Opinion: Don’t generalize Greeks as cause of tension
Recently, there has been an obvious tension felt between Mount Pleasant residents and Central Michigan University students.
The problem is students feel as if they are being excessively controlled. Some of these citizens who call Mount Pleasant home feel playing watchdog is essential.
It feels to me the blame is frequently placed on Greek Life whenever there is an incident in any given college town.
I am a member of the Phi Sigma Sigma sorority. Let me speak for us when I say it is inappropriate to blame the perceived behavior problems of CMU students on the Greek community.
The pressure on the relationship between residents and students seems to have increased tremendously after the CM Life Editorial Board wrote an open letter to the city’s mayor Kathleen Ling.
She responded.
It seems as if whenever there is a controversial subject being discussed, each person chooses a viewpoint and justifies it to the end of the Earth.
Regardless of the circumstance, there will always be a topic to debate and argue over.
Such is the case at CMU.
While it is easy to point fingers and play the blame game, no single group should be held exclusively accountable for the actions of the whole.
Students do not have the right to break the law.
I am not suggesting that over-supervising students is necessary in our community.
Instead, I encourage residents to not accuse any specific groups of being liable for the ongoing tension.
Yet no one is going to denounce an entire student body. In turn they search for an easy target.
This habitually seems to be the popular stance aimed at students involved in Greek Life.
They are often easily identifiable; a pair of letters can set Greek individuals apart from those non-affiliated at first glance.
Chapters are comprised of a variety of diverse individuals, but are ultimately generalized as one group.
In light of this tension, Mount Pleasant students and residents need to remember to not classify those at fault into any one particular group.
The majority of students today are much more well-behaved than years past. Nevertheless, the negative actions of single individuals outshine the general good behavior of most students.
You cannot classify a whole group based on the actions of an individual. Just as Donald Trump is a representative from the Republican Party, he does not hold the views of each individual in the entire party.
Subsequently, Greek Life as well as the student population as a whole should not be held accountable for all current community issues.
As for the strain between students and residents, communication is a two-way street.
An open and honest conversation must be implemented in order to repair the relationship.
