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I am not sure if this was meant to be sarcastic or not, but there are co-ed fraternities which is why I wanted to hear about opinions on all male. Or, if you just didnt know, an all female fraternity is a sorority.
Yes, I was being facetious.
In all seriousness, I didn't go to a Greek-dominated school (~10%), and the whole idea never sparked my interest, but I will say that the Greek system is a great way of making a million insta-acquaintances and can prove very beneficial down the road for networking purposes. Beyond those benefits, I would say that Greek life is not fundamentally good or bad. It simply is what it is.
Besides despising the stereotypical "fratty" types (which, I will grant you, certainly do not predominate every fraternity/sorority chapter), what turned me off to Greek life was the idea of paying to conform to a group culture (at least while in that group's presence). I'm no maverick, but I value my individualism along with my privacy and personal space. I pick my friends very selectively, and I feel like for me, going Greek would have involved compromising part of my personal self.
In my college lots of the frats had libraries of old tests which the frat kids used to improve their gpa by doing problems that sometimes appeared on the exam again. This was an advantage over those not in a frat who had no access to the old exams.
Lots of rapes occur at frat parties... probably another reason they get a bad reputation. Most of the frat kids I knew did well in school (thanks to cheating half the time), and they also partied really hard
I had a buddy (guy) who took 2 girls to a frat party, and one of the fratboys slipped a roofie in HIS drink by mistake (thinking he was putting it in one of the girl's drinks)... needless to say, the girls ended up having to take care of him and carry him back to the apartment since said drug made him pass out...
^^ just an example of typical things that go on in some frats...
When I was in school 3 students died from hazing at my university.
One of the frats I remember told incoming members they were not allowed to date outside their race
I could go on, and on, and on... Not all frats are created equal, however. I'm sure some are less bad than others. But mostly, my opinion of fratboys is that they cheat in school, they are dumb, and they party a lot, and they are from rich parents... This seems like a stereotype-- but I'd reason that this is true for the majority of fratboys.
I do some hiring now for a major company in the fortune 10. I toss resumes that have a frat listed in the trash. Mostly because I can't trust that they earned their GPA honestly.
I dont know where you went to school but 3 students died from hazing? It sounds to me like that schools greek system is definitely out of line. In my opinion they should all be shut down. Maybe my school is different, but a lot of the fraternities at my school seem to be much more mature and more group based than your experiences seem to show.
With that being said, I am sorry to hear that you throw away resumes with greek life listed. Maybe someday you will miss out on a wonderful opportunity to hire me.
Personally I never joined cause I already graduated high school and was grown up... I felt that me doing the fraternity thing was a step backwards for me..... Never did, never would!!
Why do you want to limit the conversation to include only male-only organizations?
Just because I was curious about the stigma surrounding fraternity's. Sorority's have an entirely different stigma and I am sure they have entirely different perception by the public. My curiosity was piqued when I saw a pro fraternity video on youtube that a majority of the comments were not only negative towards fraternities but also incorrect and shallow minded IMO.
Since I was running a poll I didn't want to have skewed results. It appears however, that a majority of people DO view fraternities in this way. Which is sort of upsetting given the quality of education I have received from joining one.
Just because I was curious about the stigma surrounding fraternity's. Sorority's have an entirely different stigma and I am sure they have entirely different perception by the public. My curiosity was piqued when I saw a pro fraternity video on youtube that a majority of the comments were not only negative towards fraternities but also incorrect and shallow minded IMO.
Since I was running a poll I didn't want to have skewed results. It appears however, that a majority of people DO view fraternities in this way. Which is sort of upsetting given the quality of education I have received from joining one.
I am curious about this, and perhaps you could change my negative view of fraternities...
Please elaborate on how joining a fraternity improved your quality of education?
I am curious about this, and perhaps you could change my negative view of fraternities...
Please elaborate on how joining a fraternity improved your quality of education?
