Books on fraternity/Greek life
 

I've found it odd that there are virtually no books on fraternity life or memoirs about being greek. One interesting read was by Senator Bob Dole. His "One Soldier's Story" released last year has a chapter or two about his being Kappa Sigma at Kansas. Including his heartbreak at his girlfriend returning his pen while he was serving in WWII.

Does anyone know of any good books by former greeks recounting their experiences?

I don't know of any such books (at least ones that have been proven not to be completely fictitious).

But I wanted to say hey cause I see you're a Sigma Pi at Bama. I was an A-D-Sig there. Hope things are going well for y'all. Your chapter was just getting started when I gaduated, but it seemed like y'all had a lot of interest!

I appreciate your kind words. We got a house in Fall 2004 and our numbers have been strong. I'm rush chairman now and we're hoping for a big fall class so we can start construction on a new big house.

The only one that I have seen is called "The Goat".

Not very flatering about a certain Fraternity in the South.:(

Congratulations on Growing at Bama and planning on a new House.:cool:

I am reprinting a long excerpt from Skip Mason's Historical Moments, an email series that was first released in 1999 directly from the desk of Skip Mason, the Chairman of the National Historical Commission. He is a great Brother and a phenomenal historian -- an excellent example of someone who has melded the disciplines of Library Science and African American Studies.

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Over the past five years there has been a wealth of books written on the African-American experience including biographies, autobiographies, fiction and nonfiction books. As an avid reader and book collector, I am always curious to to see how Alpha is presented in books written by Brothers and books dealing with organizational history. I usually turn to the Index of these books to see if Alpha is included. I have accumulated and briefly annotated a few titles below which discusses the fraternity in some aspect. I have listed those titles where the fraternity is not mentioned at all. This is not a complete list but a sampling of titles.

Title: Our Kind of People (Inside America's Black Upper Class) Harper
Collins, 1998 by Lawrence Otis Graham
A book recently published giving insight to the black upper class.

Chapter 5 "The Right Fraternities and Sororites"

"But as the presence of Alpha Phi Alpha and the other seven black organizations grew on black campuses during the early 1900s, they were each known for building their popularity by seeking out certain desirable student candidates(.e.g. smart, popular, accomplished, affluent.) and turning down
others...Apha Phi Alpha, it is the one to which most of my friends belong.... Quickly identifying themselves with programs that emphasized scholarship rather than mere social interaction...."

Graham devotes three pages to Alpha but throughout the book makes it clear that Alpha was "the" fraternity to join to be accepted in the status quo.

Title: Thurgood Marshall/American Revolutionary (Times Books, c. 1998) by Juan Williams
A biography of this Civil Rights icon and American legend.

Chapter 4 "Waking Up"

"Thurgood traveled to Lincoln with Aubrey Marshall (his brother)...There were 285 men at Lincoln that year. Aubrey had pledged a fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha... Thurgood, meanwhile was at the heart of campus life. He took part in two rituals of young male college society. First he joined Alpha Phi Alpha, an elite fraternity of mostly light skinned boys. Although the fraternity was at the top of campus society, its hazing was rough...Once he became an Alpha, Thurgood delighted in the nasty tricks fraternity brothers would play on each other and on rival frats... Marshall' s life at Howard also included some fraternity run-ins. Half the class was made up of Alpha Phi Alpha, his fraternity...Marshall represented the Alphas as the competed with the Omegas...The Alphas thought they could run the class..."

Williams devotes about three pages to Thurgood's college days. He does not however, mention Thurgood's involvement with the fraternity's era of civil rights in the 1940s and desegregating law schools, one of the greatest periods in the history of the fraternity.

Title: Thurgood Marshall: Warrior of the Bar, Rebel on the Bench by Michael
Davis & Hunter Clark (Birch Lane Press, 1992)

"Chapter Seven "An Ethiop Among the Aryans"

"As Marshall impatiently waited for Houston's answer, Belford V. Lawson, Jr., turned his attention to the University of Maryland. Lawson served as counsel of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. Many of the national fraternity's members, like members of the Washington and Baltimore branches of the NAACP, were light skinned and held coveted government jobs or were professionals who came
from privileged families. The fraternity had a reputation for using the "paper bag" test for admitting members, an unwritten rule that a prospective member whose skin shade was darker than a paper bag would not be allowed to pledge. The fraternity also had a reputation for holding some of the most popular and best attended social affairs in black Washington."

