Sorority: No fat chicks, minorities

Oh, I hear someone quietly judging me.

 

I'm not judging you, LJB. I like most of what you post around here. But my stand is more toward the hazing and other superfluous stuff frats do which go counter to the good things frats claim to do.

However, in all efforts of transparency and honesty, I'll readily admit the Navy, my beloved Navy, is equally as guilty of hazing as frats.

So I guess that means I'm a hypocrite.

 

No, it means you're a male. We do stupid shit to each other when we're young and organized. Rite of passage and all that b.s.

FWIW, my "Hell Week" was the most fun week of my life, to this day. Basically the whole thing was engineered to foster the pledge class into getting to know one another. Not one bad thing happened to any of us. Nothing. I missed out on the most fun night, though, the scavenger hunt trip to another small college in-state (one of the older members was on the basketball team was playing there that night) because of newspaper obligations (really totalitarian these frats, huh?).

A lot of people here are talking about the social castes and so forth that fraternities and sororities encourage. But come on. Do you really think that's exclusive to fraternities and sororities? Your high school didn't have cool kids, geeks, jocks, average joes, brainiacs, stoners, etc., etc.? Sure, the fraternity/sorority system seems to codify it somewhat ... on the other hand, in my experience, it also brought people together who would have never hung out or worked together otherwise. I actually think that you are MORE likely to bond - or at least have to be a teammate with - someone outside of your most likely social circle if you're involved in a Greek organization (the exceptions being the filthy rich male fraternities or the Barbie doll sororities that do exist. But those are outliers in my view).

My campus was tiny, like I've said. I don't think it would survive as an institution without the Greek system. So much as far as campus activities flows through it. It mobilizes a campus that otherwise would fall into great danger of being just a place where people go to class then go their own way.

 

Did you join a fraternity or a church?

 

Depends... Did you make Shellback?

 

Alley, I joined because I was a kid from out of state who didn't know a soul, I wanted to drink a lot of beer, I wanted easier access to girls and I wanted all that QUICKLY. And that all happened, quickly. At the end of the day, it was just a stupid club, and it's still that way to me.

(I never did eat that "nodule," as my mother called it when we were kids).

 

That brings up one of the problems many people have with frats and sororities -- they bring the high school social system to the college level. It's bad enough in high school. We're supposed to outgrow it in college.

And one difference between your experience and many of the ones the rest of us had is the size of the school. I'm sure all campus groups operate very differently when the enrollment is 25,000-30,000 than when it is 900.

 

I long since have been fortunate to shed by Pollywog standing.

And talk about hazing...I would venture (and those in the know can back me up) that military hazing typically far surpasses that which takes place in America's colleges.

 

When I was in college I went to one frat party. Got sick of the beer (I only had one cup). It sucked.

A few weeks later, a girl was raped at a frat and it was a pretty big deal. In the middle of the night she would write stuff in chalk on sidewalks. It was creepy for awhile.

 

I won't even begin with the rape stories I know from fraternities, because as bad as they are, I still believe in that case you have to blame the scumbag individuals, not the entire Greek system.

 

Rape happens across all social groups, all walks of life, etc. Not just limited to the Greek system. No denying that.

But there are cases where the Greek social scene manufactures situations that are ripe for rape.

You have underage college kids who gather in a huge house - which they have free run of - with a "party at all costs" mindset. Free alcohol for girls. Usually not much food. An atmosphere where going home alone means you're a loser. The pack mentality. A house with dozens of bedrooms, community bathrooms, other rooms (such as the "chapter room") with locking doors. A social scene where it's easy to get separated from the people you came with.

This may not describe every frat house in America, but it describes my brother's. The first time I went to his house was in broad daylight on a weekday. Trying to find his room was a nightmare - the house had been added on to so many times, and random walls put up to partition off space. I'd say 75 percent of the house had no windows or hall lights. One community bathroom was tucked in a forgotten corner.

At midday, with the house empty, I was still freaked out. I can't imagine being a drunk freshman, getting into a situation with a guy, and trying to find my way out of the maze in the dark. At certain places in the house, like the bathroom, nobody would be able to hear you scream. That wouldn't happen in a dorm.

I brought this up to my brother and his friends, and they just laughed. Worked for them, they said. I took the double meaning with that.

And please, enough with the "you're stereotyping, making up stuff that you know nothing about" crap. I've been to his house. I've been to their parties. I've seen how they operate. Not just my brother's frat, but other frats at other schools. It may not happen everywhere, but it doesn't mean it doesn't happen at all.

 

And, of course, regulations in place that are supposed to ensure that those types of situations you explain don't happen. With oversights in place.

But I'm sure the standard college house party, where no one is accountable to anyone but themselves, is a saintly occasion preceded by the national anthem and a group prayer, with cookies and punch to follow.