Schowalter 1

Madison Schowalter

Dean Leonard

ENG 1201.509

27 June 2019

Annotated Bibliography

In my essay, I intend on investigating the impacts that Greek life has on both the students and

community of college campuses. How have these organizations prepared students for the future?

How do the drinking drink rates compare to those not affiliated with Greek organizations? These

are just a few questions I hope to find clarity and answers for in my research.

Brumfield, Lesley. "Do Good: Greek Letter Organizations and Community Service." Honors

Thesis, University of Southern Mississippi, 11 May 2012, pp 4-24.

https://aquila.usm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=

1&article=1019&context=honors_theses. Accessed 27 June 2019.

Lesley Brumfield, wrote her thesis paper at The University of Southern Mississippi on

the community service that Greek organizations take part in. In “Do Good: Greek Letter

Organizations and Community Service,” Brumfield cites many different scholarly authors and

researchers who have spent years in the field of community service. Her information is reliable

and backed up, leaving no room for questions. I believe the purpose was to demonstrate just how

much fraternities and sororities serve the community. Brumfield does a wonderful job showing

the statistics of different Greek letter organizations service hours. Because this source is just over

5 years old, I do believe that the numbers may be slightly off. But relative to the program itself,

which first founded in the late 1700, 5 years is not too outdated.
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In “Do Good: Greek Letter Organization and Community Service,” Brumfield talks about

how Greek life used to not be the social organizations it is now. But when the academic

fraternities turned into social fraternities, they begun to foster a sense of community and

belonging. Students search for friendship and approval in the first few months of college and the

Greek community offers just that. Brumfield does a good job articulating how each Greek letter

organization does its fair share of serving. Brumfield’s study shows that the three different

organizations, North-American Interfraternity Conference (NAIFC), National Panhellenic

Conference (NPC), and National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC), all have instilled the values of

serving into each student. She goes further to describe just how these values have impacted the

community and the futures of the students.

I plan on using this to speak on behalf of the philanthropy, which has become prominent

in these organizations. It was difficult to find a quality piece of work that went so deeply into the

service that these students do. I believe this piece offers detailed statistics that will help me reach

all audiences. She cited many credible experts and researchers, making her information credible

and accurate.

Dara, Jillian. “10 Ways Greek Life Prepares You for Real Life.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite

Information Network, 21 Nov. 2014, www.usatoday.com/story/college/2014/11/21/10-

ways-greek-life-prepares-you-for-real-life/37398603/. Accessed 26 June 2019.

Jillian Dara, author of “10 Ways Greek Life Prepares You for Real Life,” speaks on

behalf of USA Today, which is a well-known media source. It is typically known to be reliable

and have quality information. I believe this article is aimed towards students who are starting

college and deciding whether or not to join a Greek letter organization. With that being said, I
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think the purpose of this article is to help students see the benefits of rushing. Dara talks about

how it can be hard to hear about the benefits when the negative pieces are the only parts things

being broadcasted to the media. I like the way Dara explains how the negatives are present, but

she wants to shine light on the things that aren’t getting the attention they deserve. I hope to use

this strategy to be persuasive and credible in my paper.

Dara speaks about students are exposed to different people of different cultures, social

backgrounds, and religions, which is the opposite of what John Hechinger, speaker in “The

Riddle of Greek Life” Youtube film, believes. Dara says that not only are the friendships

lifelong, but so are the connections that students make. Not only are there personal connections

made, but the mere affiliation with two or three Greek letters can one’s foot in the door. On top

of the friendships, there are also many skills learned after spending 4 years in such prestigious

organizations. Many students have the opportunity to work in leadership positions, whether it be

in the chapter house or even on a bigger scale, such as with Panhellenic or Interfraternity

Council. Members learn to get along despite difference. With chapters that may have as many as

450 active members, disagreements are bound to happen. But as sisters or brothers, students

learn to overcome adversities.

Fairlie, Anne M., DeJong, William, Stevenson, John F., Lavigne, Andrea M., Wood, Mark D.

“Fraternity and Sorority Leaders and Members: A Comparison of Alcohol Use, Attitudes,

and Policy Awareness.” American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, Taylor & Francis,

1 July 2010, https://eds-a-

ebscohost.com.sinclair.ohionet.org/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=29&sid=9f5af51c-

3739-484b-8a34-b87c5e71fb9b%40pdc-v-sessmgr03. Accessed 19 June 2019.

Anne M Fairlie, author of “Fraternity and Sorority Leaders and Members: A Comparison

of Alcohol Use, Attitudes, and Policy Awareness,” speaks on the leadership roles that student

take on in the fraternity and compares how these students attitudes towards and affiliations with

alcohol are different than those of students not in leadership positions. After finishing her

research, she came to the conclusions that nationally, leaders at southern universities drink

substantially less than their members in comparison to other universities across the country.

Fairlie believes that each university varies but believes that leaders who see themselves as a role

model to the chapter do not participate in binge drinking because they need to behave

responsibly and protect their members.

The purpose of this piece is to demonstrate the effects of drinking on the Greek

community. It is important that leaders are responsible and take ownership of their chapters. This

article is directed at college faculty and staff so they can see how they can better their “leaders”

and create a safer environment. As staff of prestigious universities, Fairlie, Dejong and

Stevenson all seem pretty credible. Their information is supported by other experts on the topic.

I like this piece because it is different from the other sources I have found. I think that it

is important that the alcohol abuse is addressed, and I think there is no better way than a field

study where the direct results are seen. I hope to use this to talk about the addiction and alcohol

abuse that is seen on campuses nationwide.

