Were/are you in a fraternity?

[Escaep]

Last college poll thread I promise. Anyway, were/are you in a college fraternity (or sorority for women) and was it worth it? I'm going to get bombarded at orientation by the different fraternities on campus and I've heard mixed opinions on them. Some say they were a blast and they made lasting friendships, while others said it was expensive and not worth the money. I know it differs from person to person and personality to personality.

If you were in one please list what it was.

 

[ríomhaire]

We don't have these in Ireland. Even from watching various American shows and films about college I still don't really get what they are/what the point is. Do you pay to get into them or are they free or what?

 

[Ennui]

Are you a bro? Is your life primarily concerned with getting drunk, hitting on girls as much as possible, and trying to impress your bros by doing these two things? If you answered yes to all three questions, join a frat.

My school has a very big, old-school traditional frat culture (prolly 6000 of the 16000 students are in the Greek system) and while I have friends that are cool and in frats most frat guys are pretty boring and lame and predictable and I generally avoid frat culture. Unless you're the kind of guy that likes to go to bars and clubs every night and hit on girls and calls girls "slam-pieces" you probably won't like a normal frat too much. I have friends who love being in frats and friends who regret it and have even left their frats. It's just about your personality.

Personally I avoid them like the plague and make fun of frat guys in my classes all the time, but YMMV.

 

[xcellerate]

I went to a college that was huge into greek life. You pay your 'fees' to be in them, and you get treated like crap for the first semester/year. One of the ones my friend was in had to carry around like 8 quarters, a lighter, a pack of cigarettes, and had to (if he was asked) drive his 'older brother' anywhere he needed to be. Unless of course he had to be in class or something.

They are a good way to meet people though because they have big parties that force you to get out of your comfort zone. For example that same fraternity as above would have random dinner parties where the guys would have like 30 minutes to find a date that met specific requirements...like your date had to be taller than you, or have blonde hair. A lot of girls went for it too because it'd be a free meal and some fun...

 

[Raziaar]

I have to wonder why people would want to join an group that has hazing initiations.

I mean seriously, are you that desperate? Is going through that really going to make you feel a bond with the people who did that shit to you? Do you really look forward to doing it to other people once you're in?

 

[Escaep]

I have to wonder why people would want to join an group that has hazing initiations.

I mean seriously, are you that desperate? Is going through that really going to make you feel a bond with the people who did that shit to you? Do you really look forward to doing it to other people once you're in?

The ones at the school I'm going to have a strict anti-hazing policy.

At least, they're supposed to.

 

[Raziaar]

The ones at the school I'm going to have a strict anti-hazing policy.

At least, they're supposed to.

Yeah, because it's a crime in like 44 states. But they still do it.

 

[StarBob]

I spent four years in a fraternity. They get a bad rap because of some stupid ass people. We didn't have any hazing and all of our pledging activities were either educational or team building. The organization wasn't a bunch of drunks hitting on girls all the time and being "bro douchebags" like they're portrayed in the movies. Yeah there are guys like that in some fraternities and they're just as douchey as you'd expect, but if you're into having a close community of friends that truly appreciate one another, then a fraternity is for you.

By the way, you don't "buy friends" like some people say. We and all the other fraternities at my college had very open monetary and budgeting processes. All of the money went to the events in which we participated and things we needed as a house. In my four years of college I had somewhere between 80 and 100 community service hours on top of my full time classes, part time job, and football. It was a truly enriching experience in many ways and I would suggest it to anyone who can find a group of guys they feel really comfortable with.

Finding the right fraternity is very important. They're going to be different. I went to a small school with four fraternities and each was populated by a variety of people, but the all had fairly different cultures. Don't be lured in by the guys that give you the most beer or make ridiculous promises, just find guys you get along with an share your interests.

The reason fraternities have to try so hard to get members anymore is the media and entertainment industries crush their image. It's not like fraternities profit from people joining, it's just the will to perpetuate organization they appreciate.

I mean, let me be honest, not everything that happened in four years was magnificent. There were times where I questioned all the effort I put in to it and some of the people that had joined, but in the end it was definitely worth it.

 

[AJ Rimmer]

We don't have those in Sweden, thank goodness.

 

[Krynn72]

Save time, energy, and useless drama. Make friends on your own.

 

[Danimal]

I don't think they exist, here.

Before reading StarBob's post I never understood the purpose of them, either. I actually thought everyone who goes to an American College is automatically (Or not) placed in a Fraternity as their accommodation (Assuming they live on-campus) more than anything.

Makes sense now, I guess.

EDIT: Escaep, you should join the Skull and Bones fraternity for sure.

George Bush Snr-Snr is in this photo, but I cbf editing it to circle him atm

 

[Ennui]

StarBob, your depiction of frat life is NOTHING like the greek system here (which involves probably upwards of 20-30 frats and as many sororities). I dunno what school you went to but I suspect that having a tiny greek life like that would push frats in a more alternative (tolerable) direction. Here, almost every fraternity brother stereotype is well represented and justified and those who aren't like that are a pretty small minority.

Simple solution, Escaep:

Rush. If you like what you see, join. If not, don't. Rush is pretty much a trial run for how you like frats anyway.

 

[BabyHeadCrab]

The only Frat (or Sorority) I'd ever join is Lambda! Lambda! Lambda! or Omega Moo.

 

[Remus]

Landslide vote, hahah.

 

[Unfocused]

Don't have them here.

And the whole hazing thing... that sound more like high-school-and-below behavior. Weird stuff.