Well from your post it sounds like it is dependant upon the school and greek system, but I believe it goes deeper than that as well. In my personal experience at my school, fraternities gave the extra ladder you could choose to climb should you want to reach your goals. Most of the time college students are viewed as immature and incapable of being adults. A fraternity instills responsibility on a person (who chooses it) that otherwise would not have been available. For those who dont know, fraternities are run without much (if any) help from the national organization. For my fraternity we were allowed to do whatever we wanted and survive how ever we see fit. Now this is both good and bad. I think its obvious that the bad side of this is that you have kids dieing during the pledge process, etc. On the good side though, you have truely talented individual capable of runnning a successful small/ mid sized business. Some fraternity budgets are greater than $150K a year. I was a leader in a small house and our yearly dues averaged up to $100,000.
The leadership role I took on at the fraternity taught me a lot more than I think I could have learned elsewhere at such a young age. I learned how to manage people, which at some times is impossible. I was rush chair for a semester and that taught me how to be innovative. I created business cards for the members responsible for recruitment and went out there to promote the fraternity. I ended up doing better than my goal and recruited the largest pledge class we ever had 27 signed, 23 initiated. It taught me that I can do anything if I believe in it. From there, I gained respect within the house and am now looked up to as an elder at only 23 years of age. I still get friend requests from new members and I am still contacted monthly about things.
I am sorry for the novel but it obviously is something that I feel strongly about and I wish everyone had the same opportunities that I was given. However, I know this experience can change from fraternity to fraternity, from school to school, and most certainly from person to person. I will be the first to admitt that there were a lot of people who just didnt view a leadership role as important as I did in my own house. Without these experiences, I dont believe I would have landed my awesome job that I have today. Not to say they are directly related, but most likely indirectly.
Not a chance in the world would I ever join one ...... the greek element on my campus was small, which was great ....... had very little time for those who would join
Well from your post it sounds like it is dependant upon the school and greek system, but I believe it goes deeper than that as well. In my personal experience at my school, fraternities gave the extra ladder you could choose to climb should you want to reach your goals. Most of the time college students are viewed as immature and incapable of being adults. A fraternity instills responsibility on a person (who chooses it) that otherwise would not have been available. For those who dont know, fraternities are run without much (if any) help from the national organization. For my fraternity we were allowed to do whatever we wanted and survive how ever we see fit. Now this is both good and bad. I think its obvious that the bad side of this is that you have kids dieing during the pledge process, etc. On the good side though, you have truely talented individual capable of runnning a successful small/ mid sized business. Some fraternity budgets are greater than $150K a year. I was a leader in a small house and our yearly dues averaged up to $100,000.
The leadership role I took on at the fraternity taught me a lot more than I think I could have learned elsewhere at such a young age. I learned how to manage people, which at some times is impossible. I was rush chair for a semester and that taught me how to be innovative. I created business cards for the members responsible for recruitment and went out there to promote the fraternity. I ended up doing better than my goal and recruited the largest pledge class we ever had 27 signed, 23 initiated. It taught me that I can do anything if I believe in it. From there, I gained respect within the house and am now looked up to as an elder at only 23 years of age. I still get friend requests from new members and I am still contacted monthly about things.
I am sorry for the novel but it obviously is something that I feel strongly about and I wish everyone had the same opportunities that I was given. However, I know this experience can change from fraternity to fraternity, from school to school, and most certainly from person to person. I will be the first to admitt that there were a lot of people who just didnt view a leadership role as important as I did in my own house. Without these experiences, I dont believe I would have landed my awesome job that I have today. Not to say they are directly related, but most likely indirectly.
I'm glad you had a positive experience, but the leadership skills you learned are hardly limited to Greek life.
I'm glad you had a positive experience, but the leadership skills you learned are hardly limited to Greek life.
In college? Maybe not entirely, but predominantly. Are you talking about a student association or something similar? Regardless, I doubt that even 95% of students are allowed to run a 50 man organization.
Either way, that wasn't really my point. My point is that there is a lot to be learned in general from a fraternity. The opportunity for leadership is limited and my participation in the house has provided me with more than I would have imagined going into it.
Last edited by ChiGuy2.5; 01-19-2012 at 12:33 PM..
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It sounds to me like that schools greek system is definitely out of line. In my opinion they should all be shut down. Maybe my school is different, but a lot of the fraternities at my school seem to be much more mature and more group based than your experiences seem to show.