Martis, Lily. “5 Ways Rushing a Fraternity or Sorority Will Help You Land a Job.” Monster

Career Advice, www.monster.com/career-advice/article/rushing-fraternity-sorority-help-

you-land-job-0916. Accessed 22 June 2019.

Lily Martis, Writer of “5 Ways Rushing a Fraternity or Sorority Will Help You Land a

Job.” and for Monster.com, speaks about the different ways that joining a fraternity or sorority

turn Potential New Members of Greek letter organizations to Potential New Employees of the

real world. Monster is a website that helps prospective employees finds get their name a resume

out to different companies. Monster also provides “career resources” which give employees tips

and ideas to get the dream job.

Martis says there are 5 aspects of rushing that go hand and hand with job searching. First

she believes that the type of “interview” talk students goes through during rush to pick through

the different chapters mimics the small talk that occurs in interviews as well as the proper

business attire required in interviews. She also believes, like many other sources do, that Greek

affiliates creates a vast networking system that can be beneficial to all student, both Greek and

non-Greek. Martis says that the constant flow of Greek life shows students how the work field

has a constant flow that can be hard to adapt to. Greek life teaches students time management as

well as financial management.

I think the audience of this article is graduated students who are on the search for a job. I

believe this is a reliable source because it is used constantly by adults who are looking for job.

These are experts that are giving advice to help people find the job. I will use this source to talk

more about the future of students who join.

“The Riddle of Greek Life.” Youtube, The New York Times Conference, 31 May 2018,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOG-exduhOw. Accessed 19 June 2019.

In this video John Hechinger, author of The Broken Pledge, and Dr. Eric Barron,

President of Penn State, discuss the obstacles and tragedies we have seen in the past in regard to
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fraternities and sororities. Penn State has recently seen many changes occur due to the death of

Timothy Piazza during a fraternity hazing incident. Dr. Barron believes that the universities

fraternities have always been concerned with the outward appearance, so the local police and

community were unaware of what was going on behind closed doors. Hechinger, on the other

hand believes that these Greek Letter organizations have so much power because of alumni

donations that the University was forced to turn their head when parties and alcohol abuse were

occurring on campus.

Because this was a video produced by the New York Times Conference, I think that this

was intended for parents and scholars who are trying to get a grasp on the harmful aspects of

Greek life and try to make a change. Hechinger speaks about anti-hazing legislations and how

some have been implemented in certain states and not in others where alumni donations are

higher. I think the purpose of this video is to open up a discussion of the legislation that needs to

be put in place in order to prevent the tragedies that have occurred in the past few decades.

New York Times is nationally known and has a good rep, which leads me to believe this

is credible. Both John Hechinger and Dr. Barron have seen the good and the bad of Greek life

and have decided to take a stand and speak up to start a movement. This is relevant to my

research question because it shows how the tragedies that have occurred have sparked a

movement to make a change. I think that it is important to share all aspects of these organizations

to get a real, raw research paper.

Stoettner, Kay. Personal Interview. 22 June 2019.

I interviewed Kay Stoettner, former president of Alpha Chi Omega at The University of

Alabama (2017-2018). Before becoming the president of her chapter, she was the New Member
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educator (2016-2017) and worked with the incoming freshman to help ease the transition from

high school to college. She spoke mostly on the opportunities that she has had that helped her

lead a life of service, leadership, and success.

Stoettner played a big role in creating what is called the Xanax Task Force. This program

addressed the increasing use in prescription drug use, specifically Xanax, among college

students. She wanted to create a board of students who have been directly seen the impacts of

this drug to speak to each chapter house and spread awareness of the rising issue.

Kay also spoke about how her chapter had be awarded top grade for 28 semesters in a

row, maintaining a 3.68 GPA in the fall semester and a 3.69 in the spring semester of the 2018-

2019 school year. She spoke on her opportunities as the president to work with different advisors

with the university and other executive leaders in the chapter to encourage members to use the

resources available in order to maintain adequate grades. Lastly, Stoettner told me about how her

involvement on campus and in the sorority house lead her to many opportunities off campus.

Because of her many leadership positions, Stoettner was able to create a network of faculty, staff,

advisors, and alumni of Alpha Chi Omega. These connections landed Stoettner many prestigious

internships and job opportunities.

I’m going to use this information in my paper to offer real life examples of the beneficial

impacts that Greek organizations have on students. I want to include the personal story because it

creates a sense of emotion that people can connect to.

Swoboda, Zackary. “Greek Life Is Not the Typical Stereotypical Story You’ve Heard.” Indiana

Daily Student, 31 May 2019, https://www.idsnews.com/article/2019/05/column-greek-

life-is-not-the-stereotypical-story-youve-heard. Accessed 27 June 2019.

Zackary Swoboda, author of “Greek Life Is Not the Typical Stereotypical Story You’ve

Heard,” talks about how Greek life is so often portrayed in a negative light that there isn’t time

for the positive impacts to reach the surface of the media. He believes that, although there are

chapters that go to extremes with binge drinking and hazing, there are many more chapters that

do not fit under the umbrella of a “stereotypical fraternity/sorority.” Swoboda speaks about the

many types of philanthropic events that are hosted by different fraternity and sorority chapters,

and the massive amounts of money that is raised by these organizations.

Swoboda cites Dan Stein, president of the Interfraternity Council at Indiana University,

on his experience as a leader over many Greek letter organizations. As the president over all

fraternities on IU’s campus, Stein has the opportunity to see all the pieces that must fall into

place to make things happen. Swoboda also cites Fraternityadvisors.com, and rolls off many

useful statistics, which will help me in my research paper. I like the idea that this source is from

a universities paper, written by Swoboda, who is not a member of any Greek letter organizations.

I think that eliminates any sort of bias, which makes this appear credible. I also think because it

was written in May, it is up to date.