College Fraternities

[WeekendLazyness]

Anyone else in one?

I'm in DTD myself.

[ScottieIWU]

Acacia Fraternity, ala the avatar.

[Protosschick99]

Nope--Maybe I'll join a Sororiety when I get to CAL State Fullerton though :D

[GrassDragon]

Maybe when I get to real college I'll join one. My dad was a part of a fraternity and he loved it.

[chibi]

Sororities and Fraternities aren't really popular in Canada so I'm not part of one. I was invited to join one but I don't see the point of them. Unless you're really into it then it could appear to be an extra obligation.

[hammocksleeper]

greek life is a big thing down here in the south. a third of all students on my campus are greek. a hefty portion of my friends are, but i am not.

[GenocideAlive]

Greeks in most of the South are considered to be the next logical step for popularity contests. Most non-members (and some members) will readily aquiesce that it's roughly equivalent to buying friends, as there's quite a hefty membership fee. Given the chance to do it all again, I'm not sure if I would or would not have elected to go into a frat.

Every frat has its "sister" sorority and they frequently mix for different activities, so I'm sure that would be quite beneficial in terms of finding dates. I say "dates" and I pretty much mean something to eat with then fuck.

[sololop]

No colleges near me (All two of them) have places to stay. You have to go there from your own house. Because the colleges used to be vocational schools.

[Nickodemus]

O ahhhh. I'm gonna win a popularity contest here.

I grew up in a colege town. I have seen first hand how this "greek" system works and frankly it is like this. It is simply for the loosers whom have no friends to go to some place to find people to pretend to be their friends. To humiliate them into joining. Because they have no inner thoughts or ideas of their own. And really can't do anything other than be in the class of society i love to refer to as "sheep" You see them all the time. With their little hats and sweater. Binge drinking all weekend. Walking like little ducks in a row. And why because they can't free think. fraternities and sororities take that out of your brains during this ritual we all know they still do, but are not allowed to do: Called HAZING. Now let me get this retarded idea correct. You want people to become sheep and look just like you. ( by joining said frat or sorority you will. just give it time. your all drones it will happen. Its in the programing. ) and join your little group but simply saying ' yup, I'm in.' is out of the question. You all have to humiliate them. make them run around and do stupid retarded stunts just to say those words that we as a society love to hear. "I belong." Well, if you need to belong to something go join a club with some actual goal other than the moronic 'we think we are the Gods of colege, bow to us and our greatness.' krap.

Enjoy.

[Kingscrab]

O ahhhh. I'm gonna win a popularity contest here.

I grew up in a colege town. I have seen first hand how this "greek" system works and frankly it is like this. It is simply for the loosers whom have no friends to go to some place to find people to pretend to be their friends. To humiliate them into joining. Because they have no inner thoughts or ideas of their own. And really can't do anything other than be in the class of society i love to refer to as "sheep" You see them all the time. With their little hats and sweater. Binge drinking all weekend. Walking like little ducks in a row. And why because they can't free think. fraternities and sororities take that out of your brains during this ritual we all know they still do, but are not allowed to do: Called HAZING. Now let me get this retarded idea correct. You want people to become sheep and look just like you. ( by joining said frat or sorority you will. just give it time. your all drones it will happen. Its in the programing. ) and join your little group but simply saying ' yup, I'm in.' is out of the question. You all have to humiliate them. make them run around and do stupid retarded stunts just to say those words that we as a society love to hear. "I belong." Well, if you need to belong to something go join a club with some actual goal other than the moronic 'we think we are the Gods of colege, bow to us and our greatness.' krap.

Enjoy. Kinda sounds like the military. People in glass houses...

[ScottieIWU]

O ahhhh. I'm gonna win a popularity contest here.Probably.

I grew up in a colege town. I have seen first hand how this "greek" system works and frankly it is like this.Yes, you've observed the system firsthand, but you haven't experienced it firsthand.

It is simply for the loosers [sic] whom have no friends to go to some place to find people to pretend to be their friends. To humiliate them into joining.As one of those "loosers" with no friends, I feel it's my duty to point out that I have plenty of friends, a majority of them non-greek, and if I wanted friends there are easier ways. I was also never "humiliated" into joining.

Because they have no inner thoughts or ideas of their own. And really can't do anything other than be in the class of society i love to refer to as "sheep" You see them all the time. With their little hats and sweater. Binge drinking all weekend. Walking like little ducks in a row. And why because they can't free think.Yes, I definitely look like every other member of my fraternity. Sure, I don't wear little hats and sweaters, I have my own individual style of dress that, on my campus, is unique to me and about three others (none of whom are in my fraternity) and the rest of the brothers in my fraternity all have their own individual styles but because we're greek, we must definitely all look the same.

Oh and no inner thoughts. It's true. I'll be the first to admit that I have no inner thoughts or ideas of my own. Oh wait, I'm at a small, liberal arts university on the way to becoming a professional educator and english major and I spend much of my free time actually having intelligent discussions with my brothers about a lot of issues.

