"Fraternity Life" and "Sorority Life" lose money for inappropriate portrayals

By Regan Kohler
The UMD Statesman - Staff Writer

May 8, 2003- These days, with all the reality shows being forced upon television audiences, many people appear to be having a hard time distinguishing between truth and exaggeration. An example of such shows that have made an impact on college campuses are MTV's "Fraternity Life" and "Sorority Life." The question most people are asking is, how much is true and how much is trumped up for viewers' entertainment?

These shows portray Greek life as a nonstop party, with the members committing crimes and backstabbing their brothers or sisters. Underage drinking and illegal hazing activities are just a few of these crimes. The fraternity featured on "Fraternity Life" ended up being suspended from its university.

"It's not entertaining if people get along," said Ron Purcell, a member of UMD's chapter of Alpha Phi Omega.

Due to the inappropriate goings-on of these fraternities and sororities on the shows, companies aimed toward Greeks, such as Greek 101.com, have been cutting their ties with MTV because they are afraid of promoting bad examples.

Greek101.com sells apparel to college fraternities and sororities. Co-founder Brett Radmin has said that "concerned students and administrators...would boycott or refuse to purchase products featured on the show because of its negative portrayal of Greek life."

According to Radmin, students and administrators have been posting their opinions of the shows and Greek101.com's affiliation with MTV on the Internet.

One administrator said, "The unfortunate reality is, that if that is what is happening in those chapters, then MTV is right for showing it, flaws and all." The administrator went on to say that bad behavior is usually glorified, adding, "Haven't we seen our student's expectations of Spring Break mirror that of MTV?"

Another administrator shared the same views, saying, "It is hard to argue with MTV on what they show when they are taping real Greeks at a real campus doing these things. Without the MTV cameras rolling, would the two campuses have known what was happening in these off-campus houses and in the town? Probably not!"

Although most administrators seemed to feel that the fraternities and sororities portrayed played up to students' expectations, many students who posted their comments on the Internet didn't seem to agree. One student in the Southwest said, "I am so upset at those shows. They give us all a bad name."

Another student from Temple University said, "We can all agree that the hazing and inappropriate behavior displayed on MTV are completely inaccurate portrayals of Greek life and mislead many viewers who are not familiar with the positive reality of it all."

UMD's Greek system also received a small bit of backlash from the shows, however indirect. Tau Kappa Epsilon member Matt VanWatermulen said that his fraternity sometimes gets would-be pledges who believe that they're going to be living the same lives as those on the MTV shows.

"The next rush might be affected," he said, adding that some of the sororities felt that their pledge numbers significantly changed after the shows debuted.

"We'd have charges pressed against us if we try any of the stuff they did," Purcell said.

UMD has four fraternities and sororities each. All of them are dedicated to helping out in the community. Events such as Dry Wednesday and campus clean-ups are sponsored by a different Greek organization. These, along with helping out in soup kitchens and Safewalk, are just a couple examples of the services these clubs participate in.

"The show never shows them doing beneficial [activities]," VanWatermulen said.

TKE member Kevin Kunnari, like Purcell and VanWatermulen, finds these shows "kind of cheesy" and "scripted." He said that many times, people have put labels on UMD's Greek life, considering all fraternities to be like the movie "Animal House."

"We get stereotypes all the time," said VanWatermulen. "But it was even before [ïFraternity Life']." He went on to say that they still buy apparel from Greek101.com.

Kunnari, Purcell and VanWatermulen all agreed that being members of a fraternity have given them leadership skills and a wide range of friendships.

"Even between fraternities, you make friends," said Purcell. "It's a good experience."

All three members said that UMD's fraternity and sorority members get along far better than the ones on the shows. VanWatermulen said that they don't want potential pledges to come in expecting constant partying and not be interested in the beneficial aspects.

"We don't want the keg-party image at all," said Kunnari. "We want guys who come to Habitat on Saturday and aren't [hung over].

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