Negative. Greek letter societies were founded as discussion societies. (You may have heard of the first one, Phi Beta Kappa.) Mine was founded to prevent hazing in a military school -- a bunch of students decided they knew what was best for the underclassmen and decided to enforce it, administration be damned. And it was founded long before the drinking age was set at 21.
All their "good works" could be covered in a 30-min meeting each month at the student union.
Again, negative. Depending on the university's requirements, Greek orgs may do hundreds or thousands of man-hours of community service. Real community service, walking door to door collecting food, building houses, that kind of stuff. That's not counting what fraternities do internally to better their members, or the benefits of a well-maintained house and active social program that non-members can freely benefit from.
Greek houses are there to allow kids to do stuff they be arrested for in a dorm or apartment.
Nope. Greek orgs have a complex set of rules to contend with -- federal, state, and municipal laws, university housing and Greek policies, national and local by-laws. They also pay extremely high insurance rates, so the vast majority tend to obey these rules. As opposed to college dorms, in which you can get away with anything as long as it doesn't personally bother the RA, and apartments, where anything goes as long as it doesn't bother a neighbor. (The real freaks are always in the dorms in my experience.) Living in a house also may be cheaper than university housing, more conducive than studying, and provides a better "home" than some low-rent apartment or dormitory cubicle.
Eventually, they'll be sued out of existence...
When that happens, they'll just go local, underground, and escape the oversight of the university. It's been done before, successfully, for years at a time.
I'm well aware of the history, mission, rules and traditions of Greeks. I heard it every time a pledge died and I'd be sent to the nearest university to get a local react on it. The offenders and university officials were always shocked...SHOCKED...that it happened and determined it wouldn't happen again. But it always did.
Greeks like you who are truely above reproach should raise holy hell to bring your brothers into line. Just like the TROP crowd, preaching your goodness is no longer enough...
you have to take out your trash.