Beginning shortly after Labor Day, MTV will be taking its cameras to the streets of Buffalo to film the next season of its series, "Sorority Life." Hoping to give the show an East Coast feel, MTV has chosen a sorority and a fraternity from UB to follow and will chronicle the lives of the brothers and sisters as they take part in rush events and participate in daily college life.
Coming so soon after UB's recent, and unexpected, transition into the upper echelons of the Princeton Review's rankings of top party schools, MTV's decision could represent a tremendous opportunity for UB - if we take care.
While MTV's presence will certainly provide UB with nation-wide exposure and recognition, in addition to attracting tourists to patronize Buffalo's flagging economy, there is a very fine line between becoming the kind of Greek powerhouse the administration envisions and creating an image of the university and the city of Buffalo that's both inaccurate and destructive.
MTV is known for selling both melodrama and sex, as seen clearly in its reality-based shows like "Road Rules" and "The Real World." The Buffalo bar scene is certainly rife with these characteristics, but are these the characteristics we want to showcase in front of millions? Since MTV's main concern is to captivate its largely adolescent audience with exciting footage and catchy sound bites, the responsibility of maintaining the well-being of our students and reputation rests solely on the student body itself.
UB's Greek community may be on their best behavior while their Fall Rush and the following pledge programs are under the scrutiny of MTV's millions of viewers, but the temptation to be "that cool guy" hooting to his friends while drunk on a Tuesday night may prove too great for some.
Under the spotlight that MTV will be casting, it could be easy to become overwhelmed and fall into stereotypical notions that drinking and drugging are central to the collegiate experience. When the small selection of one sorority and one fraternity becomes representative of the entire student body, any flaws in the Greek systems and the students as a whole are amplified dramatically. Although no one can pass hasty judgments on the men and women participating in the show, they will be representing UB to the rest of the world, for better or for worse.
The Princeton Review rankings, which were compiled using a meager sampling of 300 students, combined with "Sorority Life" may create a false portrait of UB as a university with a huge and highly visible Greek community, when less than 1,000 students are members of fraternities or sororities.
While it appears that UB may at last be reaching the long-desired status as a university to be dealt with in both the academic and social worlds, we should be wary about reaching that status through the questionable means that MTV and the Princeton Review have offered. Rather, students can and should prove that they are not the walking spectacles MTV would like them to be and usher in a bigger and better era here at UB.
