<p>I'm a guy of Indian descent from NorCal, so never really had to deal with much racism. I have white friends, black friends, asian friends, latino friends, really of any ethnicity that I'm around. I'm an incoming freshman and I plan on rushing. However, I've heard that the top frats at SC are a little discriminatory on who they select and I've even heard stories where kids have been kicked out of parties because of their race.</p>
<p>I just wanted to know if there was anything to these rumors and whether being indian would affect my chances of getting into a top frat. I think that these guys would like me, but I don't know if they would even give me a shot because of my race. Should I just not bother with the frats that are supposed to be at the top?</p>
<p>Some frats are considered racist. Don’t worry about top frats, go to the ones you want to be bros with for the rest of your life. If you’re a super chill bro then you’ll be able to get into a good house. I’ve seen Indians in a lot of different houses, and they were fratstars.</p>
<p>To put it bluntly and honestly, the top frats are very racist. I’m not going to into too much detail but racism is very much present here in the frats. You can sugarcoat it all you want, but it’s the unfortunate truth.</p>
<p>Okay, good to know. Can someone tell me which frats I shouldn’t even bother with and some cool ones that I should try out?</p>
<p>I think saying racism can be present is more accurate. And there’s certainly racist people, but you’ll find happy minorities (non-whites) in most houses. Why they’re happy is because they’re having fun being with people who think and act like them.</p>
<p>I would say don’t bother with SAE.</p>
<p>From my experience, SAE, Sigma Chi, and Phi Kappa Psi are the ones to stay away from (All personal opinion though – you may like them) TKE and Sigma Nu are good frats that I would recommend and are generally pretty popular. Phi Delt, Beta, ATO, and ZBT are solid as well.</p>
<p>It’s mean and grossly inaccurate to call anyone a racist merely because of hearsay or personal anecdotes. Why don’t you email the SAE, Sigma Chi, and Phi Kappa Psi presidents and ask them; after all, why rely on secondary, speculative and highly unreliable sources? BTW, I never met any racists at USC.</p>
<p>@SeattleTW, I don’t mean to get defensive, but in which of the following scenarios is he most likely to get an honest answer?</p>
<p>1) From a student at the University
2) The president of a Fraternity who represents the local chapter</p>
<p>Obviously, if he were to ask the president, what do you expect he/she would say? Obvious PR answer.</p>
<p>And, do you think I just come on this forum (as a sophomore in college) to just give incoming freshman speculative, false advice. No. I’m being completely blunt and honest. If it makes you feel any better, I am also Indian and in a similar situation as OP.</p>
<p>I will say that my daughter has witnessed minority friends getting a chilly reception at frat parties and events. So while I’m not a first hand observer it is not inaccurate to say that many frats tend to be predominantly white and/or wealthy.</p>
<p>The best advice for the original poster is to just visit them and see if there is a connection with you and the members. If so, great. If not, there are a lot of people (most of them) on USC who are not in frats and seem to be doing just fine in terms of networking and life-long friendships.</p>
<p>No one here can say if you’ll like it or not. Just depends. But SeattleTW’s time as a student happened 30+ years ago. You’d do better getting exposure to the current frat climate to know if it’s a fit.</p>
<p>I’ve met several kids who are white and received a chilly reception from several different groups on campus during my years there in the 80s, including frats, off campus parties, and even those hosted by minority groups. I have no idea why they were received as such other than perhaps my own biased and uninformed observations. The one noticeable characteristic I recall was one’s hair style and clothing, which might have raised some eyebrows, especially as men’s and women’s hair length began to grow shorter during that time frame. Any discrimination then was more along the lines of fashion, background, money, manners and class, not race.</p>
<p>I still think you should go to the source rather than relying on the personal opinions of others. That way you can rest comfortably in the fact that you investigated your concern in a mature and forthright manner.</p>
<p>I forgot to add that I called the SAE house at Stanford when I was a kid and asked them how they compared to USC’s chapter. I was more concerned about money and wanted to know how much that mattered. I remember chatting about my concerns with one of the officers, who was very helpful. Don’t be shy at all. You would be surprised just how much information you get by simply asking.</p>
<p>While it’s always good to do your due diligence, it’s incredibly naive to think an officer is going to give you the real low down. Don’t let biased people pull the wool over your eyes.</p>
<p>Hearsay: SAE will use its connections to find out about your families financial background and wealth before giving you a bid.
First-hand account: A very attractive Asian girl I met was at an SAE party and went upstairs, and a bro (not a gentleman) said, ‘Normally we don’t let your kind up here, but I’ll make an exception.’</p>
<p>It’s even more incredibly naive to rely upon unreliable hearsay and speculative anecdotes. For example, “your kind” could have referred to females, or non guests, non sorority members, or even a joking reference to one’s attractiveness, having nothing to do with race and despite one’s opinion that she was “very attractive.”</p>
<p>I can attest to @psydent that what he alluded to is EXACTLY what he meant to allude to. Have a kid on campus now and we’ve pretty much asked her to avoid frat parties because of the negative climate she encountered. Not all like that, but enough to make it not worth the while. Now goes only to serve as wing person to friends so they don’t get put in an uncomfortable position. Sorry - but even among current parents coaching new parents there’s discussion about how maybe frats aren’t always the ideal environment for girls and or minorities.</p>
<p>The same question can be posed toward white kids rushing an Asian, black or Jewish fraternity or sorority. I’d personally feel uncomfortable rushing such houses, because of a lack of commonality. On the other hand, the minorities I met at USC frats were fairly well to do and thus shared the same socio economic background. I still think the OP should call the house(s) and express his concern. Or he can also chat with other minority frat bros who could also share their perspectives. He wants to join a house so he should investigate the houses he’s interested in. The SAE and Sigma Chi houses are two of USC’s top houses and are very picky, regardless of race. In fact, race would be the least of my concerns. Where I came from, what my daddy did for a living, what kind of car I drove, and how good looking I was were far more important.</p>
<p>“Where I came from, what my daddy did for a living, what kind of car I drove, and how good looking I was were far more important.”</p>
<p>Well that doesn’t sound like a good defense…Anyways, if that’s the case…
Although there are poor people of every color, minorities have higher percentages/proportions of low income individuals.</p>
<p>Honestly, from what I’m hearing, I don’t think at this point I’d want to be in SAE or the like anyway. I’m a little shocked at @psydent’s story and how that kind of thing can happen in this day and age. I still plan on rushing, but being in a “top” frat isn’t high on my list right now and I’m honestly a little disappointed in the culture there.</p>
<p>^Wow! I guess you need to check the data again. That may be true of some minority groups, but the OP’s…not so much.</p>
<p>1) If you want to get into a top fraternity, stop using a slang term to describe them. Many houses are very particular about shortening the word.
2) Visit the houses or do some research. It will differ to a degree by campus. If you get a bad vibe, don’t rush.
3) Most houses are looking for someone who fits their community. Some will be more varied, others will all look like cookie cutter images of each other.
4) What is considered a top fraternity varies greatly by who is doing the ranking. The top one is the one you are in!
5) I have seen some houses choose members in part based on their major and strengths in athletics so they can help the house in inter-fraternity competitions (and help each other with coursework)
6) Fraternities are not racist. Some individuals are racist and they may cluster around each other at some houses, but I don’t think you will find any major house that does not have people of all ethnic backgrounds (nationally, not per college)</p>
<p>Good luck. I hope you find a house that suits you.</p>
<p>^Well said and from someone who appears to have personal knowledge.</p>