<p>I was wondering how the Greek scene is at Berkeley, I heard its pretty big, but i wanted some first hand observations from current Berkeley students. In particular, how are Asian frats? I know there are 3, Lambda phi epsilon, pi alpha phi, and alpha xi omega. Are there any differences between them? If you guys personally know any of them or know anything about them, that'd be great. Typically, how long and demanding is the pledging process, and hows the hazing?</p>
<p>I think about 10% of the student population are members of frats or sororities, but more than that utilize it, primarily by attending parties or hanging out with their greek friends. It's not that big, and you can avoid it pretty easily if you want.</p>
<p>DRab:
"It's not that big, and you can avoid it pretty easily if you want."</p>
<p>I am a second year at UCB, and have found that if you want a certain type of social life (crazy drunken debauchery), which is what a lot of college kids want (including myself) it is VERY hard to avoid the frats. I myself am not in a sorority, but if I was a guy I would def. join a fraternity. The bars and clubs in Berkeley are pretty slow and get old very fast, not to mention if you are a freshman or sophomore you can't get in! The 3 frats you mentioned I am not really familiar with. As for rushing/pledging different frats haze harder than others but EVERY frat here has dramatically decreased how much and the intensity of their hazing due to recent events i.e. one frat was closed down last semester because they shot a pledge with a pellet gun, another frat was closed down because of some event involving a drunken fight... and this led to a lock down on all frats last fall, in which they could not have ANY parties (berkeley was soooo quiet during those 5 months). Since then, I think the level of hazing has diminished.</p>
<p>I do agree, the easiest way to get the deabauchery life is the frats. Sure, if you're looking for that, it's one of the only ways. However, it's possible to get that elsewhere, although far more difficult. We agree.</p>
<p>The asian ones are not policed by the IFC. They are subject to far fewer regulations and will haze the ***** out of you.</p>
<p>Can you back up that generalization?</p>
<p>Only anecdotally. Granted, I've never been through it myself. But I have friends that depledged from multiple houses for EXTREME hazing. And I'm not picking on Asians. I've heard the same things from the African American fraternities, who are also non-IFC.</p>
<p>Let me put it this way: if you want to join a group that is viewed as a gang, then join an asian fraternity. Take note, I am not saying they are a gang or act like one. However, they are almost unanimously viewed as such by everyone else on campus. Nobody really ****s with them (except the other asian fraternities - they're all rivals), but nobody respects them or pays much attention otherwise to them. They are very insular and travel in packs, and look like deer in headlights when confronted with non-asian folk. If this is what you want, go for it, but be prepared to be hazed. And I don't mean get drunk hazed - i mean like go join the Marine corps style. But don't just take my advice - ask around when you get here. this is the advice from a semi-spoiled 1/2 caucasian/asian kid from orange county who seeks similar company - your wants/needs may be completely different.</p>
<p>What are some examples of the activities that pledges conduct?</p>
<p>To the OP, just keep in mind the CCers aren't the craziest bunch of partiers on earth (or, more specifically, Berkeley). </p>
<p>I lived at Bowles- the all-male dorm- so I have some handling of what goes on during Fraternity pledging processes (one of my roommates pledged both semesters to different frats, and another dabbled in the process). Freshmen boys love to brag about anything short of being Rambo, themselves, and there's always more than a handful willing to share their experiences. For the most part, Frat life was best explained by UCBnatalie in her post above. As far as freshmen are concerned, most do not have cars and inherently have lack of mobility, so Frat Row is the easiest option for a good time. There's always that element of curiosity for incoming students, and partying it up and living the good life is enjoyable to a lot of new students. With that said, most of "partying" can be reduced in its simplest form as "drinking," and those who come back late at night with the most exciting and thrilling stories tend to have back from fraternity parties. With that said, I would say much of the un-official "Berkeley Partying" goes on at fraternities. While crazy get-togethers with friends as apartments might be equally entertaining, it's not what filters into the ear of the innocent bystander or the friend who visits from another school. While Greek Life doesn't necessarily dominate the social scene, much of it transpires either directly or indirectly with those intimately involved with the Greek Experience at Cal. </p>
