By: Zach Ahearn At their core, fraternities are social organizations found in higher education institutions around the United States. Fraternities are part of a social society called “Greek Life,” mainly because of its use of Greek letters to signify the different fraternities. Although co-ed fraternities do exist, the majority of how Greek Life is split up is boys join fraternities and girls join sororities. That is why the community of college students in a fraternity is called a brotherhood. This concept may sound foreign and ridiculous to people outside the United States, but for many colleges around America, it dominates the social scene. You may have seen fraternities in movies such as Animal House, 22 Jump Street, and Monster’s University, to name a few. A bunch of college guys who party and get drunk all the time, and honestly, you’re not that far off. Now, of course, there are other things that members of a fraternity do, but partying is probably half of it. Most fraternities have a house on campus. “House” is a very broad term, ranging from a two-story family home to legitimate mansions, but it means the place where members live. This is where fraternities hold all their activities. Parties are, of course, one of the activities they have. It is always on a Friday or Saturday night when people don’t have school, and it usually involves a theme the party revolves around. For most fraternities, there is also a list of guests. The list is mainly used to control the number of people in the party, not just those invited by members; however, it is usually used only for men as women typically don’t need to be on the list to be let into the party. The best comparison to use for the parties are nightclubs of just college students, or in other words, lots of drinking, dancing, and loud music. Apart from partying, fraternities also host numerous other events. One event that shocked many people upon first hearing about it was that all fraternities held at least one philanthropy event per semester. They do get creative on how to raise the money. I’ve seen fraternities do a wide range of fundraising, such as selling cookies, hosting a dunk tank, letting people destroy a car, and playing carnival games. In addition, they have private events exclusively for members to foster their connections with each other. These events are usually called brotherhood events, and the things they do range from board games to sports. All of these events do cost money, so every fraternity also requires its members to pay dues to be a part of the organization. So, what’s the appeal behind fraternities? A social club that you have to pay money to be a part of on paper sounds ridiculous, and many people think the same way, even college students in the United States. The allure lies in the ability of the fraternity to instantly provide a sense of belonging, camaraderie, and social life. A majority of people who join fraternities have just moved to college and don’t know anyone. The perks of being in a fraternity often outweigh the negatives for the many people in that situation. It gives them a group of fellow students who share the same values and an instant community in a large University environment. In fact, joining a fraternity in many colleges, especially in Southern colleges, is the only way for students to participate in party life. Joining a fraternity is a lot more complicated than you might think. First, there is a stretch of time during the beginning of each semester called the “bidding period,” where students who wish to join their college’s fraternities shop around to the various fraternities and talk to the members there. If they like who they are talking to and what is offered by the fraternity, they will go back for other events during the bidding period. If the members also like the student, they will offer that student a bid card. A bid card is a formal invitation to join the fraternity, but not as a member. After signing a bid card, the student is now a pledge. He joins the rest of his pledge class, and they must go through the pledging process before becoming a full-fledged member. The pledging process usually involves a curriculum that talks about the fraternity's core values and history, as well as rituals. These rituals are secretive ceremonies, and they differ from fraternity to fraternity. It starts with induction rituals where the students who just signed up are inducted into the fraternity as pledges and are fully introduced to all the members. The next part is what differs as every fraternity does its own thing. Often, secret ceremonies are held at specific times at the house where the members recant the lore of the organization. The rituals also usually include ceremonial objects that are important to the fraternity. These rituals are all designed to reinforce the bonds of the members and the values of the fraternity. Lastly, it ends with an initiation ceremony where the pledges finally become full-fledged members of the fraternity, typically followed by a party between the newly inducted members and the brotherhood. Greek life is definitely full of flaws, with many cases of hazing and toxicity. Hazing is the practice in which new members are subjected to humiliating or dangerous acts as a rite of passage. It was much more prevalent in the past, but the number has gone significantly down. These hazing practices are often brought to light when a student tragically loses their life to them, something which has happened numerous times in the past and usually involving alcohol. Next, there is the dangerous drinking culture that many fraternities have. Like most groups of young men, the more you drink, the cooler you are. This is, unfortunately, also the case with most fraternities, leading to many instances of alcohol poisoning. Lastly, fraternities are also criticized for promoting exclusivity and promoting stereotypes. Most fraternities are predominantly white, and the image of a loud, drunk college dude with beers in his hands wearing a backward hat and sunglasses portrayed by movies isn’t too far off from lots of fraternity members.
Fraternities are a large part of college campuses, offering instant friendships and social opportunities. They engage in philanthropy and host various events, along with fostering brotherhood. However, fraternities face challenges such as hazing and a dangerous drinking culture, leading to criticism. Nevertheless, they remain fundamental to the United States college experience. a
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The Taida Student Journal has been active since 1995 with an ever-changing roster of student journalists at NTU. Click the above link to read about the authors Archives
May 2024
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