For our study, we want to examine how Greek-letter organizations create spaces that include and/or exclude transgender/non-binary people and people from coloring their spaces. Say no to plagiarism. Get a Custom Essay on "Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The long-standing secretive and exclusive nature of what is commonly called "Greek life" on college campuses limits access knowledge about the functioning of these organizations; Most people, including college students, don't really know what Greek life is or why fraternities and sororities on college campuses are "Greek." » The association of the word "Greek" with social clubs is frequently debated by scholars, with Greek conventionally considered a nationality. The only reason GLOs are affiliated with the word "Greek" is because these social clubs use Greek letters (such as alpha Α, gamma Γ, delta Δ, and theta Θ) to differentiate groups - it's really also simple as that. By the end of the 18th century, studies of ancient Greek were an integral part of the American academic curriculum; It was this branch of learning that inspired five white students at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Pennsylvania, to name their secret social organization after three letters of the Greek alphabet: Phi Beta Kappa. Founded in 1776, Phi Beta Kappa is the first social fraternity, or Greek letter organization (GLO) in the United States. Social GLOs differ from professional societies, which bring together people from a particular profession or professional field; honor societies, which recognize academic achievement; and service companies, which recruit members for the purpose of carrying out community outreach and humanitarian work. Our study focuses on the perceptions, attitudes, and lived experiences of current and former affiliates of Greek-letter social organizations on the Beloit College campus as they navigate social life in their fraternities/sororities. Our research will primarily be conducted with collaborators located on the Beloit College campus. Beloit College is a private (nonprofit), coeducational college located in the rural Midwestern town of Beloit, Wisconsin, United States, where approximately 1,400 students are currently pursuing undergraduate degrees. All active Greek letter organizations at Beloit College will be considered. our research and includes three fraternities: Phi Kappa Psi (ФКѰ) Wisconsin Gamma, Sigma Chi (ΣХ) Alpha Zeta and Tau Kappa (ТКЕ) Epsilon Kappa; and three sororities: Alpha Sigma Tau (АΣТ) Delta Nu, Kappa Delta (ΔК) Upsilon, and Theta Pi Gamma (ΘПГ). Greek-letter organizations have an undeniable influence on social life on college campuses in the United States. According to the 2010 Beloit College Student Affairs Survey, 22 percent of students participated in Greek life. While 44.2% of students agree that Greek life contributes positively to the campus community, only 29.1% of students agree that being a member of a Greek organization at Beloit College is a positive experience. This research project aims to explore the gaps in these statistics and their broader implications through a holistic inquiry: How do a person's identities shape their experience of Greek life at Beloit College? In 2010, J. Patrick Biddix wrote an editorial titled Not Greek Unless You Are From Greece: Working to Identify Inclusive Search Terms, which addressesthe classification problems that many researchers face when studying GLOs. Biddix argues that the use of the phrase "Greek letter organization" is not incorrect, but it is imprecise and parallels the use of the word "Hispanic" versus the use of the word "Latin, generally used in education. In subsequent research, Biddix's (2014) research team omitted the word "Greek" from their study and instead used the phrase "fraternal organization", which they view as a more inclusive way of describing both fraternities and sororities; the couple acknowledges "Not all fraternities and sororities are single-sex, socially-oriented organizations owned by a major body, such as the National Panhellenic Conference (NPC), the National Panhellenic Council (NPHC), or the North American Interfraternity Conference ( IFC) » . We argue that the use of the term "fraternal organization" is problematic in that it inherently favors male-identifying people and excludes not only (inadvertently) sororities, but also the very identities we study ( transgender/non-binary people). Instead, we have chosen to use the term "Greek Letter Organization" (GLO) for the purposes of our project, as it respects the reasons discussed above for not only referring to these organizations as "Greek" and includes non-masculine identities. , transgender refers to a person who does not identify or know themselves as the gender associated with their assigned sex. Non-binary refers to an individual whose gender identity does not match their assigned sex, but also does not fit the commonly accepted male-female binary (in which one can only be