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My name is John and I am a freshman in my 2nd semester at the University of Alabama main campus and I am writing this post to give out-of-staters--who are a growing proportion of the campus population--an idea of what to expect should they come here.
Even from as short a distance away as Memphis, Tennessee, I experienced what I can only describe as culture shock when I arrived at Alabama. I had heard of Greek life before, but never could I have conceived of it as something so dominant and all-influencing as it is for students here, especially new students. The fraternities and sororities serve as class-distinguishing institutions, essentially perpetuating the same popularity norms you had back at your old high school, with the wealthiest kids at the top and everyone else meant to follow behind. The fraternities and sororities are even stratified out by income status, with the most highly regarded ones having dues approaching $10,000 yearly dues while the ones that are the lowest on the totem pole have "mere" $2-3k yearly dues--these go up if you wish to live in the houses in your later years. About 30% of freshman males are fraternity brothers while a whopping 50% of freshman females are sorority sisters.
Again as in high school, you will find that "coolness" is distinguished by the following of certain rather odd fashions. An interesting example is the phenomenon of cowboy boots. Despite having attended a semi-rural school in Tennessee, men in my area mostly wore boots when they were working, headed to work, or about to make an outdoor excursion. In Alabama, this is not the case. Men wear cowboy boots--or the bizaarely popular "Bean Boots"--to distinguish themselves as classic Southern gentlemen, unaware of the irony in wearing boots such as these when they're dependent on daddy to pay their tuition and dues while spending the weekends (when they could perhaps be working like real gritty Southern men) drunk on their ass. Every area has its unique local style, but Alabama's has a twinge of hypocrisy to it when trust-funders unironically pretend to be rough-and-tumble country fellas.
You may be saying to yourself, "But I don't care about being in with the cool crowd! I can make my own friends and I don't care about silly clothes! After all, Alabama's a party school, I can meet plenty of people that way!" The interesting thing about Alabama's reputation as a party school is that everyone fails to mention that these parties are highly exclusive. It isn't like the movies where any schmoe and his buddies can walk in and chat it up with the friendly brothers of Frat Row. Most houses have full time security guards posted at the gates and only those on the guest list (or the blessed members of the female sex) may enter. Without pre-existing connections, and without paying up to pledge a fraternity, if you are a man you can forget the partying myth. You'll be scraping together cash with your buddies and asking somebody legal to buy you some liquor.
"But what about the other features of campus life?" Well, that's precisely the problem. Campus life here revolves so exclusively around the Thursday-Friday-Saturday weekly binge drinking session at "the house" that extracurricular life is quite limited. If you have a pre-existing sporting talent or artistic passion, you may have some luck, but the campus life is rather limited.
In closing, I want to emphasize that I am NOT UNHAPPY here at Alabama. Overall, I have tremendously enjoyed coming here and am looking forward to my next several years here. I am simply writing this because I feel those considering the school should know that without a pre-existing network of friends or the resources to pony-up what amounts to double tuition for entry into the social in-group, you will have several rather rough weeks/months. This is not to say that there aren't great pros to the University. I loved the football season and accompanying tailgating, and as the months wear on you will eventually find a few friends. But the initial weeks of exclusion are tough. It was wearing to repeatedly be asked, "So are you pledging?" and after the revelation of my lowly non-Greek status was revealed to see the light of interest go out in the other person's eyes. Make no mistake, class matters at Alabama, and it's a rude awakening to see it so barely laid out in front of you after leaving home. The worst part about it for me was that I was actually accepted into a fraternity as a pledge, but simply couldn't afford the cost when the officers got around to telling us about the dues.
So, yes, you can be happy here and it's a nice place to live. But it is definitely easier if you have means.
Wow - I found your post very interesting. I'm not from Alabama, nor have I lived there, but we are going to be moving there sometime this year. We have a daughter who will be starting college in the fall, although most likely in CA. I have 3 other kids though and one of them might end up going to school in Alabama. I didn't enjoy Greek life in college, but it had nothing to do with money (it was minimal compared to what you're talking about). It was just a personal preference, and the school I went to (UNM) wasn't overrun with Greeks. It seems like you are mature enough to rise above the trust-fund drinking crowd and pave your own way, something that might be hard for other incoming freshmen. Good luck!
