<p>Back in my day (we had to push the dinosaurs out of the way to get to class), Theta Tau was an engineering fraternity for men only, and actually operated more like a social fraternity. It was unique in that regard - I don’t recall any other academic-professional-etc. Greek-letter group that partied like Theta Tau.</p>
<p>But things may be different now.</p>
<p>I am bumping this thread to see if anyone has additional or updated information about Theta Tau. </p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Go to Facebook</p>
<p>Rush Mu Chapter Theta Tau</p>
<p>The chapter was the 12th established on a campus.</p>
<p>Mu 12 01/03/1922 Μ University of Alabama Tuscaloosa Alabama South East</p>
<p>Tahnks M2CK. </p>
<p>Anyone with students currently in Theta Tau with personal feedback?</p>
<p>my son has been a member since freshman year and is now a junior. He has had a wonderful experience and wouldnt trade it for anything.</p>
<p>My son is also in the fraternity. He pledged last year as a freshman. He enjoys it very much. Like all organizations it has pluses and minuses. Between Theta Tau and MDB my son is kept very busy.</p>
<p>Thank you GAMOM and hokiefan. Do they do spring rush/inductions, or only fall? and what are the costs that are incurred?</p>
<p>vlines- I just ask my son a few questions that may be helpful to you. I’m sending you a PM when I get a chance. My doggie is crying to go out!</p>
<p>vlines- Finally sent you the PM. Got involved in an impromptu neighborhood party. And I’m still alive to tell about it:)</p>
<p>I saw a post on FB from another chapter of Theta Tau and it had me curious about UA’s chapter. </p>
<p>[Theta</a> Tau Fraternity | University of Alabama](<a href=“http://www.muthetatau.org/#_p.Rush%2FInformation%20Form]Theta”>http://www.muthetatau.org/#_p.Rush%2FInformation%20Form) </p>
<p>This page shows that a member is required to live in the house 2 semesters. How does that work? (I know very little about any type of fraternity!) How much does it cost - is it comparable to dorm room or living off campus? </p>
<p>What about the dues - how much are they? </p>
<p>It says there are 47 members (don’t know how current this is). That does not seem like a lot for a major that has close to 4,000 students. Is membership selective or is it pretty much anyone that attends can be a member?</p>
<p>I don’t picture my DS joining a traditional fraternity when he begins college next year, but this may be something he would enjoy. What type of activities do they do? I noticed on their calendar that there is a retreat for active members this month - hotel/camping/??</p>
<p>Any other info that you can share?</p>
<p>I am a recent (within the last 3 years) alumnus of the Alabama chapter. I have had both good and bad experiences, so I’m not really biased either way.</p>
<p>The way the housing works is that Theta Tau’s house is considered as part of UA’s student housing. Since it’s treated like a residence hall by the University, the fraternity pays the university a certain amount every semester (comparable to one of the more inexpensive dorms-- when I was there it was 2,200 per bed) for each bed out of the chapter’s funds. The fraternity will usually help a student wishing to live in the house with navigating housing’s transfer stuff, and the student’s room and board fees then apply toward that bed in the house, so the fraternity recoups what it paid out to housing. They don’t make any money from this transaction. The reason that members are required to live two semesters in the house is that the cost of all of those beds can be a drain on the chapter’s resources, but having a house is worth it. When I was there, a member could bypass this requirement by paying the fraternity the equivalent of two semesters of bed space outright, but I don’t know if that is still an option as it’s been a while.</p>
<p>When I was active, dues were around $500 per semester, which is like, 1/8 of the dues for some of the less expensive traditional fraternities. I’m not sure if dues have been raised since then.</p>
<p>To be honest, in terms of membership, a person likely won’t have a hard time getting a bid unless he or she is just completely unbearable or really makes someone mad. The fraternity tends to be smaller just because it isn’t quite in the niche of typical Greek life, and (this is not intended to be mean) sometimes the culture can be a bit off-putting for students who aren’t heavily into “nerd-culture”. In the past, there was also not a very good pledge retention rate due to the way that old members treated pledges, but from what I have heard, that has changed a great deal, which is probably why the active membership has tripled over the last five years. I’d say in a few years, it has the potential to become larger.</p>
<p>Actives retreats in the past have involved camping and other outdoor things. There is almost always something going on at the house, and in the last couple of years, I have seen them leaning more toward professional development activities such as resume workshops, but there are also a lot of members and alumni at the house cooking out on the grill every game day. </p>
<p>One thing I will caution you about is that when I was involved, drinking played a very, very big part in the culture of the house, and it wasn’t uncommon for the entire house to be wasted on weekend nights (with occasional people drinking on weeknights as well). There was not a lot of emphasis on alcohol safety, with people being pressured to finish drinks so as not to “waste” alcohol, and relatively risky drinking games. There was also a great deal of drunk driving as people left the house after nights like that, and no one seemed to think it was a big deal. There has traditionally been a great deal of drinking at the parties the chapter throws about twice a semester, with a lot of people getting sick, passing out, etc. </p>
<p>With that being said, I think that’s bound to happen in just about any organization at UA, and I do hope that has perhaps changed a bit since many of the members who encouraged behavior like that have graduated. Plus, as I said before, the fraternity seems to be headed in a really positive direction in terms of gearing toward professional development. Theta Tau is a wonderful, close-knit brotherhood, and I know many people who stayed active even after changing their majors to other things besides engineering just because the people were so great. They aren’t joking when they say “brothers for life.” </p>
<p>(Edited because I am terrible at grammar. Holy comma splices, Batman!)</p>
<p>Hope some of that helps!</p>
<p>^^^Thank you for your honesty. I think everyone has to find their group. That group may not be an organization, but a group of friends. Unfortunately, one can’t put their group of friends on a resume, even though you may have the same level of brotherhood and dedication to each other.</p>
<p>bamagirl008, thank you for all of the information! It sounds like a great organization to be involved with (well, except for the drinking part - which will be everywhere on a college campus, I suppose). DS is very engineering minded and enjoys the outdoors so I was glad you spoke about the camping trip. The house sounds like a fun place to hang out and work on projects/homework/get advice/etc.</p>
<p>Montegut - you started the thread when your son was just beginning UA several years ago. Did he end up joining? If so, what have his experiences been?</p>
<p>^^^No, son did not join, nor even looked into it. But a friend of a floormate joined, don’t know if he still belongs, but son’s comment was that “he got a girlfriend as a result of it”. I know at least one CC member whose son is also a senior did join and is still very involved with the group, socal2bama, and maybe she can give you some insight if you PM her.</p>
<p>Thanks for the reference to socal2bama. I have already pm’d with her. 
</p>
<p>But, hey, getting a girlfriend isn’t such a bad thing! haha</p>
<p>We’re still a year out, so have plenty of time to check into things.</p>