We the Greek community, are not bad people, we are simply misjudged.

CSUN’s efforts to prevent hazing have been nothing short of exceptional in order to ensure the quality of the Greek community on campus. The school has done everything from curating workshops, which are mandatory for students to attend to even halting recruitment during the Spring semester of 2015.

It is clear and evident that hazing is not tolerated under any circumstances yet individuals not associated still assume the worst of the Greek community. Your assumptions are outdated and it’s offering little support to the growth of our organizations.

I am an avid member of an organization and hold a position on the executive board. It is overwhelming to see the campus community turn on the Greek system because of the events that occurred in the past and at the same time, not recognize the drastic measures the President of CSUN, Diane Harrison, has taken in order to ensure the quality and safety of the organizations on campus.

Spring recruitment 2015 was put to a complete halt for all organizations in order to show the importance of the situation at hand which started after the death of a student during the summer of 2014. Although the events are unfortunate, we as a community have learned and grown from the mistakes at hand.

Since Fall 2015 semester, it is required, for every organization, to have at least 90 percent attendance at a workshop called Greek 102. During this workshop, we were all taught the severity and history of hazing amongst organizations.

We as the Greek community are beyond the stigma and the students need to understand that. We do more than party, we are not uninspired and we are not our history.

We are a student-led community. We share opinions, we aid charities beyond their goals, we foster individuals to excel in all that they do and we are here to support the students of California State University Northridge.

For some of you, you may not care about what we do but your support is what aids our community to grow beyond the flaws of our past.

Your concerns for our organizations are our concerns as well. However, we as the Greek community built staircases to climb and will continue to climb.

We are far from impeccable but closer than we were yesterday, last year, and where we have started. The fact that we are still under the impression of hazing and being the “no good stuck up individuals” is just an outdated assumption from the past.

Go beyond the merciless perception and recognize that we have the same voice that you have. We do our best to provide for our community, we do our best to strive beyond success, and as students of this institution we do our best to better CSUN.

Grid Vongpiansuksa is an active member of the Greek community for three years. He has held executive positions.