Wow - I found your post very interesting. I'm not from Alabama, nor have I lived there, but we are going to be moving there sometime this year. We have a daughter who will be starting college in the fall, although most likely in CA. I have 3 other kids though and one of them might end up going to school in Alabama. I didn't enjoy Greek life in college, but it had nothing to do with money (it was minimal compared to what you're talking about). It was just a personal preference, and the school I went to (UNM) wasn't overrun with Greeks. It seems like you are mature enough to rise above the trust-fund drinking crowd and pave your own way, something that might be hard for other incoming freshmen. Good luck!
Yea what I've learned is that Greek life at deep Southern schools (Ole Miss, UA, a few others) has a different tenor to that at schools up North and on the coasts. You can see that reflected in the style of the structures that they build.
Here, for example, is a link to a picture of one of the fraternity houses on campus--it is of only slightly above-average size.
And these are some of the first structures you see on campus as a new student.
Some other more concrete examples of UA's rather exclusionary culture:
--Rushing/recruitment for most fraternities is done in the Senior year of HIGH SCHOOL (for the upper crust even earlier). Kids who arrive in fall and hope to be included, even if they have money and look like Channing Tatum, are out of luck. Sororities are more organized, but even they have tacit rules requiring letters of recommendation from sorority alumnae to be considered for the most well-regarded houses.
--Houses are still practically entirely segregated. A few black girls were admitted to the white sororities last year, but even this was accompanied by a race scandal when a Chi Omega girl posted on social media, "XO ain't got no N****z!" Furthermore, fraternities are still totally segregated--absolutely no Hispanics or Asians either.
--Greeks have special seating closer to the field at home games that is supposedly tiered by grades but always ends up in the hands of a few select fraternities which happen to be the oldest on campus...hmmm
--There is even exclusion among Greeks. The oldest/wealthiest fraternities and sororities have formed a special coalition known as Old Row that throws a yearly-megaparty sponsored by Budweiser to which the newer houses are not invited. Old money/New money distinctions live on!
--The older houses actively avoid recruiting non-Alabama residents
I'm saying this not to discourage anyone from coming to school here. I simply want people to know about the culture oddities of the place before they come because I had simply never encountered anything like this (though I did go to public school).
John,
I read your post on another forum.
First, for the benefit of other readers on THIS forum, one-third of students at the University of Alabama are members of Greek-letter organizations. That includes 17 NPC sororities, 30 fraternities, 9 NPHC (traditionally black) fraternities and sororities, and 8 other Greek groups that are either religion, major, multi-cultural or philanthropy based.
That means TWO-THIRDS - more than a majority - of campus is NOT affiliated with a Greek social group. Why are you obsessing over a subset of students who aren't even a majority on campus, that even within themselves don't get along and sort themselves into strata?
There are almost 6000 freshmen, almost all living in on-campus dorms, and about 36,000 total students on campus. Dozens of interest organizations. Extremely active student ministries ringing campus. At least a good cause or two to get involved with every weekend.
It's kind of hard to believe you can't find anyone to socialize with.
Your first year of college is going to be a culture shock no matter where you go to school, whether at the University of Memphis or Hawaii. It's your first time away from the day-to-day oversight of your parents. If you don't want to study, nobody's going to make you. If you don't want to go to class, nobody's going to make you. If you don't want to eat vegetables, wear underwear, or brush your teeth and use deodorant every day - who's gonna make you?!
Also, nobody's going to run up to you and say "Be my best friend!"
You've got to put a smile on your face every day as you walk around campus. Say hello to people you see over and over again in the cafeteria. Even invite somebody you've never seen before to sit at your table. Ask a question of somebody in your classrooms.
Join a couple of those 350 clubs that you scoffed at on the other board and actually go to some meetings. Here's a link to find a couple: https://ua.collegiatelink.net/organizations
Sign up for a recreational outing at the rec centers.Student Recreation Center Join a group that does stuff hands on, like Habitat for Humanity. Join the crazy group that cheers at basketball games. If you join a group that does nothing, try another one.
Or get yourself a parttime job on campus.
