<p>All right, so my soon-to-be (probably) ex-girlfriend is in love with the campus and the class sizes and the weather. I can't knock it. But she said that when she told someone at Campus Day that she probably wouldn't join a sorority she was told that then she'd be a GDI and she'd really regret it.</p>
<p>OK, I'm stupid. What's a GDI?</p>
<p>If she doesn't join a sorority will she be as miserable and out of it as they said? Bad. Will Wake guys ignore her? Maybe not so bad (for me).</p>
<p>At least back in my day--GDI was "Goddamned Independent". I was one and proud of it ;).</p>
<p>Well,
sororities are a bigger deal for girls than fraternities are for guys. besides just the sheer numbers like 65-70% are in sororities, it is just the culture of the school it seems like in general (for both frats and sororities). obviously I would not go as far to say that you can't have a social life here if you aren't involved in greek life (which is the sentiment of some folks), but you really need to be involved with activities. the official number is 50% of the total population is in a frat or sorority, but it <em>does</em> feel like it is more. for example this weekend is when lots of fraternities have their beach weekend/sororities have their formals, so it seems like 75% of our campus is gone. regardless i know lots of girls who are happy and not in sororities.</p>
<p>LOL -- I figured that the G in GDI stood for Greek.</p>
<p>Kind of a crude, but direct, sentiment. So do the kids who live Greek genuinely hate the GDIs or do they just feel incredibly superior to them? And what about the administration - pro or anti-Greek in housing and other stuff?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>This is coming from a parent, I'm sure current students can answer better. But from what I've seen, heard, and been told by administration---adm tolerates the greek system--I don't think they are particularly pro or con, but realize it is a big influence on campus and want to work with it as positively as possible. </p>
<p>As far as the students, I don't think the frat guys or the sor. girls "hate" or dislike the GDIs--it is more that they don't "see" them at times when they are caught up in their world of "brothers and sisters".</p>
<p>Yeah, there's no shame in being a GDI. I don't feel like the sorority girls and fraternity guys hate us. They realize that it's not for everyone. I think that if you're not in a sorority or fraternity, most of your friends are likely to also be independents, but I always feel like that's largely due to the sheer amount of time that being Greek takes up. I don't see my Greek friends nearly as much as I see my non-Greek ones. Similarly, if you are in a sorority/fraternity, your best friends are more likely to be your sisters/brothers.</p>
<p>According to me, its harder to be a male GDI than it is to be a female GDI.</p>
<p>If you're a female GDI, you can still go to all the fraternity parties; the Wake social scene is dominated by Fraternities. As bad and rude as this sounds, Male GDIs are not very welcome to parties thrown by fraternities.</p>
<p>I'm in a sorority and I totally agree --- you can have a social life if you are a GDI. Actually two of my best friends are GDIs...</p>
<pre><code> To affirm what saketm said --> girls can have fun regardless of whether they are in a sorority or not. I invite some of my GDI friends to my sorority crush parties...
</code></pre>
<p>if you look on the positive side, sure there is lots to do as a GDI, but there is also A LOT that you can not do (date functions etc.) that is the only thing that really irks me about wake--because the social scene is so dominated by greeks it can be very easy to feel left out, that is probably why i found first semester more enjoyable than second semester. i could see how you could get VERY tired of the social scene by the end of your second year, but i suppose the main thing is academics...</p>
<p>I find in general that by the end of the sophomore year (or, more accurately, the beginning of junior year), there's less of a group mentality. A lot of people live off campus, and a lot of people are into leadership positions in their favorite clubs rather than being in attendance at a lot of club meetings. I find myself being more and more occupied by the clubs that I have chosen to be my main clubs at Wake and having less time for the clubs in which I had low levels of participation. I also find that in order to spend time with my friends, it has to be a little more scheduled. So I think that by the beginning of the third year, no one (GDI or Greek) feels left out of anything.</p>
<p>Being in a fraternity is awesome though. Its a lot of fun.
A fraternity is not only about drinking and partying, its more than that.</p>
<p>I'm a guy and I'm a GDI. I'm involved with a fair amount of campus orgainzations, and I have a close group of friends, so it's really not that big of an issue.</p>
<p>Hey -- thanks everyone for your thoughts. Yeah, she she loved the people she met on Campus Day so she sent the check in yesterday and she's going to be a Demon Deac after all.</p>