<p>I can't drink, but I love the parties and social life a frat provides. Do you think I can still join a frat if I don't drink? I'd be happy to be the designated driver.</p>
<p>i'm sure you could join ... but you might run into a bit of trouble when it comes to hazing.</p>
<p>if you had a real physical problem with it but you are friends with the kids in it then yea there might be an exception</p>
<p>i think almost all frats have "dry pledges," where if you tell the house ahead of time before pledging starts that you can't drink for whatever reason, they will allow you to go through pledging dry. However, whatever the other pledges have to do beer-drinking wise, you will have to do the same only with water...and this is harder than it sounds.</p>
<p>Even when I went in the long ago dark ages, and drinking was legal at age 18, there was no problem not drinking during rush or pledging at my fraternity, which is pretty much universally still considered one of the very best on the Hill. I am not stuck with my head in the sand, but know my house actively works to ensure that neither New York law nor Cornell regulations are violated. I later was social chair and there was certainly drinking but I don't think there was pressure to do so. And no, I won't give its name, but I was the only student in my class there with any financial aid... ( I <em>hope</em> they are not quite as elitist now....) I can't think not drinking is "that hard" and fraternities are wise to limit it...it never was any part of anything approaching hazing at my house, and such hazing is of course illegal and dangerous.</p>
<p>Cornell has a strict policy, and so do most fraternities on campus, about no forced drinking during pledging. Every house abides by this rule so you will never ever be forced to drink during pledging. If you're interested, Phi Delta Theta is a nationally dry frat and no drinking goes on in their house.</p>
<p>of course. I've known several pledges from various fraternities who didn't drink when they were pledging, and they still drink very little now that they are actives.</p>
<p>Yep, that's what I need. I need a dry frat. Thanks for telling me about Phi Delta Theta. I'll check it out in january. I hope the people there aren't nerdy.</p>
<p>i dont know if you need a dry frat.. you need to find a place that has people you like first. if the people are good people that like and respect you, they wont force you to drink. my frat doesnt force anyone to drink during pledging (encourages in some instances), but a lot of guys dont do it on specific nights especially when they have exams etc. i dont think you have to worry about it as much. its more about the people.</p>
<p>uhh...they are, dulce de leche, lol.</p>
<p>are they really that nerdy? (i guess that doesn't sound too surprising...)</p>
<p>yea i have a friend who almost died from funneling water at a uga frat</p>
<p>It's probably better just to suck it up and drink during pledging, then stop drinking once your in. I wouldnt tell them about not wanting to drink...</p>
<p>Or u could tell them after u get the pledge if ur nervous to do it while rushing. If they like u enough to give u a pledge spot they won't care believvvve me (esp since u say u can't...which makes me believe it's health or religious problems). I guess I wouldn't exactly advertise it...not that it should matter anyway. But just have fun and be outgoing and u'll do fine. What people don't want to associate sober people with is being uptight and not having fun...so just be a really fun person and noone will give a damn...don't worry about it. U'll be sober most of the time you'll be hanging out with ur brothers once ur in the frat anyway.</p>
<p>Phi Delta Theta is a nationally dry house, but the brothers still drink. They have an annex where they throw parties with beers etc. I don't know about whether or not their hazing involves drinking (any house that tells you they don't haze is lying--they all do to some extent, and usually it involved drinking). I DO know a few brothers who don't drink who pledged decent fraternities, and during a drinking hazing event they didn't have to drink anything.</p>
<p>CPenn, you do know that some people are on meds that would be lethal if combined with alcohol, don't you? Telling someone to suck it up and drink after they've stated they CAN'T is irresponsible. I know one person who DIED after drinking because of the meds they were taking.</p>
<p>If this is the mentality of those in frats, the original poster is better off without them.</p>
<p>if thats the case, trust me the frats would understand. and to be honest if you dont want to do something, its not like they are going to kick you out of the pledging process.</p>
<p>the thing about the water is ridiculous... drinking a lot of water is nothing to mess around with- it sounds a lot less harmful than it actually is- people have died from it in little games on the radio where they tried to see who could drink the most water without urinating, and i dont know how this form of hazing compares to that but man, that sounds bad..learn something new everyday</p>
<p>I think you're referring to the woman who died during the "hold your wee for a wii" competition.</p>
<p>All you have to do is google the phrase, 'hazing + died drinking water' and you'll get 168,000 hits relating to student deaths because too many college kids are uninformed. See previous responses to the original posters questions to see some examples.</p>