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Author Topic: What is the point of a Fraternity? Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 10-07-2004 07:22 PM                        I am wondering what the point of a college fraternity is. From the evidence I've seen, only complete morons are allowed to join or even pledge. Here in Colorado, fraternity pledges as young as 19 keep drinking themselves to death, literally. I feel no sorrow for the dead kids since their own stupidity is responsible for their death. But is being in a fraternity some super-sweet status symbol or something? Does it add a sense of belonging to kids who feel outcast otherwise? Is it supposed to help guys who normally would have a zero percent chance with girls actually get some? Why do fraternities associate themselves with Greek symbols and words? And what's with the togas?  |  IP: Logged Daryl C. W. O'Shea Film God Posts: 3977 From: Midland Ontario Canada (where Panavision & IMAX lenses come from) Registered: Jun 2002 posted 10-07-2004 07:33 PM                        Togas rock. We used to have toga parties fairly often, although we don't have an fraternities.  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 10-07-2004 07:36 PM                     Just a few days ago, there was a frat-related drinking death (likely from a hazing ritual) in a frat house on the Oklahoma University campus in Norman. I believe many fraternities just function as organized peer pressure groups. Frats are a real hazard in Oklahoma since many high school graduates looking to improve themselves just wind up turning into meth addict losers via those frat parties. I doubt if all frats are bad. But the hazing, violence, drinking deaths, date rape / group rape and drug culture of many frats makes that entire institution look highly suspect. I would encourage students looking to pledge at a fraternity to be very careful. The need to belong to some kind of in-crowd can succeed in wasting lots of your time, screwing up your studies and even messing up your life. We had no fraternities where I attended college (School of Visual Arts, NYC). No one had any free time for any of that stuff. Same thing goes for organized sports.  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 10-07-2004 07:39 PM                        Why would the colleges keep allowing fraternities to get away with such things? Do they see a party going on at a frat house and just assume that everyone inside is 21 or older or that there is no alcohol? The colleges are just as moronic as the frat members.  |  IP: Logged Aaron Mehocic Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 804 From: New Castle, PA, USA Registered: Jun 99 posted 10-07-2004 09:09 PM                     In fraternities, a college kid is just buying friends. They really serve no purpose in modern society other than limited community service projects like Earth Day trash pick-ups or get-out-the-vote rallies (regardless of party affiliation). Back in colonial times fraternities actually did serve a purpose as peer groups among the younger children of upper crust members in society. The earliest frats in North America can be traced to Ivy League institutions in which Latin and Greek were required courses of study (mostly for men going into the seminary). What was learned in the classroom was given creedence in the real world through names and symbols. Obviously, modern hazing rituals involving alcohol did not exist in those days. Those who "pledged" did so on there sacred honor never to reveal the inner secrets of their clubs (a lot like the infamous Skull and Crossbone fraternity at Yale). I've never been a member, nor associated with any fraternity. One of my friends was asked to join a fraternity and was given a pledge card. He burned it right in front of two "brothers" so as to get his message across. If anything, I'd associate more with an honorary society than a fraternity. They are a lot less assinine about acceptance into the organization and probably would look better on a resume than would a drinking club disguised by a Greek name.  |  IP: Logged Paul Mayer Oh get out of it Melvin, before it pulls you under! Posts: 3836 From: Albuquerque, NM Registered: Feb 2000 posted 10-08-2004 12:03 AM                        If a frat has lots of members that are in your major, there can be some real benefits to joining. A friend of mine was in Delta Sigma Phi at Franklin & Marshall. At the time most of the members were either Physics or Engineering majors, so he fit right in. The frat house served as a place to go when you needed help with something, plus if you lived in the frat you got a fairly good break on room and board costs compared to living in the dorms or on your own off campus. Greek life was a big part of F&M's culture, Lancaster, PA not being very much of a college town otherwise. And the networking connections you make during those years can pay off handsomely down the road. My school ERAU had very active Alpha Eta Rho (the international fraternity for aviation professionals) chapters on both of its main campuses. Unfortunately, we satellite campus students missed out on that. On the other hand, at many schools Greek life doesn't amount to much. UNLV for example, being mostly a commuter school, doesn't have much of a frat scene. Yeah, pledge hazing is getting out of hand at some schools. Nobody seems to know when or where to draw the line anymore. My friend has some great stories about the parties they threw--there was always plenty of alcohol around (his frat could have doubled for the Delta's in Animal House). But nobody ever got hurt, much less died, due to things like alcohol poisoning. Now it's like people have lost the ability to pace themselves. [Edit: Fixed clutzy syntax created while under the influence of NyQuil. And one of these days I will learn how to spell.] [ 10-08-2004, 01:09 PM: Message edited by: Paul Mayer ]  |  IP: Logged Greg Davis Film Handler Posts: 96 From: Vista, Ca, USA Registered: Sep 2004 posted 10-08-2004 02:00 AM                     2 words. Animal House.  |  IP: Logged Joshua Waaland Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 800 From: Cleveland, Ohio Registered: Dec 1999 posted 10-08-2004 09:38 AM                     I have never really liked frats nor do I ever see myself liking frats. I agree that they are pretty much just overglorified drinking clubs. Most of the people I knew that were in them were rich and their parents paid for everything. They did not have to work their way through college like a lot of people so they could enjoy the luxury of partying every night.  |  IP: Logged Bob Maar (Maar stands for Maartini) Posts: 28608 From: New York City & Newport, RI Registered: Feb 2001 posted 10-08-2004 10:36 AM                        It pays to belong if your are dating the "Sweetheart of Sigma Chi" It's even better when you marry her.  |  IP: Logged R. Andrew Diercks Expert Film Handler Posts: 232 From: Marion, Iowa (In the middle of everywhere) Registered: May 2003 posted 10-08-2004 10:48 AM                     I have not met a frat member that wasn't an arrogant ass nor have I met a sorority girl that wasn't a snobbish whore. I'm just glad they have eachother. My motto is Friends don't let friends rent friends. I'm sure I haven't met all of the wonderful people that may be in those organizations, but I have yet to be impressed.  |  IP: Logged Phil Hill I love my cootie bug Posts: 7595 From: Hollywood, CA USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 10-08-2004 12:42 PM                  Greg, one word: TOGA! Bob: I've dated a few "sweethearts" from Lambda Lambda Lambda. R.: Whew! Contrary to other people's opinion, I don't consider myself as arrogant or an ass, however, I won't comment on the "whore" aspect... >>> Phil  |  IP: Logged Jim Spohn Film Handler Posts: 95 From: Bakersfield, CA, USA Registered: Jan 2003 posted 10-08-2004 12:51 PM                     Like it or not, we are all Film-Tech brothers!!  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 10-08-2004 02:07 PM                        Ladies and gentlemen, I'll be brief. The issue here is not whether we broke a few rules or took a few liberties with our female party guests -- we did. But you can't hold a whole fraternity responsible for the actions of a few sick, perverted individuals. For if you do, then shouldn't we blame the whole fraternity system? And if the whole fraternity system is guilty, then isn't this an indictment of our educational institutions in general? I put it to you ... isn't this an indictment of our entire American society? Well, you can do what you want to us, but we're not going to sit here and listen to you badmouth the United States of America!  |  IP: Logged Paul Mayer Oh get out of it Melvin, before it pulls you under! Posts: 3836 From: Albuquerque, NM Registered: Feb 2000 posted 10-08-2004 03:08 PM                        Well said Otter!  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 10-08-2004 04:43 PM                     Having graduated from the University of Maryland in College Park with a very active "Greek" system I can honestly say that other than "Rush Week" I never noticed them very much and my apartment was right behind "Frat Row." Rush week was noisy but I didn't mind it is only one week and you know when it is coming. As to your friend that was into the physics/engineering thing...I was in engineering (electrical) and if you wanted to find one of us geeks (instead of the greeks) all you needed to do was go to the library...especially the engineering library. I belonged to the IEEE and was active with the UofM chapter. A lot of us hung out there too. There is a bit of that sick, "sticking with your kind," sort of thing all through life. Furthermore, Tau Beta Pi and Eta Kappa Nu were always having "tutor" sessions for those that needed some one-on-one help. So, one needn't belong to a frat (nor even a society) to attain help in their subject from peers. We on the geek side figured that the Frats used the greek symboles to show they too had some form of intelligence since none of their actual courses would have those symboles in them (unlike those in the Math and Sciences). I can see that in a well set up Frat, like any organization that actually has organization, there are benifits to funtioning as a group as to an individual. If the frat is nothing more than a drinking club than it is indeed worthless. I didn't see any real problems at UofM though I don't doubt that there were as the "administration" was always trying to push them around. I am sure that many, if not most of the students that pledge received great experiences from the frat system, long lasting friendships and probably decent starts in their post-school lives. There is good and bad in any group, frats, unions and even citizens. That does not mean the whole system is bad. Every group is not cut out for every person though. The frats never did anything for me but I didn't mind them being there either. Steve [ 10-08-2004, 10:04 PM: Message edited by: Steve Guttag ]  |  IP: Logged

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