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The Culture of Greek Life |
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For many students, college is a place where they may explore the various aspects of life and where it may take them. Many students long for a sense of belonging within their college experience, so many decide to rush a fraternity or sorority. The decision to rush Greek life has the potential to cultivate student's leadership skills, connections for potential careers, and establish a social status on campus. To the average American this is an acceptable experience embraced and encouraged by many. The longing for a sense of community is found in all folds of society, and wanting to belong to something bigger than oneself is a major reason for involvement.
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But What if We Took it to the Street? |
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To understand further details of gang culture check out these articles: |
The article Gangs and Social Gang offers various similarities of Greek Life and Gang Culture. By demonstrating cultural View the Academic Journal
Our Personal Experience
Below are a couple of personal experiences we had with gangs, what we think gangs are, and our perspectives on it. How does your view of gangs compare to ours?
Jordan Geronimo |
Mahmood Al-Malki |
I was born and raised in Newark, NJ, a city where gang activity is common. Gangs are essentially a group of people who look out for each other as if they are family. I went to school in Newark from K-8th grade and went to a boarding school in Concord, NH six hours away from home. I have made plenty of friends in both communities and some friends that I have grown up with have joined gangs. The people that I grew up with that are in gangs are some of the most kind people I know. However, my experience from being a part of two different communities for multiple years allowed me to see different perspectives of the situation and how much the media played a role in it.
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I am personally not a gang member, but from my firsthand experience with meeting my friends who are members of a gang, I felt gang is about brotherhood. It is about dying for each other and belonging to a group of people in which you can feel secure and powerful. Over the period I have spent my time with them, I felt they have better time being together. They are hanging out together, having fun, helping each other, and more. I am pretty sure that belonging to a gang is better than being alone because lone people are going to lose lots of things that they will hope not to miss.
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Based from our examples of personal experience, we encourage you to take this survey and consider the following questions regarding your upbringing:
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Along with our personal experience, our team has taken the time to interview various members of gangs and Greek life. We intend to show from the direct source, the true motivation members feel in regards to their membership.
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Being a Part of a Gang Means... |
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Finding YourselfFrom all the Interviews collected within our research there is a strong connection to brotherhood. Brotherhood is a strong connection to members of a tightly knit friends, and can be found in gang culture and Greek life. As a current/former member, friends and alumni are expected to be by your side and provide you with a sense of security. Read more about our direct information of brotherhood below.
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Access to PrivilegeAccess to privilege doesn't always equate to power, but in the circumstance of gang membership the security of group involvement increases the privilege to certain ways of life and greater understanding of society. Read more about power associated with gang involvement below.
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The Culture of BelongingWhen it comes to gang membership there is an incredible sense of community. A part of brotherhood is watching one another's backs and always sticking up for ones group. This can be seen Greek life as the pride taken with one's chapter. Read more about gang member's sense of security below.
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Hearing Gangsters Out
Greek life has had a reputation of being all about a brotherhood or sisterhood for centuries, but surprisingly they are not far off from gangs. The divider in this factor is the media. This video is a contains group interview with individuals who were or are currently affiliated with gang activity. This video had a constant, reoccurring theme in which the media doesn't perceive the full context of gang culture; it only misguides the people to believe that gangs are all negative and only tumors to society. According Jankowski's piece, Gangs and Social Change, people join gangs to gain a sense of community and eventually power. In hindsight, the same reason why college students join fraternities and sororities.