<p>Give me the best of all worlds people. I'm moving up there next month and wish to pledge. I plan on running for office in student government, yet wish to seek out good parties and hot girls. Much appreciated folks.</p>
<p>Check out the Independent Alligator- "Greek Affairs".
Problem is, the more a fraternity parties, the more likely it is that eventually it will get kicked off campus. Look up what happened with the Pikes, ATO, Phi Delta Theta...
Once you join it's permanent; you can't join another fraternity when yours goes belly up. Be careful how you choose. It's only a matter of time when a fraternity continues doing illegal things right out in the open. When will these people learn that they are being watched?</p>
<p>Just go with Sigma Phi Epsilon (Sig Ep) if you can get a bid.</p>
<p>I second SSobick.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Just go with Sigma Phi Epsilon (Sig Ep) if you can get a bid.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>.....because they have many members in high positions in SG (both the legislative and executive) and SG @ UF is a lot about who-you-know (I personally think that suck, but w/e). Plus they are one, if not the most popular frats.</p>
<p>*Obstacles *</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Actually getting a bid. They are popular so you need to impress them.</p></li>
<li><p>Spring elections are for district/area senators. If you get slated with the Gator party, you should be fine. Again, it might be hard since you are new. </p></li>
<li><p>If you wait till March/April you can apply to be a cabinet director/ secretary , but its not as prestigious as being a senator (I think).</p></li>
</ol>
<p>If I don't go with SigEp, can I still work the greek system to get elected Senator? I hear Blue Key and certain frats aside from SigEp are useful resources as well. </p>
<p>Any runner up frats? I have some PiKapp and Tep friends but have no clue as to their quality or reputation.</p>
<p>Pi Kappa Phi is right up there with Sig Ep, however all Miami kids and don't place well into Florida Blue Key.</p>
<p>Tep is Jewish, hear they are mediocre.</p>
<p>Phi Delta Theta is your best bet for connections, but not as good as Sig Ep or Pi Kapp fraternity wise.</p>
<p>Alpha Tau Omega also good but they just got kicked off. </p>
<p>Sigma Alpha Epsilon was THE fraternity for connections back in the day, but not so much any more. Hear they are pretty good.</p>
<p>Sigma Chi is a very good all around fraternity. Good for Tampa, Orlando, Jax guys.</p>
<p>Pike was good, but got kicked off.</p>
<p>Lambda Chi is crap.</p>
<p>Pi Lambda Phi is crap.</p>
<p>Zeta Beta Tau is crap.</p>
<p>Phi Sig is crap.</p>
<p>Delta Upsilon is super crap.</p>
<p>Delta tau Delta is crap.</p>
<p>Phi Kappa Tau is alittle better than crap.</p>
<p>Sigma Nu is crap.</p>
<p>Delta Chi is crap.</p>
<p>**FYI: Any Fraternity that says they would rather be small so that they actually know their fellow Brothers are lying to you. They are small for a reason, and if they were good then they would have alot of numbers.</p>
<p>I dont know the frats as well as SSobick, so refer to his post. It will be very, very hard to get into FBK without being in SG or Cicerones (or what I like to call glorified tour guides). Other noble things is being a Preview staff member, SG director, and ACCENT director, etc. I still think the minimum to even be considered for FBK is having two majors and two minors, but many that get tapped have a lot more than that. They also have connections with current members. Majors includes bring president of something (frat, organization, etc) and I cant think of other majors. I am not sure if being a senator is a major or minor. I think Preview staff is a minor.</p>
<p>Thanks SSobick that was helpful. Is there some sort of prejudice against Miami kids in FBK and the greek community? I'm from Miami, yet don't think I fit the stereotype at all. I'm confident I'll get bids from some good frats. </p>
<p>ASMAJ, I had no idea getting into FBK was that difficult. As a matter of fact, I heard even getting into SG without their support was pretty tough.</p>
<p>FBK usually supports a party (generally the majority greek one), not an actual person. Thats why if you get with the party that has greek and FBK support you are 80% (an estimate) guaranteed to get elected. Right now that would be the Gator party (The</a> Gator Party » The Gator Party). Exceptions to the rule is usually the Hume seat.</p>
<p>SG is a big thing here, more so for the people actually involved with it. The $12 million budget helps them accomplish stuff but many times its not noticeable.</p>
<p>How do you get into the Gator Party? I figured one would need to work the Greek system first. I'm just beginning to understand the politics of this so please excuse my curiosity.</p>
<p>The parties have a slating process where they interview potential candidates over a 2-3 days span. If they like you, have connections, or will benefit the party they will slate you and you will be on there ticket as being apart of the party. You can also run as an independent but your chances of winner is slim to none. I think last semester Gator spent $5000 on advertisements, refreshments, stickers, and shirts. Also fall is colleges (freshmen, CLAS, engineering, medicine, etc) and springs is district/areas (every dorm, off-campus area code)</p>
