Originally Posted by Little Dragon
Even though this is not the topic for the thread, on the 1st Semester Freshmen question, I would like to say a couple of things.
1. Don't NIC/NPC ors recruit freshmen? YES. Don't Greek student have better graduation rates than non-Greeks? YES. This being said, isn't the LGLO's critic for freshmen recruitment a critic on mainstream greek recruitment? It may appear so. That's my opinion and I admit I could be wrong. Still, how can this be so wrong? Wouldn't 100 years of college experience prove them a point? I know Latino students live a different reality, let's talk about it.
2. I will speak about my experience. I joined SLB as a 1st semester freshman (I was a 1st semester freshman when I joined the interest group that became the founders at my school), so I think this gives me the right to speak on the subject. When I joined as a freshman, coming from out-of-state, I barely knew anybody. In the fraternity, I found men who quickly became my friends, who help me, who taught me about time management, who gave me study tips, who guided me through my first years and help me become well-acclimated to the college environment. I would have had it very hard to becoming well-acclimated without them. Could I have done it alone? YES. Is that better? I say it depends on the person, for me, it was better my joining SLB. Did the fraternity take time? YES, but had it not been the fraternity, I would have found another extracurricular activity that would still take off my time. SLB did take a lot of my time, specially during the educational process (No, SLB founders are not skaters, we do pledge), but it gave me a lot more back. Everything I received, made me love my letters and love my fraternity. Today, I am a post-graduate alumni. I don't think there is anything wrong with freshmen recruitment, even 1st semester freshmen.
3. Even though SLB does allow freshmen to join, allowing is not the same as only recruiting freshmen. Most men who join SLB are not freshmen, some are, and none of them that I know of, ever regrets it. Freshmen can join, but they are but a part of the new members.
As an addendum, for the GPA requirement, read #2 again. In the fraternity, there is academic support, free tutors, second hand materials, etc. Again, can you find help to raise your GPA outside the fraternity? YES. Nevertheless, I was helped, and helped back many of our new members to bring their grades up. How do you help a Latino student more? Telling him to come back once his grades are better? Or, helping them raise them yourself? You could say we could help him before he joins. That's true, but as a member, he would get the whole experience I talked about in #2.
I know my experience will not convince everybody who is against the freshmen recruitment or will not change anybody's opinion on SLBs GPA requirement, but let's not demonize these two points.
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