Erasing the Stigma: Sigma Nu Pushes to Improve View On Greek Life

    Billy Calcutt, current pledge marshall of Theta Pi Chapter Sigma Nu Fraternity at UWG, recognizes the pressure and stigma that is put on greek life at UWG.  

     Calcutt is currently a sophomore and joined Sigma Nu last spring as a pledge. Since joining, Calcutt has made a lasting impression on his peers as he is currently serving as Pledge Marshall and has been elected as the next president of the chapter for the fall of 2019 and the spring of 2020.  

     Despite his impact in his chapter, Calcutt has witnessed a negative stigma associated with greek life. 

     “The university is part of the problem. After having a conversation with Dr. Marrero, the president of the university, and him reinforcing how we need greek life at the university it seems like hypocrisy to me,” said Calcutt. “The people in charge of greek life as a whole do not seem to share the same opinion as the the president of the university.” 

     The Interfraternity Council (IFC) is the self-governing body that represents the fraternities at UWG. The IFC is in place to help the greek community achieve its common goal of membership development and their service to the Carrollton community, but at times their goals seemed to be questioned.  

     “Being a delegate on the Interfraternal Council I have seen the school constantly reinforce the situation we’re in and how thin the ice is,” said Calcutt. “It seems that the IFC and the people who run it, specifically at UWG, at times are almost hostile towards greek life.”  

     One of the many things that greek life does is give back to their community. One way that they are able to do that is through philanthropy, and oftentimes these good deeds are not acknowledged because of their image. 

     “I think part of the problem with the stigmatization of greek life is that nobody recognizes us for the good that we do,” said Calcutt. “They only recognize us for the bad.” 

     The university has been quick to punish fraternities and sororities in the past and occasionally feed the fire of the negative stigma surrounding greek life, but Calcutt would like to see them actually help reverse the stigma. 

     “There are ways the University can help us reverse the stigma,” said Calcutt. “Give us more freedom to do outreach and philanthropy events. We want the school to reach out to us so we can have more opportunity to be involved and do good things.” 

     With the negative stigma taking over the picture of what greek life truly stands for many forget just how beneficial being a part of it can be and the overall experience they are able to gain from it.  

      “The cornerstone of any fraternity is making the life long friends. Those bonds and having an alumni network that can help you throughout life,” said Calcutt. “Being in a fraternity opens so many doors. It has been very beneficial in my life, but the problem is greek life is being phased out by schools. Schools no longer see the importance of greek life.” 

      Calcutt hopes that the overall image of greek life can be changed for the good and knows that Sigma Nu is doing things to hold themselves in the highest of lights, and throughout they are contributing to changing the image.   

      “Sigma Nu as a whole, our goal is to take a diverse group of young men and teach them valuable life lessons and skills,” said Calcutt. “The goal of being in Sigma Nu Fraternity is to understand the values and go learn what love, truth and honor means.”  

      With Calcutt stepping in as the next president of Sigma Nu he is focusing on how he can make his fraternity better. He hopes to help his fellow brothers not just make it through college, but to gain the experience of a lifetime and achieve things greater than they ever imagined.