Civics and Fraternities

Short essay that discusses the roles fraternities have in civics.

One cannot be both man and naive.This is particularly true if one hopes to be a living pillar of both his community and his nation. History accounts numerous men who have held this ambition. Naturally there were men that shared this, made it  practically an ethic, and turned it into an experience taken in the form of fraternities.

 It is imperative that  fraternities offer applicable experience to their members so that they may appropriately be judged as men. Having said that I advise against the completely pragmatic man. As far as fraternities are concerned, and for that matter mankind as well, there is a greater moral duty that must be given to civics. The goal of most fraternal orders is to put out men of conscious moral thought and behavior. They must find a way to do their duty as human beings even if it means they must exceed the limitations of man. Though few may note it,the whole fraternity view is largely this. The ideal fraternity man embodies this if this is what his organization has taught him. By virtue of their nature, the creeds and standards that give them substance, fraternities have to occupy a greater position within society. By this I do not mean as above the ordinary man, but alongside him as an equal. The only thing that shall set the fraternity apart from society is the careful uniqueness of brotherhood. It is unthinkable that a fraternities role in society would not be to enhance the quality of life the world round. By their composition fraternities are naturally suited to improving society on a far greater scale than any government or international body dedicated to the health of society.This however, is only a fond assessment of the potential fraternities possess. With the founding of the North American Inter-fraternity Conference in 1909 and it's seventy-five member organizations dating back to the beginnings of the modern college fraternity movement at Union College and Miami University, the Greek world carries a great deal of momentum. Their ability to change social conditions through the education and molding of men is not a trait that should not be doubted. Have they risen to this level just yet? I would say no but the moment is not far off.

Clearly fraternities have a stable foothold in the Higher education community. If this were not so then they might cease to survive or there would be a vast reduction in their number. Across many colleges and universities, they have come to dominate student politics and in plenty of cases, programming.  They lead the way in community service and charity work and have a long list of high caliber achievements. Due to this, institutions generally maintain a careful eye on fraternities but largely leave them up to their own devices given the positive attention that the schools receive as a result of those activities. Institutions of Higher education have a love of autonomy and while generally allow the same privilege  to organizations operating within their midst as long as their activities don't affect the schools autonomy and image. This in itself is a lesson of civics and fraternities done their best to acknowledge this with only a few issues from time to time.

Being within the system of higher education fraternities are able to compliment one's educational endeavors with real world experience. Brother's meet every sort of person imaginable thus encountering the world in a different light. Whether it's assisting with creating homes for the poor or contributing large sums to medical research those experiences keep them grounded. A college education is a great thing to have but it also has a way of inciting lofty ambitions and goals that sometimes stray away from dealing with the great challenges of the world and in many cases, contribute to them. So it is ideal that a man see where the world trembles and put his educational successes toward calming those areas affected. The ideal fraternity helps with this. It considers this role it's best strength and climbs daily to maintain this.

-Stefon Napier

June13,2013