<p>^ITA - the rush process is so brief that there really isn’t time to get to know every pledge well so the refs requirement makes sense - it’s really just a letter of introduction. While the process seems very elaborate, I suspect there is a lot of good reasoning behind it. For example, the dress guide they give to the girls at son’s school makes sense to me and if I had a daughter who planned to rush, I would be grateful to have that information prior to the start of rush. Women of all ages frequently feel anxious about what to wear to events where we don’t know many people and are even more anxious when we show up wearing something wholly inappropriate. Having such an organized rush process is probably designed to put pledges at ease.</p>
<p>The fraternities, on the other hand, generally aren’t that organized during rush, though their pledging period seems to be much more structured (and can be very time consuming and physically demanding on the pledges.) My son reports that the girls have a much easier time once they get through rush.</p>
<p>I agree that for girls, getting through recruitment is the crazy part, and for boys, getting through pledgeship can be the tough part. I think the selection process for fraternities is crazy because it is so unstructured at most places. A few schools in Indiana (DePauw and Wabash) have a more formalized fraternity rush, but most of the time it is about hanging out at a few parties, without visiting all the houses. My friends at IU knew what houses they would join before school started. Just seems really weird to only give a few groups a chance.</p>
<p>^That describes my son’s experience exactly. He and a friend only visited two houses, liked the guys at one, got a bid, accepted and that was it. I think guys are much more laid back about the whole thing.</p>
<p>Sorry Oldfort, but that stuff isn’t happening at Greek-less Oberlin where the kids have zero interest in frats or the frat pack mentality. I’m sure that stuff doesn’t happen at a lot of schools that don’t have frats. </p>
<p>I understand the networking thing, but IMHO, when it comes to Greek life, the cons outweigh the pros.</p>
<p>Great observation, imasophomore. I could not agree more. I didn’t rush because I thought it was stupid. I also hated the idea of being told what to do by another “kid” only a couple of years older. </p>
<p>The Greek system is a way of separating people into the in crowd and out crowd. I don’t have a problem with joining exclusive groups, but I think membership should be based on a specific, relevant TALENT. I went out for sports teams in high school and college. When I made a team it was based on talent, not on my looks, or my family pedigree or income, race, religion, or whether some snot-nosed upper classman thought I was cool enough to “fit in.” </p>
<p>I find the whole idea of rushing for a fraternity or sorority repugnant. I’m so glad my college daughters have either refused to attend a college that has Greek life or simply refused to participate.</p>
While I’ve certainly questioned Greek life plenty, I don’t think you can make a blanket statement like this. I think this may be broadly true at some colleges, and it may be true for some houses at some colleges, and it may be true for many kids at any college. But there may be many kids for whom the Greek experience will be overall a positive, and where the impact on non-Greeks at the school isn’t negative, either. The key is you have to do your research–first, know yourself. Second, understand how the Greek system works at schools you are considering. Finally, if you go to a school with a Greek system, do your research about the specific organizations you are considering.</p>
<p>"When I made a team it was based on talent, not on my looks, or my family pedigree or income, race, religion, or whether some snot-nosed upper classman thought I was cool enough to “fit in.” #206</p>
<p>Don’t kid yourself. The choosing of team members for high school and college teams is very political.</p>
<p>Plainsman, when visiting Oberlin I smelled herbal enhancements in two different locations on a weekday afternoon. I also saw boxes of wine in a freshman dorm room. One of the kids that talked with my DS said it was a lot more about smoking than drinking, though most kids drink.
So tell me what part of Oberlin is different? Stats on college p r o w ler mention alcohol and drug referrals.</p>
<p>Another interesting thing to note is that the idea of Greek life is to build community. Instead, at many schools, it serves to segregate the student body and hinders the overall community feeling of the school.</p>
<p>Well, what do the stats say? Do schools without Greek systems have more or less alcohol problems? I’m not persuaded by anybody’s anecdotal reports one way or the other.</p>
<p>I will note that every time anybody says that there’s a lot of drinking at any particular school, we will hear that there’s tons of drinking at every school. Well, I’m also not persuaded that there is the same amount of drinking, or the same drinking culture, at every school.</p>
<p>There is an extensive drinking culture at Harvard and Yale, as well. When my D was admitted to H, she received a “good will” phone call from a current H student, whose job I guess was to persuade her to attend. One of the things he said to her was that “only high quality liquor is served at Harvard.” We thought it was hilarious, but I can understand if other students and their parents might be appalled.</p>
<p>"Schools without Greek life are having just as many as problems with alcohol poisoning, sexual assaults, vandalism as schools with Greek life. "</p>
<p>This is statistically just plain false - the studies on this issue are many, repeated, and validated. The Dean should be ashamed of himself.</p>
<p>Binge: What Your College Student Won’t Tell You
this book should be required reading for parents whilst they wait for their kids to come out of the SAT test site. Essentially the author has spent a year traveling through North American colleges compiling statistics about binge drinking on campuses. The college with lowest incidents of hospitalization? McGill in Canada where the age is 18. Food for thought.</p>