<p>I hope you are not discouraged by the hazing examples posted on this board. From the things I hear, it's fairly tame though often times utterly embarrassing but always pretty funny, for sure. I recently read up on the Skulls & Bones, the notorious organization at Yale with notable members such as John Kerry and George Bush(es). Upon acceptance into this secret society, each member has to recite his entire sexual history to the other members. To me, this would be a most humiliating experience. But what it does is foster a special kind of relationship among brothers, of trust and honesty. Hazing is an example of extending that humiliation into the public realm- what we see is the process, but we don't see the results, like the lifelong friendships fostered at fraternities. It's always big news to tell friends of the latest hazing episode, but what's equally noteworthy is what one can potentially gain from the frat experience- unfortunately, this isn't front-page news like sex, humiliation, and stupidity. Again, much of the hazing I've heard allegedly going on is not all that bad. Really.</p>
<p>Perhaps the most significant post in this thread (mine included) is nanday0's post above, in which he asks, "Can you back up that generalization?" In effect, this is what you're going to get here on these boards, wild and crazy stories that aren't necessarily meant to scare, but are different and intriguing. To go off topic even further (my specialty) and in response to a thread posted a blue moon ago, these are the type of postings that scares a lot of students from coming to Cal. Sometimes I sit back and think, "damn, it's not so bad." Chem 1A is not death if you put some effort and plan well, Berkeley bums make life interesting, there are pretty girls to be found at Cal, we're all not a bunch of crazy activists, and it's darned safe at night. I'm not being optimistic, just realistic with the shame of having broken the Berkeley mystique and toning down Cal's image so as to say that Berkeley is kinda like most other places. </p>
<p>To the OP, make your rounds with the frats. They are always open during the first weeks of schools if you know the right people, and just slide on in, have a good time, and see what each house is like. I cannot characterize what each particular house is like, but that's for you to find out. Each house has a distinct group of brothers, and you may find out that you fit in better at a frat that has Asian guys, but not necessarily an Asian-only frat. This shopping around is not uncommon and a lot of guys do that. However, your most likely route into the fraternity system is if you find someone you know in a frat, either from before college or just someone cool you met in class, and go meet his fellow Brothers, chill, and get to know people. You might fit in, you might not, but there are plenty of houses out there looking for a few good men.</p>
<p>Best of luck,
TTG</p>
<p>PS: Hazing's not that bad. End of message.</p>
<p>So here is the break down of all the frat reputations I think it would come in handy for anyone who is considering joining a fraternity. some one gave me a list when I was a fresh man and so I fell I should do the same, pass it along to your friends and or whom ever is interested in joining a fraternity. These are just reputations with a little dose of personal experience. This list are not absolute and they change every two years or as new people come in and some graduate. Some house are more affluent then others and some have an eclectic mix of typical frat guys and those less likely to join a house. This list doe not have all fraternities on it excluding the professional ones and focusing on the prominent social house. I will break the houses down into tiers in order of top houses to those with a less cool reputation.</p>
<pre><code>I will separate tier one into two categories A and B. Group a is more of the jockey affluent preppie top houseswhile group B is designated for houses who share the same status but are more eclectic in make up.
</code></pre>
<ol>
<li> A.</li>
</ol>
<p>Sigma chi: one of the biggest houses on campus very jock like. Some good guys and some pricks, have a relatively nice house. Brothers are know to be somewhat sketchy. Hazing is mild howver some mind **** ****.</p>
<p>Sigma alpha epsilon( SAE): like sigma chi although however a have a significantly samller number of guys They make up for it with a giant house. Seem to get in trouble with the often. Used to haze hard, I hear it is getting easier</p>
<p>Delta kappa epsilon( DEKE) SAEs lower class cousin. Some nice guys. Current president of the IFC is in deke. Nice house. Haze hard</p>
<p>Phi gamma delta:( fiji); amazing house, not that big but really nice. Tend to be extremely pretty boy preppie. Tend to be some what prissy. Throw very few parties because fear ruining house. Hazing is very secretive. Some say it is hard some say it is easy</p>
<p>Beta theta pi( beta) rugby house. Not that great a fraternity small membership and throw a few parties however guys are very jock like considering they are all on the rugby team. Tough house probably the last one I would want to **** with. Haze very hard.</p>