Skip's note- More discussion of Thurgood's account of his pledging days at Lincoln's Nu Chapter will be used in an article that I am working on on "The Origins of Pledging"

Title: A Way Out of No Way: The Spiritual Memoirs of Andrew Young (Nelson, 1994)
>From former Congressman, Ambassador and Civil Rights legend who marched with Dr. King

Chapter One "A Time for Decision"

"In concession to my father, I joined his fraternity Alpha Phi Alpha. The Alphas were the oldest black fraternity in the country. My pledgemaster was David Dinkins, a marine veteran a year ahead of me at Howard and future Mayor of New City. The Alphas gave me a sense of belonging and I was quite proud when the chapter elected me chaplain in my senior year-perhaps because I was one of the few brothers who didn't smoke or drink. The challenge of pledging and completing probation to the fraternity was something of a rite of passage to manhood. ....."

Title: Andrew Young: An Easy Burden: The Civil Rights Movement and the
Transformation of America by Andrew Young (Harper Collins, 1996)

Chapter 5: Serving Bethany"

"The Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity chapter at Talledega in Alabama provided my first opportunity to meet Martin Luther King....I accepted the invitation in the spring of 197 to speak for the Alpha Phi Alpha annual program...When I arrived I discovered I was one of two speakers. Martin King was the other. I look forward to hearing him speak and to meeting him with great
anticipation..."

Skip's Note: (Brother Andrew Young has written the foreword for my book "The Talented Tenth: The Founders and General Presidents. Brother Young will celebrate 50 years in Alpha next year. He is a friend, a brother and calls on me to pinch hit for him at some speaking engagements when he has overbooked or cannot attend. I thank God for him and his support!)

Title: The Young Paul Robeson by Lloyd Brown (Westview Books)
An easy reader on the life of an American legend. \

p.111 " Robeson joined Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity at Lincoln....."

Title: The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr. Vol. II Rediscovering Precious
Values July 1951-November 1955 edited by Clayborn Carson
The voluminous second volume of his papers held at Boston University. The third volume is in production and will feature letters referencing King's involvement with the fraternity. Due out in December.

There are several pages referencing King's involvement with Alpha p. 39-"June 22, 1952 King is initiated into Boston's Sigma Chapter of the Alpha Phi Alpha social fraternity"

p. 560- "King gives the benediction at a June Citizenship Rally sponsored by
local Alpha Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha in Montgomery, Alabama."

"W.H. Coston writes a letter to King to speak at the Southern Region Convention in 1955"
King's Shingle is pictured in the book. It is signed by Chapter officers, but the date is not included on it. It is in the M.L. King papers at Boston University.

Skip's Note: A recent autobiography actually compiled by Clayborn Carson does not make any mention of King's affiliation with Alpha.

Title: Beyond the Timberline by T.M. Alexander
A fascinating account of the life of pioneer Insurance executive in Atlanta and the first man to run for public office in Atlanta since reconstruction.

"In 1939, while in New York, I attended a meeting of my national fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha...Members came from all over the country. Speakers outlined their problems and what they had attempted to do to solve them....he bemoaned the plight of the brothers in the South and the need for the organization to give leadership and help its southern members..."

*Brother T.M. Alexander served as president of Eta Lambda Chapter. He was initiated into Alpha Rho Chapter at Morehouse in 1930. His son (now deceased) and grandson were also Alpha Rho initiates. He just recently celebrated his 90th birthday.

Title: Christopher Darden, In Contempt
(Regan Books/Harper Collins, 1996) by Brother Christopher Darden A personal account of the life of the LA County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney in the "trial of the century" the O. J. Simpson Case.

p. 57... "Here I was, just two semester from graduating, and I still didn't
feel as if I'd gotten the full college experience.....I was a chronic introvert so driven by some intense desire to succeed that I wasn't enjoying the things I was working hard to achieve....I could join a fraternity....One of the guys I met in my Afro American studies classes...was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha. I went to smoker for Alpha Phi Alpha during the first week of classses in
January 1977....In some ways, the entire purpose of pledging a fraternity is the initiation. There are lessons-pride in your history, brotherhood and discipline......We were called pledges or line brothers, and as a "line" we had to wear similar haircuts and absolutely no jewelry, to dress all in black and gold. We could never wear colors associated with another frat... We had
to wear a four inch Sphinxhead......"

Darden devotes five pages to his experience pledging Alpha.
*The Western Region honored Darden two years ago at its regional convention. I had a chance to meet him. He was very thrilled that his own organization did not turn its back on him as he felt the public did. Skip

Title: King of the Cats: The Life and Times of Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.
(Houghton Mifflin, c. 1993)

p. 12 "Powell got himself initiated into Alpha Phi Alpha, the renowned fraternity for young black men. There was no Alpha Phi Alpha chapter at Colgate, which never had enough black students to organize one. Walking by Powell's room...noticed an Alpha insignia, which he had conspicuously affixed to his door at eye level...The three were perplexed, and also quite impressed. "How he became an Alpha I'll never know, said Crosby" Powells senior picture shows him in a three piece pin striped suit, silk tie, collar closed by a stickpin....There was nothing beneath Powell's picture but the Alpha Phi Alpha insignia, a distinction none of his classmates enjoyed"

I recall in Jack Welch's autobiography a few years ago there was a little blurb about his being a member of Phi Sigma Kappa, but it wasn't more than a paragraph or two...

