GREEK PHILANTHROPY
When I first came to UGA, I did so with experience in the “philanthropic” world and wished to continue in some way. I learned about my own motives in the process but also about others’ intentions or, lack of. I paced around Tate, looking at tables, deciding which philanthropy I could contribute to the best (later realizing, a problematic technique). Somehow or another I landed on an organization that raises funds for the Children’s Hospital in Atlanta. All semester, I went to class, then to work, then to raise donations downtown by selling donuts that my job would have otherwise thrown out.
One night while doing this, a fraternity member came up to me to scream “you suck, UGA Heroes rules!!” That is when I got a taste of what was actually going on. I came from a small town, knowing nothing about Greek life or had ever considered joining ( how would I pay dues when I had to pay rent). It was a bit annoying feeling out of place at the meetings that few people joined but the real discomfort was attending the end-of-semester dance-a-thon finale. This is where the donation amounts would be announced after we danced for hours.
From my perspective, the finale was less about the patients at Children’s Hospital and more about announcing the winning Greek organization; the one that “raised” the most money, and would be rewarded for doing so. Where did my total fit into this equation? Where did their money come from when I never ran into anyone else raising money? It took years for me to jump into another cause. As I’ve begun to again, I do so with direct intention towards specific, community-based goals that I truly care for as to be sure my virtue is far from aligning with the “philanthropic” actions taken by UGA Greek life.
White Greek organizations are classist by nature, even with and especially because of their “philanthropic” doings. As Broad Recognition puts it in, The Dark Side of Greek Philanthropy, “The defense of the toxicity of Greek life with the ability to do philanthropy is the same ideology that praises Jeff Bezos when he donated $98 million to charity, despite refusing to sign the Giving Pledge and employing exploitative union-busting tactics at Amazon.” Similar to the mindset of the wealthiest person in the world, Greek organizations appear to be giving what they want but not what is needed. This strategy of giving takes guilt from the wealthy so that they can continue living more than comfortably with money that they did not fairly earn, while so many others go without eating.
Greek fundraising is assigned, disconnected and does more harm than good. They do not address any problems that cause the need for fundraising to begin with. They put band aids over systemic issues while patting themselves on the back, reinforcing white-savior complexes. This is true for many organizations that consider themselves charitable. This is not a problem that Greek organizations created, but work to sustain; the problem being, the concept of “charity.” Author and activist Sonya Renee Taylor describes the problematic nature of charity best by explaining that charity typically treats it’s actions as things done for those who are lesser than-- because in our system of bodily hierarchy, those who have less than us are lesser than us and are placed on the ladder of oppression as so. “Except there’s nothing that I am doing in my life or my world that operates from that ladder. And there’s nothing you can give me that is charity. You can return to me what you owe. You can’t owe me and then call paying me back charity.” Those on the receiving end of charitable causes often did not do or fail to do anything to put them in the position. They are merely products of a system that only functions by allowing a small percentage of people to hoard resources while the majority struggles.
Greek organizations are philanthro-capitalists. The money that they “raise” would not exist if they did not already have money, similar to an exploitative business. In fact, focusing on merely monetary assistance is capitalistic and toxic. They are counterproductive to grassroot organizations, community-based non profits and mutual aid networks. They are making stronger the system that enforces the need for philanthropy to begin with. “Philanthropy says for the small price of annual donations of stolen wealth, the ruling class can purchase complacency. Philanthropy is, at its core, the use of private property to attempt to “solve” the problems that come from privatization itself”(Broad Recognition, Feb., 2020). So when one claims that the millions “raised” by Greek organizations is better than no philanthropy at all, they are mistaken. They are reinforcing classist behavior and strengthening a system that exploits human beings for monetary gain. This is true not only for Greek philanthropy in itself but for many Greek members in their daily lives. I have worked for tips for years. I do not see coincidence in the fact that individuals who most often leave empty tips are those with Greek letters on their shirts.
-MB
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