The Real "fake" Greeks
 

http://www.thebatt.com/vnews/display...b?in_archive=1

This was in our school newspaper last week. Me and my bros got a good laugh at it. Does this make anyone else just shake their head and kinda feel sorry for these people?

Kitso
KS 361 things that being a Greek means to me, besides parties and Tshirts

Granted, all I know about these organizations is what I read in the article, but it sounds like they want the fun and esteem that comes with being a greek without any of the work. What's the point?

I don't think these kids understand what being a fraternity or sorority member is all about. I can only imagine the new member program if one of these groups manages to stick around... a group of new members will be sitting around a table one day, while their NM Educator stands there and says:

"Welcome to ABC. This organization was founded because, um, a couple of girls thought that greek letters looked cool and stuff? and they wanted some t-shirts? and they were jealous of the other sororities parties? So, yeah - here's your t-shirt and go have fun" :rolleyes:

These folks had better watch out. By setting themselves up as pretend organizations but doing real things, the university is going to hold them to standards of accountability they may not be prepared for.

I don't understand why you'd have something where you claim that there is real brotherhood going on and then call it a "fake fraternity".

They really don't look very different than your run of the mill local groups..

Maybe some of them will develop into something... others will be sued out of existance and their members' and founders' lives dedicated to paying a large settlement brought around by stupidity and lack of risk management.

that is making me go HMMMMMMM....
fake greek life....that just sounds like a contradiction.

Some of my non-Greek friends jokingly said they were members of Lambda Delta Lambda - Let's Do Lunch - since they ate in the caf together every day. When it's a little in-joke between friends - fine. When you're holding events - come on.

Now who's buying friends?

I really don't see anything too wrong with what the students are doing. For whatever reason traditional Greek life at their school wasn't the right thing for them but being a member of these groups (whether formal groups or just an informal gathering of friends) enriches their college experience so I commend them for being involved with something that seems to be a positive thing.
Who knows? Maybe someday their organization will grow into something larger and eventually become a "real" GLO. Or maybe it won't. Either way it might still give some college students some great memories of spending time playing and working with friends to look back on.

You people all seem to be so against this, but how is this any different from from all of our founding fathers/sisters? Though these organizations might now fit the mold of other greek organizations, they are in all regards practically the same thing as any other fraternity or sorority was at its inception. Take my fraternity, TKE, back in 1899, it was just a small group of college students saying they wanted to start a fraternity. Is there anything more legitimate about that than what these people are doing now. Though time and duration are the great legitimizer, we should not forget our own roots - that these people have a sense of humor about it does not make them any different.

aenik

aenik, while I agree with you on your points there and am already on the record in this thread as seeing many parallels between locals and these groups I also have to call to question their referring to themselves as fake greeks as they do in the article.

If they in fact do this they are absolutely not what anyone's founding fathers did. What they did was real. They said they were starting something and what they started has stood the test of time. If you refer to yourself as a 'fake greek' you have no clue what being greek really means.

Its no that bad....
 

It's not really that bad. I just don't understand calling yourself fake, it's bad enought when someone else does it!

ALthough, I know plenty of people who, when finding out I was in a sorority, were like "You? But you're so smart!" And when people find out I still do things with my old chapter they are like "When are you going to grow up?" There is a large segment of people who just don't understand. To some people being Greek is a stigma, on other campus, if you're not Greek it's a stigma. Maybe where they go to school it's not cool to be greek or something so this is there way of doing it. There was a post on here not long ago (I forget where) about how the band sorority made fun of a girls for being in a NPC sorority-so she quit the NPC one.So, I guess it's different on every campus.

How is this for weird? The local sorority at my campus, MTSU, is also called Phi Chi. However, they do a lot for our campus and greek life in general! They are a great group of girls!

I have to agree with ktsnake...while our founders did start out *sorta* like these "fake greeks" did, they actually stood for something. To classify yourself as fake right out of the gate is just ASKING for trouble!

Blaire

ps at APSU, a college here in my hometown, some non-trational students started Tau Delta Beta=Too Darn Busy! They were actually pretty cool about the whole thing, though...they said that they respected the "real greeks" and regretted not joining a fraternity/sorority when they were first in college. Very amusing (in a good way!)