I also remember a pledge brother of David Letterman wrote a book "The Sweetheart of Sigma Chi (I think) about their antics at Ball State (including throwing my chapter's cannon in the White River).

There's one called "Pledged"
It is the worst fucking book ever. I'm suprised this hasn't been mention. Either she made up alot of stuff, or there are alot of big mouth girls. I refuse to buy it to give money to the author. It's set in SMU but goes to several unnamed campuses.

It's just this thread where it hadn't been mentioned so far.

From the Author of Pledged (Yes, the author herself started this thread).

Book Pledged: The Secret Lives of Sororities

There are lots of other threads where it's talked about as well.

BTW, the paperback edition contains a "new" introduction where Robbins talks about the response -- positive and negative -- to the book, including all the sorority members on an unnamed website {*cough* GC *cough*} who have panned the book.

Actually, I liked Pledged. It read like fiction, and I read it as though it were. Well, except for the parts that I knew were true. I was actually featured in the book. The section about me still read kind of like fiction, though, since she sort of made me seem pathetic, which, at least as far as I can tell, I was not.

The problem is that it was presented as truth and many uninformed people took it as such. It kind of makes me think this is where the Million Little Pieces guy got his idea...

LOL, I was thinking that very same thing. I didn't even read Million Little Pieces until after he was "exposed," and I thought the book was not great, but at least okay, as fiction. I actually don't think I would have liked it as much if it were nonfiction.

As for the "day-in-the-life" stuff in Pledged, I have no idea how much or what kind of research she did. But for the stuff at Alabama, she actually did come and talk to me, and we hung out for a couple of days, if I recall correctly. Like I said, she made me seem pathetic, but I probably fit into her book better that way. And since I read it like fiction, and I know a lot of other people do too, it doesn't really matter to me.

I know a lot of people on here hate her just because, but she's actually a really nice girl. I think she would have made a good sorority girl if she had been more open to it.

I'm going to unfortunately say I don't believe you, as you are the ONLY person on GC (to my knowledge) to ever say she came to your sorority/school while writing the book.

You don't believe her just because she's the only person to say it?

The world is a big place...

I can't believe no one mentioned the Fraternity Gang Rape book. The new pop-up edition for younger readers is especially graphic but not without its charm.

You're disgusting.

There is a book called " The Goat Brothers" by a Pike from UC Berkeley.

It has stuff of what the PIkes from his chapter did back in the 60's. It also follows several Pikes' lives. One went onto become an astranaut, another a MLB player.

Really good book, I recommend to everyone.

"Goat Brothers" was a memoir of a man and the lives of 3 or 4 of his brothers after their fraternity years.

"Loose Change" by Sarah Davidson (Davis?). She tells about her life at UC-Berkeley in the mid-to late '60's, just as the Free Speech/Anti-war movements began. It's interesting to read about her being all gung-ho sorority girl to becoming part of the movement. (This book was made into a NBC mini-series. It's semi-famous because NBC accidently showed 20 minutes of part 3 before anyone at the network noticed. They interrupted the show, apologized, and then showed part 2. John Belushi made a funny comment about it on an episode of SNL.)

"Toward What Bright Glory?" is a fiction book surrounding fraternity brothers right before World War II starts. It's a little heavy handed, covers a lot of subjects - racism, gays, anti-Semitism, etc. But, it's pretty interesting. It's set at Stanford.
The author, Allen Drury, treats fraternity life respectfully.

Anne Rivers Siddons has written two fiction novels that have sorority backgrounds. "Heartbreak Hotel" is about a sorority girl and her introduction to racism in the mid-50's. Mrs. Siddons used real sorority and fraternity names. It's a pretty good book and fairly accurately portrays attitudes in the deep South in the '50's.
The second book is "Outer Banks". This one alternates between the lives of four sorority sisters during their school years and their lives when they reunite years later. It's interesting. Mrs. Siddons is a member of Chi Omega if I remember correctly. Both books treat sorority life respectfully.

If you can't tell, I love to read, and I read alot. lol

Actually, Anne Rivers Siddons is a Delta Delta Delta. She is listed under our "Distinguished Alumnae" on the national website.

I actually read "Heartbreak Hotel" before I even joined DDD so I really impressed after I learned she is a tridelta.

hmmmm..... travelers? ...

Actually, if she is who I think she is, she was featured in a large section of the book. Unlike the four main characters, her name was not changed.