And we all know that frat boys are the only people to ever binge drink at colleges. Certainly no other students not affiliated with the greek system ever binge drink at college.

fraternities and sororities take that out of your brains during this ritual we all know they still do, but are not allowed to do: Called HAZING.So the observed behaviors of a few chapters of a few fraternities will, in your mind, then become the implied behaviors of all chapters of all fraternities. Does it work for me to point out I have never been hazed, and it's in the charter of my fraternity to not haze and that we take that extremely seriously. Does it ruin your ideas for me to point out that my campus' greek system is so tough on hazing that me having a joking wrestling match with an initiated brother while I was still a pledge was out of the question because that could be percieved as hazing? Certainly those things don't fit into your nice and tidy assumption of what it is to be greek.


Now let me get this retarded idea correct. [. . .] You all have to humiliate them. make them run around and do stupid retarded stunts just to say those words that we as a society love to hear. "I belong." Actually, there's this big thing with me and my brothers that we love about the fact that we never got hazed. See, it doesn't make sense to us to haze those you wish to call brothers, that's why we take it very seriously, as do a lot of other frats.

Well, if you need to belong to something go join a club with some actual goal other than the moronic 'we think we are the Gods of colege, bow to us and our greatness.' krap. See...I don't think I'm a god of college. To be honest, not a single greek I know on campus actually does think of himself as the god of college. Flaw in your logic.

Enjoy.Thank you, I did.

See, what you've done is taken your observations of fraternities and made them all out in your mind to be what every part of the greek system is. Nevermind that you saw but a small corner of greek life and you never actually experienced it (making, to me, your observations almost pointless.)

You see, the point of the fraternity is to be sociable with like-minded peers. I was drawn to my fraternity because we all have this sense of individuality about ourselves. Every brother in the house is unique in that we all have different cultures. What brings us together is the mutual respect for each others' cultures, the fact that we are friends, and also the fact that many of us have similar interests in intellectual pursuit. You see fraternities as this homogeneous group of sheep, well there's a reason it seems that way to outsiders: you would never join a fraternity that you don't "fit into."

On a side note, my pledgeship was a great experience. For example, as I've said I was never hazed. Then, I had to learn about my fraternity, a task that, while difficult, was rewarding in that I truly wanted to know the rituals and history associated with Acacia. Finally, my pledgeship had projects that I enjoyed. One of them was a philanthropy project, we had to do something for the community and my pledge brothers and I organized a party with an entry fee of either a can of food or $1 (which would go to charity.) Not only did we provide people with an enjoyable party, but we raised over $100 in cash and got about 300 cans of food that all went to charity. My organization has lots of goals, our damn motto is "Human service."

So the point is, stop generalizing based on some observations you probably made a long itme ago, but never experienced. I had the same view as you of the greek system until I happened to become friends with 5 guys who happened to be Acacians. When I started hanging out with them more I felt like I belonged long before I even decided to join the fraternity. I opened my eyes, tried something new and I'd say it paid of for me because now I'm not bound by this closed-minded view of the greek system that so many people willingly clutch but are never really willing to let go.

[hammocksleeper]

Heh, am I the only person who recognizes the things that y'all consider vices and negative stereotypes of fraternities but actually likes these things and doesn't think they're all that bad? :D

[GenocideAlive]

Heh, am I the only person who recognizes the things that y'all consider vices and negative stereotypes of fraternities but actually likes these things and doesn't think they're all that bad? :D
Obviously not. Those in said fraternities do not.

[ScottieIWU]

Obviously not. Those in said fraternities do not.Definitely not. The thing is, even if a fraternity does haze, the person is (in most cases, as there are exceptions) usually given a choice to drop out from pledging at any time. That's the point of pledging; if the fraternity does something you don't like, clearly that fraternity is not for you and you drop out and find another.

[GenocideAlive]

There's social pressures everywhere--if you're so much of a tool that you'll let yourself be hazed in a manner you're extremely uncomfortable with then there's pretty much no saving you anyway. Are the frats to blame? Sure, but let's face it--if it wouldn't have been the frat it would be something else.

Sweet dreams are made of these...

[hammocksleeper]

There's social pressures everywhere--if you're so much of a tool that you'll let yourself be hazed in a manner you're extremely uncomfortable with then there's pretty much no saving you anyway.

I wouldn't call it being a tool. Hazing is designed to make you uncomfortable. It takes you outside of your comfort zone, and beyond. The purpose is to break you, but you do it with your entire pledge class. Everything they do they do together, and that forms a special bond that's unlike anything else. You might not be so kindly to your pledgemaster, but between your other pledge brothers there is a very strong connection. The military uses the same techniques to "break" people, for a slightly different reason but all the same the bond between brothers is there.

[Modred]

Hazing is designed to make you uncomfortable. It takes you outside of your comfort zone, and beyond.
You make it sound so constructive. Fraternities are not military organizations and hazing often takes a dangerous turn. In addition, the military trainers are professionals, whereas pledge captains are generally as inexperienced as their pledges in everything save knowledge of the frat.

I'm in BYX, which is a relatively young fraternity with most of it's chapters in Texas, although we're spreading out across the south. No hazing, no underage drinking, no illegal drugs; not for everyone, but definitely a good group.

[Duddits]

Personally, I'd never join a fraternity. Me, I have a girl I love and a few friends that I trust, and I'm happy. I just got my life sorted out and I don't need other punks telling me how to live it.

I'm not anti-social, I'm more pro-recluse than anything.