I have to agree with aenik. I guess way back then (for the fraternities and sororities that were founded in the 1800's and early 1900's), it's about the same.. they just didn't have any other "real" Greeks around at the time to call themselves fake :p And ultimately those groups founded way back then evolved to something bigger. ::shrugs:: but that's just my take on it :)

Oh wow.:rolleyes:

I agree with Blaire. The Phi Chi's at our school are awesome girls!

did anyone else notice that 'making t-shirts' was mentioned about 7 or 8 times in that article????? Like that legitamizes the activity?

I'm going to have to disagree with texasprincess.

Honestly, the Phi Chi group, to me that sounds like it could be the start of something. It sounds like a group of guys that have gathered together for a greater ideal....which i think is how a lot of us think about our founders. The lunch group one, and the tri-zeta one to me are just jokes. To me, it's like being in elementary school or middle school and forming a secret clique because some of the 'cool' kids don't like you.

To me, being Greek is more than just Greek letters and parties and tshirts. I don't want to speak for everyone here, but i think a lot of us take the pledges we made and continue to make in our rituals seriously. I know that i hold mine very dear. I know that the fraternity history that i learned as a pledge is probably a little biased based on it's source, but to me, being a Sigma Nu is about 'Love, Truth, Honor' and the ways that i try to apply these principles to my life and relationships. To me, being Greek means making sacrifices and learning how to work with, and love people that might be complete opposites of you and that you never thought you could get along with.

I don't know, i kind of took it as a mocking sort of thing. And as much as these tshirts they've made, i've never seen them on campus. I don't know, the idea of those girls walking around lubbock claiming that they were in sororities at A&M bugs me too. But alas, no biggie. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery i guess.

Kitso
KS 361 times i'd laugh if i saw a Lunch Group Date Party tshirt

That is the dumbest thing i've ever read. This has hazing violation written all over it. They need to nip this in the bud before the real greeks get the boot.

Everyone gets something different out of their org
 

Can anyone here honestly say that you've never met a single member of your GLO who joined for T-shirts and socials and stayed for T-shirts and socials? That you don't know any "real" greeks to whom the pledge meant very little and the ideals of the founders nothing at all? That you've never heard of "real" greeks who are dead weight in the chapter and expect everyone else to do the work?

Greekchat is full of people who are passionately, almost religiously, devoted to their rituals and their obligations. That's fantastic, and Greekchat-type people are the reason each national GLO has survived for 100 years and more. But that's not what "real" greek life is about for everyone involved. Let's not pretend that all members of national GLOs are hardworking heroes devoted to truth and light.

There was nothing in the article suggesting that these people are doing anything other than having some harmless fun. Maybe in the future they'll haze, but there's no evidence of that here. If they identify themselves as fake, there's no danger that GDIs or the school administration will get confused about who is who. And so what if they die out after the founders graduate? They achieved their stated goals of having fun in college. How does that hurt anyone else?

If your "real" GLO is strong, it has nothing to fear from imitators. Why should we care if other people print up some T-shirts and throw some parties? Different strokes for different folks.

Ivy

It sounds to me like Phi Chi is a lot like a local GLO... I don't understand why they would call themselves "fake". Why not be official? (LGLO members, if you disagree, don't be offended... I don't know much about the process).

The other girls though... sad. You can have a group of friends get together and hang out without having to assign Greek letters to yourselves and make Tshirts.

No ritual=fake greeks.

AggieSigmaNu,
I understand your point about "being Greek is more than just Greek letters and parties." You're right it is. I too take my organization and the pledge I took to my organization very seriously.

And I can understand your take on how you feel these self-proclaimed fake Greeks, but I just feel some of these groups may have started in quite the same way (minus calling themselves "fake" and talking about their sole purpose being to make cool t-shirts and things like that.)

Delta Sigma Pi for example was founded by 4 men that met in class and shared the same subway route on their way home.

There is *a lot* more history to us than that, but that is basically the way it started and how my founders met. So if the "sorority" who makes t-shirts eventually decide to channel their efforts for a greater good, become involved with philantrophies and what not, they just might be a local, and then maybe regional, and then maybe a national someday.

