This semester, AWOL’s multimedia team investigated how students feel about Greek Life on American University’s campus.

This investigation comes two years after AU’s Abolish Greek Life movement. The movement started with an Instagram account detailing national student statistics and testimonials. The organization then advocated for two student government referendums in Spring 2022, calling for the abolishment of social Greek Life and the start of social alternatives. The movement won on both motions.

Student founders Parthav Easwar, class of 2023, and Abby Sharkis, class of 2024, said the movement was inspired by the previous efforts in 2020, as well as student testimonies from the harm they experienced in Greek Life.

“We wanted to form something where we could advocate for the abolition of Greek Life, but also provide an alternative social scene and sense of community,” Sharkis said. “And thirdly, a place to document people’s experiences with Greek Life, so that people coming in as freshman can look, and see, and hear about things that happened four or five years ago.”

Both Easwar and Sharkis expressed the desire for alternative community-building on campus. They felt Greek Life’s presence at AU is in part due to the school’s lack of other prominent social scenes. Both members also clarified how their movement’s opposition was to social Greek Life and did not target professional or cultural Greek Life chapters.

“AU does very little to produce communities for its students,” Easwar said. “Because the administration does so little to address that problem, Greek Life becomes this alternative that people are drawn to because they see it as an opportunity to build community.”

In the future, Easwar said he hopes AU students continue these critical conversations that have died out over the last Greek Life’s community experience and student concerns two years. Sharkis said she hopes future movements can have more successful dialogues with social Greek Life members themselves.

When asked how they feel about the subject, students not affiliated with Greek Life on campus expressed mixed opinions. Claire Campbell, a first-year student at American University, said she dislikes social Greek Life and the harms that it causes.

“I think it’s kinda dumb that you have to pay to have friends,” Campbell said.

Other students shared this sentiment. First-year students Jordan Freeman and Nico Potestà, while understanding the desire for community, explained their dislike for social Greek Life and surprise at its prominence on campus.

“It’s kind of toxic and very heterosexual,” Potestà said.

“Very white-based,” Freeman added.

However, other students were more fond of the organizations. Sophomore Hannah Schwartzberg said she feels that the social Greek Life at AU seems more welcoming because of the school’s smaller size.

“I feel like here at AU it’s a lot more of a friendly environment than at other state schools,” Schwartzberg said.

Another sophomore student, Gabe Levine, said he thinks it’s great to have the opportunity to make friends on campus through social Greek Life. He also described how Greek Life has positively affected his family.

“Greek Life is a big part of my parents’ lives and also my siblings’ lives,” Levine said. “To them it’s just an organization that they were able to make really good friends from that they still talk to.”

Elliot Zeman, a former president of AU’s chapter of Beta Theta Pi, also spoke of the community building that social Greek Life has to offer. This past fall, Zeman wrote an op-ed for the campus newspaper, the Eagle, detailing his experiences as the first transgender member of his chapter. He told AWOL about the strong connections he has made through Greek Life.

“[I’ve had] life-changing conversations with these people,” Zeman said. “People I know will be in my life for a long time and I wouldn’t have met them otherwise if I wasn’t in Beta.”

Zeman said he recognizes the harm Greek Life can cause. However, he also said he has been grateful to have an understanding and accommodating relationship with his brothers in Beta.

“I wish some people would be more open to Greek Life and could see it as a positive group that can build people up and not tear them down,” Zeman said.

To view this story, see the “Pledges and promises” video on AWOL’s YouTube channel. This content mentions instances of racism, homophobia, sexual violence and other acts of exclusionary harm. Viewer discretion is advised.

Due to national organization regulations regarding talking to media personnel, many chapters and members of American University’s Interfraternity Council and the Panhellenic Council declined or were unable to comment on this story.