If you really, really want to join a fraternity, there are fraternities out there that are smaller, cheaper, and would be glad to have you as a member. They may not have a house, but they won't hand you those house bills, either. And the brotherhood is just as real.
Don't just sit there enjoying your self-pity party. Push yourself to get out there - no time is better than NOW!
Southlander, re-reading his post, the points he makes are still good ones. Public schools have their petty "in-crowd" politics, but nothing like the classism that can occur in college, where young adults are vying for spots of influence and connections that will guide their post-college careers. It is a shock when someone first realizes just how different the workings of the country are than the egalitarian ideals that they have been taught in school. It is a big deal to a newcomer to college life when the most influential 1/3 of a student population is involved in this.
Southlander, re-reading his post, the points he makes are still good ones. Public schools have their petty "in-crowd" politics, but nothing like the classism that can occur in college, where young adults are vying for spots of influence and connections that will guide their post-college careers. It is a shock when someone first realizes just how different the workings of the country are than the egalitarian ideals that they have been taught in school. It is a big deal to a newcomer to college life when the most influential 1/3 of a student population is involved in this.
So where do you go to avoid this? This type of situation is going to be found at most any large land grant school. Or many schools period. That's just the world we live in and not something unique to UA.
It is just part of becoming an adult. If it were possible to avoid it in the greater world, then suggesting other places might be of help to the OP. Learning how to cope with it and play the system is a better strategy. That doesn't make the observations of the OP any less meaningful.
Old Row is not necessarily the "oldest" frats and sororities....Delta Zeta and Zeta Tau Alpha are two of the oldest sororities on campus and are not "Old Row". It has to do with the Budweiser sponsorship. Budweiser sponsors those frats and sororities and has the parties and provides other things like tshirts, etc. DZ's declined the sponsorship and Zeta has some national rules regarding that kind of sponsorships so they could not participate so they were replaced with two younger sororities.
Even more exclusive than the frats and sororities is The Machine. If you really want to find the elite at Bama, do some Machine research. It is the power structure behind the governing of the university. Some think its some silly urban legend but its a real entity. I have a friend from high school who was a delegate for her sorority at Bama for the Machine.
School demographics can greatly influence your experience. I went to a university with large numbers of foreign born students (India, Pakistan, China, Nigeria, South Korea, Russia, Ethiopia etc.) and that seems to mitigate the classism that can take place.
The traditional "blue-blood" type white kids aren't attracted to a school where their money and family name mean nothing to the administration or student body. It was freeing. The fraternities and sororities on campus had to fight for pledges as at least 2/3 of the school had no interest. The competitive element was reminiscent of a school like the Indian Institute of Technology. You're trying to survive and get the best grades possible; the concern is competition and competing for internships and jobs. Social status is just a wall that keeps you from focusing.
Also, nobody's going to run up to you and say "Be my best friend!"
You've got to put a smile on your face every day as you walk around campus. Say hello to people you see over and over again in the cafeteria. Even invite somebody you've never seen before to sit at your table. Ask a question of somebody in your classrooms.
For those dismissing the original post and saying "this happens everywhere"... no, it really doesn't. And not even at every land-grant institution across the country.
I cannot speak in the least about the experience of being a freshman in an Alabama university. What I can say is that (1) few on this forum are disputing what is said, but rather saying it happens everywhere, and (2) this was not my experience at the institutions I attended as an undergraduate. I did not have to follow the above directions to make friends at the universities I attended. The classism and dominance of exclusionary social institutions described in the OP was nothing like it was posted in the original post. It's funny that it was noted that parties aren't open like on TV... because I find that TV often is more segregated, divided, and above all hierarchical than my high school and undergraduate experiences.
Above all, my point is: there ARE differences by institutions. I'm sure you can find a lot of divided and hierarchical institutions in many places around the country. I expect some Northeastern private schools likely have their own classism and divisions (I didn't attend one, so I wouldn't know. But I'm expecting some would). Attending one of those may be a big culture shock for someone coming from somewhere like Hoover or Birmingham city schools, or really even a school like I grew up in as well. But what is precisely described above does not occur everywhere and would definitely been an awful culture shock for me at the time.
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