That's just my $.02.. i'm a really positive person :)
edited for my terrible spelling :p

I would actually have to disagree with this - either that or I was a member of what you all are considering a 'fake' sorority! The local that I was a member of was named Delta Kappa Phi. It was founded by Deanna and Kim (the Delta and Kappa) and they chose Phi because it was more aesthetically pleasing than Theta. We had a crest, motto (only open, no secret mottos), a 'badge'/pin, colors, flower, founding principles, pledge program (which DID include 'minor' hazing), participated in Rush (the campus sororities were predominantly locals), had socials, t-shirts, etc. We did not have a ritual per se - we had more along the lines of ceremonies because we really didn't have anything secret like NPC sororities do (and that's not to say that we allowed others at our initiations). Does this mean that we were not 'real' greeks? The other locals on campus were at one time chapters of NPC groups (AOII and Theta Phi Alpha) and the only national sorority is Kappa Beta Gamma.

I reading the article, I saw the groups as local orgs - I don't remember if the mention of 'fake greek' was in the quotes from members of the groups or only by the writer of the article. In short, just because a group doesn't have a ritual does NOT mean they are not a real greek org.

Sarah

Delta Kappa Phi '94 (Alpha pledge class)

(said in my best Janice-from Friends-voice) Oh...My...God...
This is the dumbest thing I have ever read.(T-shirts) I'm sorry, but it is. Let's form a sorority because we all eat lunch together and call it Lambda Gamma? (T-shirts). And the only reason they called it a sorority was because they were tired of answering that they weren't in a sorority?(T-shirts). Get real people!! I had my little named lunch group too...in highschool.(T-shirts).

Now, Phi Chi down here is a co-ed medical fraternity-technically, they're professional, but they're also very very social.(T-shirts). It sounds like the group at A&M are now, and could in the future, be a large productive GLO.(T-shirts)

This whole article pisses me off, because, like AggieSigmaNu said, being Greek is more than getting a great wardrobe full of T-shirts.These girls are being complete hypocrites.(T-shirts). :mad:

I'll get off my soapbox right about now. :)


p.s. the first person the get the subliminal theme in my message wins!! :D

We got em'
 

Our local Sorority is Phi Chi...

ChiOJen: is your subliminal message about t-shirts? :p

have a super day everyone!

I don't think any of us have rose-colored glasses thick enough to say that some of our members didn't join for bogus reasons...but these sound like the people we all know who say that Greeks are (insert stereotype here) and then turn around and do the same thing they are slamming.

Next season on MTV: "Fake Sorority Life" :D

At least they're not claiming to be real fraternities and sororities... that would be true hypocrisy. But a lot of people won't know the difference, or won't care. They'll see that all these groups do is throw parties and make t-shirts, and conclude that that's what the real greek system is all about too.

I agree with A e Phi alum, these groups are making no pretenses that they are greek, they state quite clearly they are fake greeks and know it.
Although I don't understand why they wouldn't just try to do something and legitimize their group by making a constitution and ritual and such, I don't really see anything wrong with it. Especially the Phi Chi group. It sounds like they really just wanted some people who shared their beliefs and would support them in pursuing those beliefs. Doesn't sound too different than why my soror. was founded.
The other group I don't know about them makign t shirts and having greek letters, but they do not even plan on letting anyone else in... so it seems to me it's just something that bonds them closer as friends or whatever... so... As I said I don't really understand why they need to use greek symbols, or why they wouldn't just start their own group if they felt what was there wasn't for them, I don't really see any harm in them doing it. Does anyone remember when the 90210 girls started their own sorority that met at the Peach Pit because the sorority they wanted to join made Andrea uncomfortable because although they still gave her a bid, they didn't support her being Jewish and she would've had to "keep it quiet"

This is going on at my campus currently, some FRESHMEN are starting a new fraternity. The only reason they are is to make a freakin' mockery of it. Hell, they didn't even rush ANY of the other fraternities. Can't wait til I see the letter combination they pick out. *growls*

Ya know, a group of my friends and I are forming a new sorority on campus, but hell, we want to be 'real'. Those ppl in the article are just pussies. They don't want to do the work that is associated with forming a new GLO, it's pretty freakin' hard. My gawd, if I just wanted to wear some letters on a shirt I'd just dance around in my bf's letter shirt. I dont' think they realize or want to realize what those letters mean to the 'real' Greeks. Okay, I'm finished w/my rant.