<p>Being in senate and SG in general can be very helpful in the long run, esp if you are a multi term senator. This is esp great for people planning on law school, grad school in policy, government, finance, etc, but is still not mandatory. Here is an example of one: University</a> of Florida Spotlight: Lacey Logsdon - She is featured on the UF homepage.</p>
<p>Go with Phi Kappa Tau. People tell me they're pretty cool.</p>
<p>my brother is in ATO at UF and he told me the whole deal with their fraternity is completely false he's told me everything thats happened wats true and wat isnt true, hopefully it'll be over soon i know hes sorta bummed about it but he wouldnt want to switch even if they're in a predicament right now. He absolutely loves being an ATO, he chose them because he said they werent complete jerks and they weren't physical during their pledging, he said it really wasn't bad at all pledging for them. He's also a really big guy though so he said that people were intimidated by them. Anyways i know he loves it up there and that ATO was the best choice for him.</p>
<p>Steve Spurrier was an ATO at UF, along with a couple U.S. Senators.</p>
<p>alyssa, I heard the dean of fraternal affairs walked into the house during hell week and witnessed hazing first hand. Of course, what is considered hazing now is a lot different than what was considered hazing in my day. Word on the street was- sleep deprivation, humiliation. Also, something having to do with being turned in by one of the pledges. What's the real scoop?
Also, there was a bust early in the football season- the cops were dumping out kegs of beer on the lawn and bringing kids out of the house in cuffs before one of the football games.</p>
<p>"Also, there was a bust early in the football season- the cops were dumping out kegs of beer on the lawn and bringing kids out of the house in cuffs before one of the football games."</p>
<p>I hear alot of Gator fans are upset with President Machen for cracking down on the partying. </p>
<p>I just want everyone here to know: I personally do not that that is such a bad thing. A number of students passed away from binge drinking during my time at UF. </p>
<p>I want the partying don't get me wrong, but we need to keep it within boundaries. The myth about Machen running a gestapo are a ridiculous.</p>
<p>I agree^^^. My sons are in a fraternity and generally I support the good things they do, and for some kids it's a wonderful experience. My sons were always on sports teams and in student government growing up, so joining a fraternity was a natural next step for them (intramurals, teambuilding, leadership opportunity, etc.)</p>
<p>There are some things, however, that I will never support, and my kids know it- forcing people to drink, encouraging people to drink when they've had too much, giving date rape drugs to unsuspecting young women, treating women badly, making people eat or do things that are dangerous, preventing students from studying or attending class... Hopefully their fraternity doesn't engage in those things- if they do, my kids obviously aren't telling me (they know I wouldn't support them). I believe that although it's inconvenient for the fraternities to get busted, the university is trying to keep kids safe and keep kids on the right track, which I appreciate as a parent.</p>
<p>I don't understand why fraternities don't figure this out, though... the very things that they THINK are going to make them more popular are also the things that get them expelled. In their zeal to become the "it" fraternity, they "popularize" themselves right out of existence!</p>
<p>oh yeah i heard about the party that got busted... but the thing about the hazing that came from the pledge "firsthand" this is what my bro told me and he wouldn't lie to me about this but he said this one guy whos a pledge pretty much made some brothers mad and so he got mad at the brothers too and went and told his sister who i guess goes there and she went to the dean and told all these stories (that she made up) and the guy went and also told a bunch of false stories, needless to say the frat is not happy with the guy. Yes the sleep deprivation one was true my brother said that he rarely got any sleep during hell week but that was because they were designated drivers for the brothers (so that they could get home safely which doesn't seem like a bad idea to me). What upset him though was he said if they weren't up driving they would've more than likely been up partying and they got done by 3am and took turns on their shifts so it wasnt every night... my brother is a sophomore btw so he just recently went through pledging last year. During hell week my brother had a big test one of the days and one of the older guys let him leave the house and go to his apartment to study so he could concentrate and do well on the test, i'd say that was pretty nice of them. Anyways just my take on it, i'm against pledging I don't want people to get me wrong i'm just saying this is what my brother has told me and I trust him.</p>