<p>b. alpha epsilon pi( aepi) the Jewish fraternity . Just like any other social fraternity except most of the guys are Jewish. Not jockey at all very eclectic mix of guys. Throw some great parties ,house is pretty ****ty though. hear nothing but good things pretty chill bunch of guys. Used to be small now upper medium sized and predicted to be one the of the biggest houses on campus after fall of 06 . Dont haze pretty hard. </p>
<p>kappa alpha( KA) new fraternity. Just reestablished at cal have a pretty good number of guys. However despite being new they inherited a huge house. Pretty eclectic mix of guys very chill. They have a great relationship with aepi will probably throw a bunch of joint parties. Dont haze very hard.</p>
<p>Zeta beta tau:(ZBT) used to be a pretty decent fraternity party wise however they got kicked out of there house which is now KAs, they cant find a new house and are taking a year off. Looks like they are dying
</p>
<p>tier 2</p>
<p>acacia:average fraternity. Only fraternity without Greek letters on cal campus Throw some okay parties . Have some chill guys and some dorks. Pretty nice house. Dont haze very hard medium sized try pretty hard at throwing parties</p>
<p>tau kappa epsilon: similar to acacia in a lot of ways however throw worse parties but have a nice new house.</p>
<p>Pi lambda phi( pi lam) okay house. Medium sized. Have a thuggish repif there is such a thing at Berkeley. Okay haouse. Not very good at throwing parties;.</p>
<p>chi psi ( the lodge) about avergae house. Have some off beat guys and some nice guys. Dont haze hard. House is okay however they have an awesome volley ball court.</p>
<p>Phi delta theta( phi delts) ; no one knows much about them. Small house. Barley throw any parties.</p>
<p>Delta chi: aepis wannabe lower class cousin. have some deutchy bunch of guys and some okay guys. They think they are better then they are . ****ty house.</p>
<p>Delta upsilon( du); used to be small now getting bigger. Throw one good party year however they are off the rwo so no one hear about them. </p>
<p>sigma alpha mu( sammy) used to be small getting bigger. Throw some okay parties. Used to be one of the dying houses however saw some big numbers during rush. Some chill guys.</p>
<p>kappa sigma: used to be a great house however lost a lot of brothers did not get any pledges. They are small and trying to hold one to there once decent reputation. Haze pretty hard. Throw absolutely no parties last year and are on social probation for a long time.</p>
<p>Tier three</p>
<p>delta tau delta, delta theta chi,.alpha delta phi, Theta chi, alpha sig, sigma pi, and sigma nu.
All are small house some one the verge of death I dont now a lot about these houses. However this does not mean they are bad it just means they not as many people now about them</p>
<p>That's Theta Delta Chi, not Delta Theta Chi, and we're coming up. House just got remodeled, from what I heard, it looks amazing and the last couple pledge classes were loaded with solid guys. We're roughly 30 guys strong right now. Look for us this fall. Sadly, I can't give much more on the current status becuase I've been in Germany for the past year. And wait, ZBT got kicked off? Damn, I'm REALLY outta the loop.</p>
<p>woohoo for aepi/ka parties next year</p>
<p>I'm greek (national panhellenic sorority), and while I sort of agree with chocolate's ranking system overall, I certainly have some problems with the list. For example, I've partied a lot at TKE, and while they're not FIJI or SAE in terms of so-called 'model boy' quality, I've rarely been disapointed. If you're new to the scene, you gotta be informed about who is and who is not on social probation. The looming fear of being shut down always has an effect on how hard a house is willing to party, how much liquid refreshment they're willing to dish out, and how obvious they want to make the event.</p>
<p>Anyway, moving on. I don't think it's entirely productive to choose a house based on reputation. Like I've said before, specific greek house reputations increase and decrease bit by bit each year, making it totally dependent on rush success, quality, and the events held by the house in question each semester or year. I've been entirely turned off and digusted by some of the more 'attractive' pretty boys I've met at said teir 1 fraternities, and totally impressed by the guys in other houses put in the 'bottom category'. The same goes for sororities at any school - tippity top houses may be bursting with bubbly blondes, but that certainly doesn't mean they're all kind-hearted and fun to be around. This is why we have the rush process - you already have some idea of the reputations, but you're then able to get to know the houses for yourself.</p>
