There is nothing more dreary than the posters that feel the need to constantly attack others and make excuses for other peoples bad behavior
Frats collectively remind me of a perpetually obnoxious and/or incompetent employee in a company. He has as been told to reform and has given endless second chances. There may be short periods of improvement but he somehow always manages to revert once again to the bad behavior. Just canât help himself. The guyâs friends and defenders always say he has now recognized his problem and is committed to improving. Heâs always improving but never improves.
Frats have been a blight on college campuses for pretty much as long as there have been frats⊠They are always committed to reform but the reform never actually happens.
When I was in high school frats were largely seen as organizations commited to the principles of exclusivity, substance abuse, sexual assault, and generally stupid behavior. Now nearly fifty years later frats are largely seen as organizations firmly commited to the principles of exclusivity, substance abuse, sexual assault, and generally stupid behavior.
The reason that the fratsâ reputation has not improved in the past fifty years is that their behavior has not improved in the past fifty years.
Most schools try to have a Greek community that is big enough to let everyone who wants to join be admitted into a house. If the school expands, the number of houses usually expands too. It is a balancing act as to when to invite another school to establish a chapter. At a small school, it is often possible to start a chapter in the following school year. At the schools with huge chapters, it can be a 2-3 year process, because a house has to be built. A $5M house.
Even at huge Greek schools like Alabama, almost all women who want to join a sorority are asked to join somewhere. I think they had 2200 in rush last August and 2000 pledged. Thatâs really close to everyone who wanted to get in got in, because some of those 200 who didnât pledge decided they werenât interested, or werenât invited to the only house they wanted, or couldnât afford it, decided to join a specialty house (music, christian, AA, Hispanic).
Just imagine if this stereotyping was applied to blacks, or Asians, or Hispanics, or Jews, etc. âThey are all âŠâ
I am pretty sure sometimes when I am turned down for a job it is not because I am not smart enough or couldnât do the job, but because I am not white, male, 6â, too old, too youngâŠand they only have 1 opening with 100+ qualified applicants.
@oldfort I have a cousin who was fired from her job specifically because she wasnât black. Those who fired her, or refused to renew her contract, apologized profusely, and assured her than she had done nothing wrong, that they were firing her solely because of her race. She sued. She won. But I donât doubt that it hurt her career.
Oh. my. god.
@Pizzagirlâ
I am perplexed at how you donât seem to realize the lack of perspective, understanding, and scale you are exhibiting when it is apparent you canât tell the difference between groups of people based on immutable characteristics one is born into and canât change and groups one not only voluntarily opts to joinâŠbut also must affirm his/her choice to join because on many campusesâŠsuch groups are so popular joining is a competitive process.
Sorry, but Iâd say a fraternity/sorority organization much more as a group one volunteers to join after assessing its match of group values to oneâs own, group culture/environment, group reputation, etc is much more like being judged for joining any other such voluntary organizational group whether itâs the Green Party, John Birch Society, Rotary Club, Tea Party, Communist Party, NRA, PETA, etcâŠetcâŠetc.
In opting to join such voluntary organizations with publicly known group culture, history, and values which may not be agreeable to some/many, those who aspire to join should ideally be cognizant of whether they individually be comfortable with identifying with and possibly defending everything those 3 factors associated with the group.
OP - whatâs your agenda. You already started this thread:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1753736-greek-system-is-a-modern-day-albatross-on-college-campuses.html#latest
What more do you wish to gain by starting another similar thread? You are not going to be able to do enough propaganda to stop people from joining Greek life. It has been around forever and I do not see it going away.
Typing on my phone so itâs hard to quote, but earlier there was a comment that all the parties are at the frats because thatâs where the 18 and 19 year olds can get alcohol. I went to college when those ages were legal. The parties were still at the frats. Lowering the drinking age will have little effect on where the parties are located.
Iâm afraid that one quote by Maher - âA cult is a cultâ is going to stick.
Some of you continue to be deliberately clueless about the difference between âthe systemâ and individual houses.
Some of you conclude that because 10 members of Alpha Beta Gamma do something bad, that everyone who is a member of Alpha Beta Gamma is âtaintedâ by that. Are you responsible for everything that every single member of your friendship circles, team circles, extracurricular circles do? Is it your sworn duty to monitor them at all times to ensure they donât do anything âbadâ, and are you guilty if they wind up doing something bad anyway?
Some of you conclude that because the Alpha Beta Gamma chapter at College X did something bad, that every Alpha Beta Gamma chapter elsewhere should be tarred with that same brush. Youâre utterly clueless that individual chapters really have little connection with one another other than a shared connection with a national. And that the Alpha Beta Gammas at College X may be sinners and the others could be saints, or anywhere in between.
