“Toga! Toga! Toga!”

Almost every movie or TV show about college has featured the battle cry of Greek life as one of the staples of a traditional college experience. They show the boozing frat boy covered in face paint, the catty sorority girl who moonlights as a slut. Even if these depictions aren’t entirely representative of Greek life nowadays, many colleges tout fraternities and sororities as essential for making new friends and assimilating into college.

But somewhere amidst the high-rise buildings, 56 percent commuter population and in-house art galleries, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) is missing the Greek life that some would say is at the heart of a student’s college experience. In fact, the idea of frat boys at FCLC is about as believable as unicorns or a good romantic comedy. At this campus, students seem to be more interested in the non-traditional college experience. Do Fordham students even want a frat house to call home? Apparently not; in reality, the majority of Fordham students interviewed were apathetic or even adverse to Greek life on campus.

“I’m fine with Fordham not having any Greek life. In fact, one of the reasons why I chose to attend Fordham is because of the non-traditional college experience it has,” Stephanie Chase, FCLC ’13, said. “I wanted something different than the cliques of high school.”

Abby Gjikokaj, FCLC ’12, said, “I don’t care about fraternities or sororities at Fordham. Freshman year, I did want to join a sorority because I thought it would be great to join a group that would allow new students to have their own posse and join the community. But now, I think Fordham is fine without them.”

At colleges with on-campus Greek life organizations, one of the major attractions of rushing is the possibility of making lifelong friends and networking outside of the college social system. But Fordham students have a different view on what Greek life would entail for the social scene on campus.

“To be honest, I really don’t know a lot about fraternities or sororities, so my judgment is off,” Dorie Goehring, FCLC ’13, said. “But from what I see, fraternities and sororities will only serve to divide on such a small campus as Lincoln Center. Greek life societies are exclusive, not inclusive, so a lot of people would be left out.

“If freshmen want to join fraternities to make friends, we have things like Urban Plunge to help them assimilate. And I know that the club leaders here are always looking for freshmen to join and are good about getting people involved. With fraternities, we would be in overload for such a small campus.”

But what about the parties? Surely Fordham students would be interested in sorority socials and frat parties that our mothers warn us about? At campuses across the nation, a large part of the college party scene is dependent on events thrown by Greek organizations.

Gjikokaj said, “When I was applying to colleges, I visited Columbia, and most of their parties are thrown by the fraternities and sororities. Fordham doesn’t need that, though. We do well on our own.”

Another student who attended fraternity parties at a college in the city agreed. “When I think of fraternities, the first thing that comes to mind is drinking and [Nintendo] Wii parties,” Kiovangie Herrerra, FCLC ’13, said. “At a frat party I went to in the city, the first floor of the party was a typical get-drunk, beer-funnel party, and the basement level was a Wii party. There was one lamp on the entire floor. Fordham can do better!”

So, why are Fordham students so anti-frat? Are we anti-social? Just plain weird? Not at all. Instead, we’ve taken to heart the mantra emblazoned across all our orientation material: “New York is My Campus. Fordham is My School.” Why can’t New York be our frat house too?

If fraternities and sororities are great for networking, social life and for rounding out the college experience, then New York City is the biggest frat house of all—if you can just get rid of your “Animal House” conception of what Greek life really is. Want to network? Take advantage of your prime location in the center of NYC and send your resumé around. While you may not be able to claim a connection with any sorority sisters, being at the heart of the city with a Fordham ID will allow you to take advantage of opportunities generally not available to the public.

If you want the chance to say, “Hold on, let me check my calendar” and not have to scroll through a depressingly blank phone screen, then get out of your jammies and hit the streets. Karaoke in K-Town, swank it up at Wolfgang’s Steak House, crash a loft party. The reputation of New Yorkers as unapproachable may be true to a certain extent, but the upside is that there’s no end to what you can do or who you can meet in New York City.

And at the end of the long, exhausting, why-am-I-wearing-a-lampshade day, just remember this: going to college in New York City is, quite possibly, the best example of what a college experience should be. But public puking is, and always will be, a major party foul—you should leave that for the “Animal House” sequel.