MTV's 'Sorority Life' under fire from Greek supporters

By Alicia Pickett
MTSU Sidelines
June 25, 2003

From sisterhood to sabotage, MTV's portrayal of sorority and fraternity life has caused Greek life supporters to fight fire with fire to extinguish the 'Animal House' label.

"All hail the esteemed party animals that puked on this hallowed ground before us ... We are the 'Animal House' on campus," mtv.com advertises to entice the college crowd into watching their spin on Greek life.

Drunken girls, passed-out pledges and petty arguments are core ingredients of MTV's Sorority Life series.

While these themes are designed to attract music television watchers, which include mainstream college-aged America, they have certainly brought about controversial feedback from Greek Life supporters.

"These shows are not reality," Greek101.com co-founder Brett Radmin said.

Ditzy blondes spouting sentences that begin and end with the phrase "like" has become a stereotypic image of what sorority life means to the majority of mainstream America.

Putting gas to the fire, MTV's version of Greek life has portrayed immaturity and indecent behavior from college students and slapped on the label of "normal" for all the world to see.

Greek101.com supplies Greek life material to clients including the sorority profiled on season one of Sorority Life. In the show's early stages they were a sponsor of Sorority Life. But when the portrayal of Greek life became so outrageous, the company "removed themselves," as Radmin put it, from MTV.

"I got so frustrated I stopped watching," MTSU Director of Greek Life Kim Godwin said.

Giving props to Greek 101 for pulling out because of MTV's negative mindset of zeroing in on keg parties and leaving pro-community projects in the dust, Godwin feels like their decision was a good move.

From petty arguments over who didn't kiss whom to making time to go out and get liquored up, MTV's depiction of Greek life makes it to seem that university pledges and college attendees in general are lazy bums lacking drive and ambition.

By way of sweat shirts and other apparel branded with the Greek101.com Web address and worn by the cast of MTV's sorority and fraternity, Radmin's company has gained national exposure. This has provided an outlet to promote what's positive about Greek life instead of focusing on the negative.

Breathing some truth into MTV's delusional reality of Greek life, Godwin sets the record straight by dismissing the idea set by MTV that sorority recruits haphazardly stumble upon potential pledges.

Goodwin pointed out that in one scene the MTV Sorority Life cast went to the homes of pledges at three in the morning, making them very nervous.

Godwin says that in the real world, persons interested in becoming part of a sorority or fraternity have a chance to meet with current members from each chapter. After a five day period, all potential pledges gather in a room and receive a bid from a particular sorority or fraternity from a recruiting counselor that has been with you throughout the process.

"At their house, kegs and furniture have been seen flying through the air and holes have been punched into walls ... all in the name of good fun, of course," claims mtv.com in their attempt to persuade college scholars to go for the bronze and tune in.

"It is a step backwards [from] the positives that Greek life contributes to society," Godwin said.

While music mogul Michelle Branch continues to sound off another episode of Sorority Life, Greek life supporters are finding ways to turn negative publicity into a positive buzz on the organizations that at one time were labeled "Animal House."

Ramdin and Greek101.com have initiated an awareness campaign to promote the positive acts of Greek society.

Godwin says the show is also making a local impact

"There is a positive spin," Godwin said. "We're being more vocal."

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