Upon opening The News last week, I was shocked to see an article written about my fraternity, Alpha Kappa Sigma. Since The News has never printed anything positive about Greek life at Northeastern, I braced myself and began to read the article. My assumptions were correct, as it was yet another slanderous article about the Greeks of NU. The News does nothing to ease the many misconceptions about fraternities and sororities, which is ridiculous considering it should report the good things NU members do. Every time a Greek organization is mentioned, it is in the negative sense. I doubt that any non-Greek has any idea of the positive things done by us. Perhaps if The News had seriously attempted to contact me or any other officer of AKS (NU’s second-oldest fraternity, at 83 years, one month in existence), then we could have shed some light on the subject.
Regarding the residence at 19 Ackley Place, just like any fraternity at NU, several members happen to live together. There are no letters on this building. More than half of the active Brotherhood does not reside there. There have been no incidents caused by people living there in which the police have had to intervene. The residents there are just a group of college guys living together who are in the same student organization.
The building is not “unkempt” with “raggedy curtains.” There are no beer cans, kegs or rusted automobiles lying in our yards. Instead, we have trees, bushes, grass, a patio area and a garden there. Major improvements have been made to this building. A new electrical system has been installed, most rooms have been repainted, and the floors have been sanded and finished. The plumbing has been repaired, as well as the heating system. This place was a dump before we moved in, and we have done everything in our power to make it presentable and livable. I am surprised that the people of Jamaica Plain, who care so much about the appearance of their neighborhood, could have let such a building reach the condition that it was in.
As for keeping drugs and alcohol out of the playground next door to 19 Ackley Place, we applaud the efforts of the community and would never bring such things into a playground. It is ridiculous to even think that we would do something like that. Alpha Kappa Sigma has a strong Risk Management policy that requires severe punishment for any members in violation of it. We are not interested in ruining your neighborhood, we just want to be accepted by it.
AKS has made numerous strides to show the Jamaica Plain and Northeastern communities that the stereotypes regarding fraternities and sororities are unfair and wrong. We performed the necessary duties to end our probation/suspension. We are involved in the Greek and Northeastern communities. We expressed interest in doing community service projects in Jamaica Plain several times, to no avail. Therefore, we clean the street and shovel as good neighbors do. We invited the community to join us in a BBQ. Unfortunately, this was used against us in the article, which is extremely unfair. If these community members actually read something positive from the newspaper, perhaps they would realize we are a positive organization.
For example, AKS raised over $5000 after the tragedy of 9-11. We held a benefit concert at the Hard Rock Caf