And some of you conclude that because the Alpha Beta Gamma chapter at College X did something bad, that all Greek chapters on that campus should be reprimanded or banned. Again, utterly clueless that one houseâs actions have nothing to do with the others.
Just imagine if I took the fact that some of the black fraternities physically brand their pledges and have done so for years and took that to extrapolate against all black fraternities and all black people.
Of course some frats and systems are bad. And some people are bad. You look at them individually.
old fort⊠frats have been making a lot of headlines lately (do I like frats noâŠthat is not a secret) but while bill maherâs incredible summary is about the same subject as my other recent post , it is separate. hence it is worthy of itâs own thread.
" It has been around forever and I do not see it going away. " I think maherâs summary of animal house and revenge of the nerds actually does show the evolving view of frats.
and if frats disappeared tomorrow I realize things would not just be dandy on college campuses. the main problem is the type of person drawn to frats. when they join it does tend to bring out the worst in those folksâŠkind of like a shark feeding frenzy.
âSorry, but Iâd say a fraternity/sorority organization much more as a group one volunteers to join after assessing its match of group values to oneâs own, group culture/environment, group reputation, etc is much more like being judged for joining any other such voluntary organizational group whether itâs the Green Party, John Birch Society, Rotary Club, Tea Party, Communist Party, NRA, PETA, etcâŠetcâŠetc.â
Well, you might say that, but youâd be wrong. People who join the Green Party, John Birch, NRA, etc. are doing so precisely because they have a *specific agenda in mind and are joining a group who is going to be active in furthering that agenda through âspeaking as a wholeâ, so itâs important that they speak as one voice.
People who join Greek life are just joining a social club to make friends and have fun. There is no âagendaâ in Greek life that requires that all of the people have to be of the same mindset. The strength of being in a sorority for me was being exposed to a wider diversity of people than I would have been if I had just stayed with the people in my dorm.
The only âgroup valueâ is having a good time and being friends. We didnât stand for a particular political party, particular set of majors, particular set of outlooks on life. I am sick and tired, cobrat, of your continued assertion that participants in Greek life all have some kind of mentality that they had just better conform to or else they faced social wrath. It just isnât true at all in my husbandâs experience, my experience, or my sonâs experience. Stop it. Now.
I will not link to the video because it is probably rated R. the language is harshâŠbut bill maher (who I normally do not enjoy) nailed the entire frat scene with humor! I wish everyone would watch this before joining a frat
if you google the website rawstory and look up bill maher you can see the video. if you do not like bad words do not watch. but he delivers a spot on summary with humor!
This was great last night - Bill Maherâs take on frats.
http://crooksandliars.com/2015/03/bill-maher-goes-after-fraternity-culture
I donât generally get involved in these debates because I do get that there are some - probably many individual houses that do more harm than good. That said, I think the system, the sorting the ghettoization etc. is more apt to lead to more bad behavior. And yes I know a certain amount of this bad behavior is inevitable in this age group.
I think the comparison with country clubs is apt. And Iâm not a big fan of exclusive country clubs either. Many were openly discriminating on the basis of religion and race until the 1970s. But I canât remember the last time I heard about being dying of overdoses after going to a country club party, or being raped at a country club party, or going on a ski trip with a country club and vandalizing the resort. So on the whole, I consider country clubs fairly harmless.
There are other group values in Greek houses. My Dâs sorority highly values and supports scholarship, leadership, diversity, community involvement, and (dare I say) individuality. Much emphasis is placed on being loved and cherished for who you are, and supporting your sisters in becoming the best version of themselves. The house provides scholarship money to girls who otherwise may not be able to afford their dues. There is an amazing mix of girls in terms of ethnicity, SES, experience, and interests. They cheer on and support their sisters on the field, on the stage, when they run for student government, become head proctors, get inducted into honor societies, etc. Several are highly involved with the Womenâs Center and strong supporters of feminism on campus. They are also there to help out a sister when she is struggling. Those who stereotype Greek Life and Greeks - you really are clueless.
Exactly. But, itâs more fun to paint a stereotype and assume that because some are bad, all are.
I am not clueless. I was in a sorority, along with most of the women in my immediate and extended family for three generations. There are four generations of fraternity men. I think the disadvantages of greek life outweigh the advantages. I see no way to get rid of the disadvantages without dismantling the system. I donât think this type of exclusive group belongs on college campuses. While they may advantage individual members, they donât advantage the campus community and culture as a whole.