Kayla

Ding Ding Ding!!! We have a winner!! :D

Okay, lets say that these different groups decided to become members of IfC and NPC...whose gonna take them serioulsy? "Yes, I am a member of Lambda Gamma...which stands for Lunch Group. Pretty clever, eh? Anyways, can we be a part of NPC?" They started their history by proclaiming that they were fake greeks...if and when they want recognition, I'm not so sure they're going to get it.

On a lighter note, as a joke, some of my sisters and I started our own "co-ed" fraternity...Beta Delta...c'mon guys...think REALLY hard!!!!! :D Seriously though, it was started one dark and stormy night when we had been hold up in our chatper room for about 13 hours....no sleep and lots of caffine will get you thinkin' some crazy stuff! Its an inside joke that will forever remain such...it was good times, but we'd never expect something to come out of it.

Blaire

33girl,

I'm pretty sure you've hit it right on the head. A&M's a funny place, we already have like 3 organizations that pretty much act as fraternities sans the Greek letters. These 'fake' sororities seem to me to just be girls that said, 'ew, i don't want to be a sorority girl and be all fake and pay for my friends' and then got to college and didn't meet many people, and now just hang out with their pot luck roommate and suitemate. Now they see the external benefits of being in a sorority and are jealous and decided to start this Lunch Group stuff.

Kitso
KS 361

Double Post
 

sorry guys, crappy computer at work and major thunderstorm results in double post errors.

Kitso

Someone mentioned rose colored glasses and everything turnes pink on screen!

My local had no ritual, Kev, but I designed everything else. Of course, this was with the idea of affiliation with a National!

These "FAKE GREEKS" will run their course unless they have something behind them to do something except just party or eat lunch together.

Such as:

IPT- I Felt a Thigh

TKD- Tap a Keg a Day

Novas flame brightly but extinguse fast!

Most or a bunch who may not want to join and Org., but what the hell are they doing? Just to damn dumb to realize it:p

We were all fakes at one time, remember? Well, before most of yalls time!:D

Hmmm, whatever floats your boat, I guess.

My chapter of ASA is new, we got our charter in Feb 02. Before that we were the Iota Organization. Even though were are now a chapter of a national sorority, the other Greeks on campus still regard us as being somewhat "fake".

Then again, who can resist tshirts?:rolleyes:

Delta Sigma Beta.....
 

The guys at my school have nicknamed certain girls/types of girls Delta Sigma Betas. In conversation they'll call them Delta Sigs for short. They actually have the balls to say to a girls face "Are you in Delta Sigma Beta?" and they girls are clueless and say no I'm a Gamma Phi/AGD/not greek whatever.....they have no idea what delta sigma beta is. Anyone guessed yet?Dumb Stupid Bitch. It sounds aweful, but it's pretty funny b/c the girls that get called that really desearve it!

I kept seeing signs around campus that said, "Guys, the women of Mu Mu Mu want you to be in their beefcake calendar." I asked around about it and found out that one of my students was involved. She said it started out as a joke and was mostly composed of girls who didn't get their first choice in rush and dropped out.

The dean called in the girls and said they couldn't be an unregistered group. Now they're actually throwing around the idea of becoming our third local and going national with the rest!

I think what some of these folks is great.

Others.. not so. I will reiterate... If you have greek letters you represent us ALL. People that are considering rush don't know that Lambda Gamma stands for Lunch Group.. They think it's just another GLO on campus... therefore this "fake" group represents all of us.

How would you like it if someone's perception of Greek Life was shaped by a group like the "Tappa Keg a Day" group?

Unfortunately it is MUCH easier to reinforce someone's perceptions when they are not in conflict with our media portrayed stereotypical GLO's than to convince someone that being in a GLO is a positive experience.

So again, they can be started for the right reasons and then the wrong reasons. The ones that start for the wrong reasons we should be outspoken and totally opposed to. If someone's starting a local in the true spirit of fraterntiy they deserve our respect and support.

I'm wearing a tshirt.