The recent raising of the GPA requirement for rushing from 2.0 to 2.5 has been met with a chorus of complaints from students no longer able to rush by the new standard. But we at The Maroon stand in support of this higher requirement because it offers a chance for a higher standard of academic excellence here at Loyola, so long as Greek Life is willing to lend a hand.
There are reasons the increase is good. A 2.0 GPA means a C average, and while such an average is not necessarily bad, it does carry with it the implication that a massive time commitment such as Greek Life has serious potential to make grades slip further. There are many purposes to college, but first and foremost is studying to obtain a degree, and if there is a chance that first priority would be threatened, it is probably wisest that they retain enough time to focus on school. Perhaps the Greek Life environment might prove conducive to higher grades, but the 2.5 GPA provides assurance that the sudden commitment will not prove too much for the students to handle.
The raising of the required GPA also has potential academic benefits for students interested in Greek Life. Those interested in graduate school and thinking of the world beyond college pay great attention to their grades, but it might not be so for someone just putting in their time to get their degree. By raising the minimum GPA required to rush, students interested in being part of Greek Life will have to work harder in school.
However, the full benefits of the change in required GPA cannot be appreciated without Greek Life taking a more active hand in Loyola’s academic performance. With the higher GPA requirement, it is in their best interest to seek out potential recruits who fall below the needed GPA and help them to bring it up, so that fraternities and sororities can have a wider pool of recruits from which to select new members.
But there is more than self-interest at play. The common conception of Greek Life around campus does not hold it to be of a high academic standard, even though the average GPA in fraternities and sororities is slightly higher than the average GPA across campus. The new requirement will likely boost GPA in Greek Life and across campus, but fraternities and sororities can contribute to this increase by offering help and solidarity to students working to improve their GPA. The same tools that Greek Life uses to have a slightly higher GPA than the campus average can be used to improve grades across campus. By helping to improve grades across the board, Greek Life can both create a wider pool of recruits from which to draw from and improve the standing of the community in which they play such an important role.
The new GPA requirement for Greek Life offers a chance for higher academic standards both within fraternities and sororities and all across Loyola, so long as we are willing to take this opportunity to improve ourselves.