<p>I have little knowledge of the asian fraternities. I am under the impression that they mostly socialize and hold formal events with our few asian sororities, so while I've met members on campus, I haven't had any direct contact with the houses as a collective whole. As far as hazing goes, rumor is that the asian frats and sororities haze hard. This might be due to the fact that neither groups have to answer to IFC or Panhellenic, but who knows. Honestly, as soon as your house does something unusual or demanding during the pledge process, you will forever be remembered for it. I initially heard that my house hazed hard, and yet I only experienced one moment that was less than absolutely amazing. While it's known that fraternities, in general, have some sort of hazing process, I haven't heard anything that happened recently (save for the pellet gun, in which the guy was certainly okay) that made me jump out of my shoes in shock. Just make sure you never compromise your safety and health for the sake of acceptance. </p>
<p>p.s. ttg - some CC'ers don't fit that particular stereotype. Some of us just like to type when we're not partying. ;)</p>
<p>So the overall gist I'm gathering from this thread is that there isn't much partying going on outside the frats, especially for freshmen new to Cal?</p>
<p>Depends what kind of partying you're looking for. There is usually some sort of partying that goes on in the dorms, but it depends on your floor, and the attitude of your RA. Usually, these get-togethers are small and never get very wild. However, it's surely a great way to socialize and bond with floormates. Also, the co-ops provide nearly the same amount of partying as Frat Row, it's just an entirely different ball game. </p>
<p>But the way I see it, during welcome week and/or the first week of school, you will be lured in by the fraternities. During rush, which takes place during this time, sororities (which, by the time you're a freshmen, will consist of sophomore women and above) are expected to stay away from fraternity parties. In addition, frat men generally don't party at houses outside their own. So basically, the frats will be chalk full of your fellow freshmen - informally opening their doors to potential new brothers, and of course, girls.</p>
<p>Can you party with the frats even if you are not part of a frat during the first week and stuff? And as for partying in dorms.. I'll be in Unit 2... What sort of stuff goes on there or does it really depend on the RA?</p>
<p>Sorry if this sounds very ignorant, but what exactly are the co-ops? </p>
<p>Thanks for responding :)</p>
<p>The units seems to be pretty social. But yeah, I would say it depends on the RA, as well as your floormates. In general, fraternity parties are pretty open during the beginning of the semester. Bid parties and guest list events trickle in as the semester progresses. Mingle with some of the active brothers, and give it a chance. If you're genuinely interested in greek life, expect to be invited back for more events and parties.</p>
<p>I didn't know what a co-op was before coming to Berkeley. Basically, they're large properties that students live in on and near campus. Generally, the rooms are set up like dorms, with 1-4 students to a room, with shared communual restrooms. Usually the co-ops have other ammenities which can include living rooms with fireplaces, music rooms, and gardens. Meals are shopped for and prepared by residents and served dining-room style. Co-ops have low rent, however each live in member is expected to complete weekly chores such as cooking and cleaning. In my opinion, they're not for everyone. On one hand they're notorious for being liberal and laid back, but on the other - wild and dirty.</p>
<p>Izzie is right on all counts, it's very hard to define top houses at Cal, as the Greek system does shift from year to year. It's about a 2 to 3 year cycle. Let's say House A (to avoid favoritism ;)) is on the top in 2006, but the next year, they could be on their way to the bottom and very easily be there by 2007 or 2008, though residual reputation from the previous year keeps them reasonably afloat for the 'downturn years', whereas House B was on the bottom in Spring 2006, but makes huge strides, has an enormous pledge class, and rapidly develops a good rep and is on the top by 2007. Or a top or middle tier house could get kicked off, as per what happened in the last couple years with several fraternities, allowing houses that might have otherwise been on the bottom to rise and take their place.</p>
<p>Furthermore, don't join a house on the basis of the rep. Join a house because you like the guys or girls. Being in a top house with a bunch of people you don't get along with or don't have anything in common with really sucks and will make your experience less than spectacular. Most people find their House, whether it takes persistence and a few semesters of rushing or they find it on the get go. And if worse comes to worse, and you don't find a fraternity (it's a bit easier for guys from what I understand), or sorority you like your first semester, go ahead and try again the next semester. You get free food, get to meet people, and you get to walk away with some new contacts. To the incoming Freshmen and Juniors, if you don't get a bid from a particular, don't take it personally. Shrug, thank them for their time, and move on.</p>
<p>Does almost everyone get a bid from someone? I'm thinking of rushing a sorority, and I'm just wondering, are there a lot more girls who want to be in sororities than available places in sororities?</p>