Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post

sailor · 02-02-2004, 09:29 PM

Wow, lots of hating on Fraternities here...

Given that I just pledged to join one, Ill give my thoughts.

First, and most important--all fraternities are not equal. Instead of jumping to conclusions and accepting all the negative stereotypes out there, go find out for yourself. When I came to college, I had the same mindset as most of the people here. Didnt want to do it, wrong image, etc, etc, etc. And then I found the fraternity that I am in now. Highest GPA on campus, about .4 higher than the university average. Heavy emphasis on academics. For example, during our pledge period, when we are supposed to be at the house at pretty much any available moment, if I *ever* have something more important--class, studying, or just needing to catch up on sleep, thats fine. They dont care, and dont give me shit about it. If I ever dont feel like partying for whatever reason, thats fine too--I dont catch any grief over it. For goodness sake, we have 10 guys in the fraternity that dont drink. We have three Indians and two black people. How many fraternities can say that? I can honestly say that there are a lot of really good, diverse, and intelligent people in there. The partying is there if you want it to be, but there is no pressure to be involved if you dont want to. We dont even get hazed during our pledge period, something fraternities are infamous for.

That said, most of the other fraternities on campus I dont like. A lot of kids that party to hard, and many of them quite frankly live up to that stereotype. I briefly looked at the other houses here and didnt even go back to any of them but the one I am pledging now.

As for reputations, again, it totally depends on your fraternity. Here on campus, my fraternity (Chi Psi) is looked on *very* favorably. Ive heard it called the "good" fraternity a number of different times. Every fraternity seems to be known for its own things. Mine, fortunately, is known for good things. Unfortunately, many others are not.

To sum it up, go look for yourself. Dont take it at face value. There are a lot of people here that clearly do not like the Greek system at all. Thats fine, but I get the impression that a lot of them dont have a complete picture or have merely seen the wrong fraternities.

02-02-2004, 09:29 PM	#13 (permalink)
sailor beauty in the breakdown Location: Chapel Hill, NC	Wow, lots of hating on Fraternities here... Given that I just pledged to join one, Ill give my thoughts. First, and most important--all fraternities are not equal. Instead of jumping to conclusions and accepting all the negative stereotypes out there, go find out for yourself. When I came to college, I had the same mindset as most of the people here. Didnt want to do it, wrong image, etc, etc, etc. And then I found the fraternity that I am in now. Highest GPA on campus, about .4 higher than the university average. Heavy emphasis on academics. For example, during our pledge period, when we are supposed to be at the house at pretty much any available moment, if I ever have something more important--class, studying, or just needing to catch up on sleep, thats fine. They dont care, and dont give me shit about it. If I ever dont feel like partying for whatever reason, thats fine too--I dont catch any grief over it. For goodness sake, we have 10 guys in the fraternity that dont drink. We have three Indians and two black people. How many fraternities can say that? I can honestly say that there are a lot of really good, diverse, and intelligent people in there. The partying is there if you want it to be, but there is no pressure to be involved if you dont want to. We dont even get hazed during our pledge period, something fraternities are infamous for. That said, most of the other fraternities on campus I dont like. A lot of kids that party to hard, and many of them quite frankly live up to that stereotype. I briefly looked at the other houses here and didnt even go back to any of them but the one I am pledging now. As for reputations, again, it totally depends on your fraternity. Here on campus, my fraternity (Chi Psi) is looked on very favorably. Ive heard it called the "good" fraternity a number of different times. Every fraternity seems to be known for its own things. Mine, fortunately, is known for good things. Unfortunately, many others are not. To sum it up, go look for yourself. Dont take it at face value. There are a lot of people here that clearly do not like the Greek system at all. Thats fine, but I get the impression that a lot of them dont have a complete picture or have merely seen the wrong fraternities. __________________ "Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws." --Plato