To Greek, or not to Greek

1.      The place of the issue I’m investigating if where all of the fraternities are located. The streets walking away from Penn State past downtown are flooded with these gorgeous mansions. Stain-glass windows, stone or brick fronts, stone porches, and flush green yards are the layout for all fifty-three fraternities here at Penn State. One specific fraternity I’m investigating is Kappa Delta Rho or KDR for short. Standing in front of the house one can see the massive front lawn studded with bushes and an apple tree off to the left. The house itself is stone on the outside with a wrap-around porch starting at the front door going to the left where there is a cabana. Above the front door are three massive stain-glass windows; the center window has the crest on it. The whole house stands three stories tall and then a basement underneath. Walking into the house there is the main hallway which has white tile floors, off to the left is the empty party/dance room with hardwood floors, past that is the champagne room which is carpeted and has a few couches and chairs, off to the right is another hardwood floor room which has many different uses, and past that to the right is the kitchen which has massive refrigerators and other kitchen apparatus. Then straight back is the library of the house, filled with books and the most recent house chapter profile. The overall inside of the house looks like it’d belong along the shores of California.

2.      “Your GPA will not go down. In fact, it’ll probably go up. We have mandatory study hours every day so you’re forced to do your homework.” –Rob Dion, junior, president.

“I’m a double major in kinesiology and psychology, have a 3.8, and I’m the president of a very social fraternity; it is damn easy to have a high GPA. I’m pretty sure the house GPA is around a 3.5 or 3.6; we’re not stupid like some people think.

“All of the upperclassmen know which classes to take and have all of the answers to the assessments so those classes allow you to boost your overall GPA.”-Alex Dachille, sophomore, rush chair.

3.      The overall GPA of the Penn State fraternity system is a 3.41-IFC (http://pennstateifc.org/)

“We hold the members of fraternities to high academic standards and want to ensure every brother is pursuing academic excellence.” -Ryan Fitzpatrick, VP at IFC

KDR’s house has an average GPA of 3.5 or 3.6

I myself have seen me be more attentive in class and doing homework better because I know I have to dedicate a large amount of time each day to being a fraternity member.

4.      As of right now I’ve only talked with the members of KDR. I feel like interviewing brothers from other fraternities with equivalent time commitments as KDR will make a stronger paper.

I haven’t interviewed any girls who are pledging sororities or current sisters. There could be a contrast between the grades between fraternities and sororities.