The naysayers will always be there.

You know the type – you might even be one of them. They’re the people who see the glass as half-empty, who never listen to the wise proverb that says ‘don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.’

You won’t catch me arguing with people like that. After all, disagreeing is what they do – and their opinions aren’t the easiest to alter. If they are against fraternities and sororities, they’ll never look kindly on the fact that I’m a member of one. So I just smile back at them, listening to their complaints, knowing that their facts are mixed up, to say the least.

‘You’re just buying your friends,’ they whine, as I mentally account for every dollar I spend in my fraternity’s dues – insurance, social events, philanthropy, food, community service projects, furniture and, ahem, the alcohol that they drank at my party last weekend.

‘All you kids are elitist jerks,’ they moan, as I debate whether the Downs Syndrome Society of Central New York would agree, having just received a $300 donation from my fraternity and all.

I don’t bring up how the greek system solely maintained these people’s social lives when they were underclassmen, nor remind them that we welcomed these people into our fraternity house without asking for anything in return. What would be the point?

‘You’re all a bunch of idiots and buffoons,’ they exclaim, never understanding the money management and business savvy necessary for running a house of 50 brothers, or the power of having an alumni network waiting for you in the real world, with job opportunities waiting around every corner.

I certainly don’t remind them that all but two of our nation’s presidents since 1825 have been fraternity men, including our current president, George W. Bush, and his most recent competitor, John Kerry. That point would be moot.

‘All you do is party,’ they utter, not realizing how many of us run the student organizations that make this school so special. The Student Association, HillTV and this campus newspaper (along with others) are run with major contributions from fraternity and sorority members.

‘None of you are open-minded,’ they announce, not knowing how many fraternity men and sorority women are around, hearing this disdain and are ashamed to wear their chapter’s letters around campus for fear of the assumptions that will be made by their classmates and teachers.

It wouldn’t make sense for me to say this to them, though, because it’s not worth my time to focus on the nonexistent negatives aspects of greek life.

See, I’m too busy reaping the benefits of the positive aspects that no one talks about. If you want to talk about those, then I’m all ears.

PETE FREEDMAN IS A JUNIOR NEWSPAPER MAJOR. E-MAIL HIM AT PJFREEDM@SYR.EDU

Published on February 8, 2005 at 12:00 pm