male or female). female). Nonbinary is an umbrella term that encompasses a variety of gender identities, including but not limited to: agender (no gender), polygender (multiple genders), bigender (two or more genders), half-boy /girl (non-binary but knowing for me more male or female), and two-spirit (a specific term used for Indigenous people outside of the binary). For the purposes of our study, let's not think of gender in terms of a line where man is at one end. and female on the other, think of it more like a paint palette that has been used multiple times with different layers and blends of colors, each shade corresponding to a different gender. Additionally, we use the terms transgender and non-binary somewhat interchangeably. We can think of this as the rectangle-square definition: a rectangle is a square but a square is not a rectangle. Likewise, a non-binary identity can be considered a transgender identity, but not all transgender people are non-binary. Ultimately, it’s up to employees to identify in the way they know to be true about themselves. Finally, we define a person of color (POC) as anyone who identifies as non-white. Throughout the ethnography, we may use terms such as “Latinx,” “Filipinx,” and “Black.” “Latinx” and “Phillipinx” are inclusive terms based on “Latino/a” and “Phillipino/a”. » The use of a black capital "B" is used to refer to members of the African diaspora whose ancestors were enslaved and sold during the Atlantic slave trade. The use of the word “Black” is intended to recognize the erasure of tribal identity. While we have these definitions of the terms above, it is ultimately our people's choice as to what they prefer to be called. Greek letter organizations areintrinsically exclusive groups. GLOs can be studied from their years in antebellum all-male schools to modern university and college campuses. Many factors such as class, religiosity, race, sexuality, athleticism, intelligence, and recklessness have contributed to particular versions of "fraternal masculinity" in different eras. Historically, GLOs have been reserved for white, cisgender, heterosexual, elite men in the higher education system; the birth of the GLO is rooted in racism, cis-heteropatriarchy and capitalism. After centuries of reproducing ideological knowledge, many elite GLOs have created cultures that encourage and reward adherence to rigid gender binaries, and they will actively reject offers of non-white engagements – in practice, Elite GLOs have not shown evidence of integration despite negative media attention. Although GLOs have since been racially integrated and many are becoming progressive and inclusive of queer members, the roots of their birth appear to make it difficult to fully integrate the organizations if one is not a member of the elite cisgender, heterosexual and white. Furthermore, even if this type of integration has occurred on paper, there are still a disproportionate number of white people compared to people of color and non-gay people compared to homosexual individuals. The creation of Greek-letter organizations and the subsequent modes of oppression they embody affect campus publics. , not only through exclusion from the organizations themselves, but often from university life in general. Fraternity men often demonstrated their masculinity by practicing exclusion and using their classmates as foils. The culture of sexual exploitation was deeply ingrained in college fraternities in the 1920s and continues to persist today. The history of white college fraternities and (subsequently all GLOs) has broad implications regarding young, sexually aggressive masculinity in the United States. “These rigid formulations contribute to maladaptive behaviors and beliefs, such as eating disorders, body image distortions, homophobia, rape and other sexual misconduct.” Unfortunately, today Greek letter organizations still exhibit some of the above behaviors. Progress has undoubtedly been made, but much remains to be done to achieve true inclusion. Research indicates that trans/non-binary and POC people frequently experience “marginalization and interpersonal victimization” in college and university settings. Research indicates that historically white male-centered GLOs whose members compete in collegiate athletics are more likely to exhibit maladaptive behaviors and beliefs. data collected from transgender and gender nonconforming students, staff, and faculty. This research aims to not only gather information, but also create suggestions for creating a more inclusive environment for transgender/non-binary members and members of color. Following the ethnographic study, our research team will compile and consolidate our findings to not only write a comprehensive ethnography, but also work with Greek-letter organizations interested in creating such an inclusive space. This type of work is needed not only at Beloit College, but also at other colleges and universities across the country. Given the interest shown..