Each and every fall semester hundreds of prospective brothers and sisters pledge themselves to greek “Clubs.”

The initiatory tasks required to get in to such clubs are typically demanding, difficult and sometimes just plain humiliating. Everyone has a different tolerance for such abuse, and different lengths they are willing to go to in order to survive the rush. One such story involved an individual who willingly locked himself in a closet for four days straight in total darkness, only to be periodically sprayed with a cold hose. Truthfully, I can’t comment on the validity of this story, but it really wouldn’t surprise me one bit.

Of course, along with these hazing tribulations come the obvious perks of membership … why else would anyone join? Popularity, free events and the score on local parties are just some of the many advantages associated with becoming a “brother” or “sister.”

One of the main attractions of club parties is a game called Beer Pong. If such a thing existed, I am confident that the Beer Pong Olympics, popularized by these greek clubs of course, would generate more publicity than the World Cup, the Super Bowl and the World Series combined here on campus. The ancient Greeks, no doubt, set this precedent by filling goblets of wine, racking them together at celebratory banquets and shouting “AHHH, I MADE IT, YOU GOTTA DRINK!!!” every time a shot was strategically sunk.

While it’s not ideal for me, I’m open-minded to the concept of greek life. Occasionally, a bare-breasted man will come storming down my hallway in the a.m., shirt strapped across his bare chest like a toga and screaming at the top of his lungs, but that’s something to be expected when you go away to college most anywhere. We’re big boys and girls, and as such we must be held accountable for making our own choices.

So, my final word of advice, brothers and sisters, is: choose your club carefully, and if you must, please drink responsibly.

“But you can’t hold a whole fraternity responsible for the behavior of a few sick, twisted individuals. For if you do, then shouldn’t we blame the whole fraternity system? And if the whole fraternity system is guilty, then isn’t this an indictment of our educational institutions in general? I put it to you, Greg — isn’t this an indictment of our entire American society?” — Otter, “Animal House”