 

[Mogi67]

**** fraternities. They drink shitty beer.

 

[Kaptain H]

Lol, no. When I was in college, I went a step further in the opposite direction by driving home every weekend, and for the last year I commuted an hour both ways from home. No social life here.

To be fair, it was a Pennsylvania Dutch town that didn't even have a McDonald's.

 

[Dynasty]

I take it a fraternity is the UK equivelent of, say, joining the Uni rugby team and getting involved with all the social stuff they do?

Although...getting naked on a roundabout during rush-hour doesnt really help with the recruiting process.

 

[Qonfused]

I agree with Ennui. Frat bros are ****ing terrible and I try to stay away from them as much as possible.

 

[Bob_Marley]

No.

Don't have 'em over here.

 

[Krynn72]

Although...getting naked on a roundabout during rush-hour doesnt really help with the recruiting process.

Well, then thats where fraternities differ.

 

[Ennui]

Not necessarily. Hell week hazing processes here involve (depending on the frat, some don't really haze but most of them do):

- Sleeping on a basement floor with roaches, no shower and 4 hours of sleep a night for a whole week
- Being forced to finish a case (20 12oz cans) of beer in a fixed amount of time (2 or 3 hours)
- Doing pushups over candles until you have a scar (this is sort of the common tattoo, a burn scar on the chest, at a major frat here)
- Really nasty shit involving spoiled food / animal and human feces
- Makeup and girl's clothes in public
- Nudity in public
- Various humiliating missions at parties that involve making a total ass of yourself in front of many judgmental people
- Obeying every command of a senior brother all week including all sorts of humiliating gross painful etc stuff

Trust me, the stereotypes exist for a reason. They aren't supposed to talk about it but I'm good enough friends with some frat guys that they've told me about their initiation procedures. HAVE A FUN

Disclaimer: not all fraternities are like this, my school is very old south and has a very stereotypical, large frat culture

 

[StarBob]

Not necessarily. Hell week hazing processes here involve (depending on the frat, some don't really haze but most of them do):

- Sleeping on a basement floor with roaches, no shower and 4 hours of sleep a night for a whole week
- Being forced to finish a case (20 12oz cans) of beer in a fixed amount of time (2 or 3 hours)
- Doing pushups over candles until you have a scar (this is sort of the common tattoo, a burn scar on the chest, at a major frat here)
- Really nasty shit involving spoiled food / animal and human feces
- Makeup and girl's clothes in public
- Nudity in public
- Various humiliating missions at parties that involve making a total ass of yourself in front of many judgmental people
- Obeying every command of a senior brother all week including all sorts of humiliating gross painful etc stuff

Trust me, the stereotypes exist for a reason. They aren't supposed to talk about it but I'm good enough friends with some frat guys that they've told me about their initiation procedures. HAVE A FUN

Disclaimer: not all fraternities are like this, my school is very old south and has a very stereotypical, large frat culture

Our "hell week," actually named "Help Week" because of the negative stigma associated with such a week involved - pledges sleeping on mattresses and couches in the clean (actually cleaner than the rest of the house) chapter room for the week and every night participating in team building exercises taken from various leadership activities. These include team puzzle solving and challenges as well as various tasks that test one's ability to lead and follow WITHIN the pledge class. Also we had a system by which every pledge must meet with and interview every member of the fraternity, answering various legitimate and silly questions, so that pledges were familiar with everyone else. Each pledge was encouraged to spend as much time at the house as possible bonding with the guys, but any activities outside of that (class, clubs, teams, etc) were perfectly fine. There were also different games and such. The toughest part was learning the history of the fraternity and other greek-related information. The worst thing that happened for me personally (and something that was no longer done after that semester) was this team building exercise involving egg tossing and catching. The only reason they stopped it was because it made such a big mess and people (including myself) fell a lot. The entire process is designed to bring pledges closer with the members and test/build their ability to lead and understand what the fraternity is truly about.

But yeah, like Ennui said, rush. You get free food and shit and get to meet some people. If you don't like it, don't pledge. Even if you do pledge, you're not bound to it and you can just leave. If every fraternity was like Ennui described, they wouldn't exist and I definitely wouldn't have been in one.

 

[Solaris]

StarBob your Frat sounds pretty gay, (egg throwing....) haha

But in all seriousness, I'd have loved to join a frat I think.

 

[Eejit]

They're for douches.

 

[ShadowArmy]

No and I don't plan to. Because I don't want a social life on that scale.

 

[Mogi67]

StarBob your Frat sounds pretty gay, (egg throwing....) haha

But in all seriousness, I'd have loved to join a frat I think.

Sure, if you like having fake friends

 

[kupocake]

I take it a fraternity is the UK equivelent of, say, joining the Uni rugby team and getting involved with all the social stuff they do?

Was going to say this. Are there not sports teams and common interest 'societies' to join in US colleges? Or do you get into stuff like sports, plays, film clubs etc. through the Fraternities?

edit: Starbob, your fraternity sounds like some kind of Ned Flanders-ish bastardisation of the little I know about frats

 

[Wanted Bob]

Havent joined a frat per se, but the faculties at my university are so segregated with their own initiations that they might as well be one.

 

[KiplingsCat]

We don't have frats at all in Ireland, we have clubs and societies. Clubs are for sports and societies are for other extra-curricular stuff, like the dramatic society, the debating society etcetera. While often an excuse to party, they do actually do things other than go out and get drunk (except the choral soc).

 

[Cancer]

Fraternities are meh, honor societies/fraternities is where it's at.

 

[The Monkey]

Don't have that sort of thing over here.