To keep this on topic, I was going to recommend Loose Change and Goat Brothers too. Both are excellent books.

Sweetie, I'm not saying she came to my sorority/school, I'm saying I'm Melody Twilley (well, I was before I got married, anyway) of the University of Alabama, and I'm featured in the book.

lol, i'm not sure if that's really something to be proud of

Is there any particular reason that you would say something like that to me? Or do you just like to be inconceivably rude to strangers you see on the internet? I'm very proud of who I am, and I hope that you are, too (although your manners certainly leave something to be desired).

Melody, kddani has a history of being rude, impolite, and hostile to others for no reason.

I've tried to encourage her to be kind but pay her no attention. :)

Thanks for the info, Rudey. I thought perhaps I had inadvertently done something to offend her. :)

lol, I meant in regards to being a part of that book...

LOL, okay, I gotcha. I wasn't saying I was proud to have been in the book. I was just saying that for identification purposes. I'm neither "proud" nor "not proud" of being in the book...it's just one of those things that sometimes happens. Like I mentioned before, she didn't even capture me all that well in the book. Sorry I jumped to conclusions before about your statement.

No problem. :) Irony/sarcasm and a person's sense of humor don't always translate well through typing. And if you've read any of the threads on the book you're aware of the general sentiment of GC towards that book.

Yeah, I kinda got that idea. ;) I still think it's an okay book if it is taken as a work of fiction, though. I can see where it might be bad PR for people on the outside (like, people who would read it and think sorority life really is that way), but I was already in my sorority (obviously) by the time it came out, so I knew to take it with a grain of salt. I'm also probably sort of biased because several people have contacted me about wanting to start chapters of my sorority after they read the book. So it wasn't bad PR for us, LOL.

But really, I can't imagine why anyone would read the book and think that all sororities (or even *most* sororities are like that). It just wouldn't make sense for women to purposely get together and make each other miserable for four years.

there is also a novel called "I am Charlotte Simmons" by Tom Wolfe.

There is also:

Bound by a Mighty Vow: Sisterhood and Women's Fraternities, 1870-1920 by Diana Turk.

I own this book and I highly recommend it to all greek women. Ms. Turk is not a greek herself, but does present women's fraternities in a good light.

To quote part of the back cover: " Bound by a Mighty Vow, a history of the women's greek system, demonstrates that these organizations have always served more serious purposes" rather than being thought of as exclusive clubs for socially inclined college students. " Diana B. Turk explores the founding and development of the earliest sororities...and explains how these groups served as support networks to help the first female collegians succees in the hostile world of nineteenth-century higher education."

Kappa Alpha Theta archives were used as a primary source for this book but several other women's fraternities are also discussed.

New (2007) Book on Greek Life: Inside Greek U.

A book review, an e-mailed Q & A with the author, and assorted comments can be seen at

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/10/25/greek

I bought a copy a couple of weeks ago, and found it interesting. It isn't anti-Greek, although as the book review mentions, it may not completely please Greeks or college and university administrators.

The author, Alan De Santis, is a faculty member at the U. of Kentucky. There's a substantial amount of discussion of gender roles. A long bibliography indicates a degree of research considerably above that of, say, Pledged. It's unlikely that Inside Greek U. will ever be a runaway best-seller; not quite popular enough in style (still readable, though), and no big ad campaign behind it.

A mild caveat: when De Santis discusses "quota," he gives the impression (at least as I read it) that quota is set by the university or college. That's usually not true -- it's set by Panhellenic using formulas associated with the fairly new release figures method, or by some other math application.

Edited to add: Inside Greek U. has little to say about NPHC, multicultural, Latino/Latina, or Asian social fraternities or sororities. That's a limitation potential buyers / readers may want to be aware of.

Biographies (or autobiogrpahies) are places where this information can be found. For Omega Psi Phi luminaries, I've seen discussion of Fraternity experiences for the following:

Biographies:
Langston Hughes by Arnold Ramparsad
Founder,Dr. Ernest E. Just ('Black Apollo of Science') by Kenneth Manning

Autobiographies:
Vernon Jordan
Sterling Brown
Roy Wilkins

You're the founder of Alpha Delta Sigma, aren't you?

There is a new book, which I do not have in front of my at the monent, written by the author of Animal House.

His website: http://www.chrismillerwriter.com/

In Smashed (which is like a memoir), there is like a considerably big section on Greek life. The woman who wrote it was a member of one of the sororities when she went to Syracuse University.

Inside Greek U. (Book Review)

A newspaper's review of this fairly new book is at:

http://www.kentucky.com/books/story/260542.html

Isn't Legally Blonde which was originally a book based on Delta Gamma?

I recommend Smashed as well, not simply for the section on Greek life. It was a good read.