Fall brings many on campus traditions. Summer break comes to a blistering end. Football players start games. And the Greek community is looking upon the hectic week know as rush week.

Rush week is a big event for fraternities this week. I’m a member of the Greek community and part of the Sigma Nu fraternity.

I have met some great alumni who tell me about their times in the fraternity and I love hearing their stories.

But then there are some stories that I think, “Man that is stupid, why would they do that?”

Hazing was a big part of Greek communities back in the day, and in some parts of the country, this is still a big issue. If somebody tells you they never used to do that, take it with a grain of salt. I was never hazed and have never done it to anybody in my fraternity. My whole crew doesn’t believe in hazing because Sigma Nu was founded on a no hazing policy. If you’re scared of it, don’t be. If someone attempts to haze, all you have to do is leave. You should be treated better than that.

The guys I joined treat me with great respect and we look out for each other. We may not be together all the time, but no matter what the situation, we’ll drop what we’re doing for our brothers and help them. Relationship problems? Family situations? Life isn’t going right? No matter what it is they’re there for me. A good fraternity understands this.

Spiritually it helped me come to terms with the beliefs of the founders and what they believed in. If the group has a long history and the members are upholding the values of their founders, then that can be a good thing.

Just because you don’t see yourself being in a fraternity doesn’t mean you don’t belong. Try it. Rush week is going on this week. Come to events and sign up on OrgSync to be a part of it. You’ll never know until you try.

Walter James is a business management senior.