millikin editor has greek epiphany on road to damascus

Greek life isn't so different at Millikin University, a smallish college in rural Illinois. There are guys who rush right away, and there are those who remain aloof from greek life, like Assistant Arts Editor Joel Booster at the student paper, now nearly through his time at Millikin. In a bizarrely cinematic plot twist, his reverie of anti-greek prejudices was interrupted by an assignment from his editor straight out of Never Been Kissed (1999): to go undercover through fraternity rush and report on what goes on.

This being wholly cadged from Hollywood, Mr Booster went into the process fully expecting to garner ample exemplars of hypocrisies, debaucheries and inanities to pen an article reaffirming his long-held beliefs about the greek system. And yet, on the road to that dubious Damascus, Mr Booster found himself actually coming to respect the noble causes the fraternities were espousing. He discovered they had PowerPoint presentations for recruitment; he had fun at their parties, enjoyed his repartee with the brothers, and "began to realize that for these men, fraternity life was more than just chest bumps and beer kegs."

Of course, this brought on a full-fledged existential crisis ("internal journalistic crisis") with his original desire to write a "scathing review of all things greek" running square against his newfound admiration and appreciation of the actual men composing the greek system. "I obviously did not write the story I originally set out to write," he says as he wraps up the tale.

The Decaturian