Mingguang Zhou
Esl 118 Karen Best
Paper 1 Draft 2
Sep 21, 2014

Keep Fraternities Alive Fraternities, which include 5346 Chapters on about 800 campuses(North American Interfraterp, 135), play important roles in University life. However, these Greek life groups are highly involved in alcohol-fueled scenes (Perez-Pena&Yaccino, 2014, p.116) and some people suggest they should be totally banned due to the accidents and troubles they are continually causing. But since frats make positive contribution to members and schools, and there are solutions rather than banning to solve the problems related to frats, banning fraternities is not a appropriate way. To start with, we should admit that party is not the constant theme of fraternities, they do contribute to campus. For the members, frat experience is functional to improve their personality. In the academic year 2012-2013, U.S frats have altogether done 2. 8 millions hours community service and raised 21.1 dollars for philanthropy (North American Interfraternity Conference, p.135). So as Smithhisler (2014), the CEO of the North-American Interfraternity says, brothers can learn valuable lessons to become a better man from the huge quantity time of service and leadership training within it. (p.109). Moreover, frats even post positive effect directly on member’s academic and vocation career: the members own higher graduation rates than nonmembers (Perez-Pena&Yaccino, 2014, p.117 ) with higher average GPA-The all-fraternity GPA is 2.912 while all-male GPA is 2.828 in the academic year 2012-2013. Fraternities and Sororities also provide edges for members when they become employees (North American Interfraternity Conference, 135). According to The Gallup Blog (2014, p.134) and Monthly Labor Review(2014, p.136), frat members are more engaged in their work and have higher wages at the beginning of the career. Thus, fraternities indeed offer benefits in universities. However, the advantages of frats seems to be overwhelmed by the detriment they bring. Frats are regarding as groups with predictable high risk(cited in Fierberg, 2014, p.109), with more than 60 fraternity-related death since 2005.(Glovin, Hechinger&McDonald, 2014, p.130). As Fierberg (2014) analyses, the self-management of frats leads easy access of alcohol to members which mostly are under 21 (p.134) and alcohol is the catalyst of serious campus violence-64% male rape perpetrators were using alcohol alcohol before the attack(p.119) and 80 percent of fatal hazing have involved. Thus, sexual assault becomes a highlight problem in Greek life with the prompt of alcohol: Fouber(2013), a professor at Oklahoma State University, working on sexual assault issues, with his colleges, has conducted a study that indicates frat men are three times more likely to commit rape than nonmember college students; Another study suggests sororities members are 74% more likely to experience rape than other college women. Moreover, hazing has long been the frat culture (Glovin, Hechinger&McDonald, 2014, p.132). The result for victims is no doubt as terrible as losing live, and for the members who make mistakes, the cost can also be devastating, wasting huge amount of money to work on legal defense (Flanagan,2014, p.108) or just be throw into jails (Winerip,2012,p.128-129). Therefore, people claims frats should be totally closed to avoid the several threatens and problems. Nevertheless, banning frats is not the practical solution to solve frat problems. People may assume when Greek life are prohibited, there would be much less chance for students to get extensive drinking experience (cited in Smithhisler, 2014, p.109) and therefore colleges can be get rid of incidents related to alcohol. However, the fact does not go this way. Fraternities can still survive underground. According to Perez-Pena and Yaccino(2014), Amherst has banned the