 

While last week, under-informed voices rushed to criticize our Greek life after the reprehensible events at UCI, a letter reaffirming our community’s stance against complacency in structural inequality was co-signed by 33 Greek presidents. Working with competent, cohesive and fiercely independent leaders like these is a privilege. Unlike the occasional self-entitled paid A.S. councilmember, Greek leaders pay to be a part of their chapters and, in my humble experience, selflessly work harder on behalf of their peers. We consider non-Greeks to be our peers as well, but because of all the misrepresentative notions about Greek life, many campus communities fail to see us eye-to-eye on this point.

Greek programming isn’t limited to student leaders taking the initiative to create the philanthropic and social student life that UCSD often fails to provide. We also give future Greek leaders the opportunity for real-world experience at managing the money, people and logistics that make the wheels turn. We also offer fellow Greek brothers and sisters a sense of community within a massive school — something Greeks don’t have to depend on admin to provide for us.

You can’t just overlay your values onto the Greek system and then claim it’s in a state of failure because you predict that it won’t meet your standards. After all, do you even lift?