Joining the new chapter of a fraternity

<p>There is a new chapter of the Kappa Sigma frat at my school, and last night I went to an info meeting regarding it, I talked to 3 or 4 of the guys who are already in it and asked them questions and found out a fair amount of stuff about it. I transfered here in the fall, so this is my first year here, I go to parties regularly and I've met a decent amount of people, but I still don't have any close friends who I can hang out with reguarly, so I decided to give the fraternity thing a try, although I am pretty skeptical about it. They said that I can go to their weekly meetings on Monday nights (which are open to anyone), and at that point if I decide I want to join, I just tell the president, and I am automatically in. They said 2 or 3 times that they don't do hazing, they sounded sincere about it, however they said that they can't go into detail about what happens during the pledge/initiation ceremony, and I'm not sure if that's standard frat protocol or if that's a bad sign. I also looked up the chapter's facebook group, and it looks like it is slightly diverse in terms of the kind of people that are in it (they also told me that at the info session), so I'm not sure if I'll feel like I'll click with everyone there, although they said they are a few "cliques" within the frat, and that they are pretty open, so you can easily get to know the people in those "cliques". I basically don't know a whole lot about fraternity life, especially about one that is still forming a new chapter at my school. Do I need to feel like I click well with all the brothers, or would it be enough to find that I click pretty well with only some of them? What about the hazing thing I mentioned? And could anyone give me any "inside info" on Kappa Sigma in general and what its social life is like? Bottom line, I'm not sure about this, I'm not sure if fraternity life is for me (although I definetely like to party on the weekends), but if it would work out, it would probably be the best thing I do while in college. Any advice/comments?</p>

<p>You are not going to click with all of them, but I would say you should be able to with most of them. If you aren't sure that the frat life is for you, then I would still pledge. During this time you can really get to know the guys and see if you like it. If you do then initiate, if not drop it.</p>

<p>Yeah you can always drop. Just say it isn't for you. Problem with frats is not being able to get to know them all. Which U is this? I don't know too much about KE at my school so I couldn't tell ya. I guess they're not engineers haha. And about hazing: there will always be something but if you get to the point where you don't want to do it and they make you then maybe it isn't the right frat for you. It'll probably be just little stuff. I haven't heard about anything too bad at my school. And my school has the biggest Greek system in the country so I don't think it would be a bad thing. You'll meet a lot of people. Just give it a try. It can't hurt.</p>

<p>I go to UC Santa Barbara, if that helps with any of you telling me about what KE is like here, although this chapter has just formed and they still need more members, so I'm guessing they still don't really have a "reputation" or an "image" at this school, although I don't know about KE's general image. Since I'm originally from Los Angeles, it may help for me to know what KE is like at say UCLA and USC, since I'm going to be in contact with members from other schools, and I may want to make connections with members in my general SoCal area, and maybe this info can give me a better clue about if there really is hazing involved.</p>

<p>Nobody is going to tell you anything about their initiation until you actually join. That's the whole point of fraternities being secretive. I am currently pledging a frat, and even on the actual Sink Night (initiation), all we were told when we were picked up from our rooms was, "Keep in mind all Zetes must go through this." So there's really no way you're going to find out what happens unless you do decide to join.</p>

<p>this is true, but if they haven't hazed by initiation, most likely it is not going to be bad</p>

<p>Usually pledge term doesn't really kick off until initiation night though.</p>

<p>Are you talking about initiation to become a pledge or an active? Either way, if you feel uncomfortable you have the freedom to leave.</p>

<p>Oh I meant initiation to become a pledge. Yeah, if you haven't been hazed by the time you're ready to become a full brother, there'll be no hazing at that point.</p>