How did you learn about Greek life?
 

Someone mentioned in another thread that some people lack discretion because they have no experience with the Greek system. It makes a lot of sense. More than 90% of my Greek knowledge comes from GC.

I don't see how it is even possible to learn about how the Greek system works without reading posts on Greek Chat. Obviously, people DO learn in other ways. There's many people I know in real life who knows a lot about being Greek, but has never visited GC. Then there's people who became Greek way before the internet even existed.

For those who gained most of their knowledge without GC, how did you find it? Are there books out there that some of us don't know about? Websites? Direct observations?

Well being as my expereince came long before the internet became public kowledge you had to find books and you had direct observation.

I learned some of what I wound up learing about Greek life from friends and associates who were already Greeks.

The internet did some good and bad for Greeks.

It put information out there that people could easily access to find out about whatever they wanted to find about the particular org. they were interested in.

To a point, however, I sometimes feel that with so much of the knowledge dispensed, some people aren't "earning" the knowledge that they need and then there is a question sometimes about how much is too much or too little that should be public knowledge.

On the flip, some of the easiest answer needed can be found via a simple google search.

Before college, I think I had read a couple magazine articles that talked about Greek life. When I got to college, we had deferred rush and I lived in a very Greek dorm so I learned a lot.

I don't think it's so much not having GC to learn from, it's being overly bold in any situation that you don't know about. I would have never walked up to a sorority member and said "I'm going to pledge you!" As much of a dork as my freshman year boyfriend was, I was kind of lucky that I had someone older (he was a senior) to help me out, because I was clueless.

What little I knew about rush came from my older sister who is in a sorority. She learned about greek life from her freshman roomate. A neighbor of my parents did tell me about greek life at Ohio State back in the early 1970s, but most of her stories were about sneaking in and out her boyfriend (now husband) to the house. I rushed as a sophomore so I did have a year on campus to learn a little more,

I do remember a dormmate of mine showing me the NPHC group she wanted to join and I remember questioning how she new before she even met the other groups. All she ever told me was that "she just knew". And she did join them, but it wasnted until GC that I understood a little more about the process.

I didn't know much about sororities, no one in my family was greek, and I was really basically the 3rd person to go to college (in my semi-immediate family) and my school isn't overly greek to others on the outside. My friend who lived a floor below me decided that she wanted to new member a certain org and was semi-courted by them because her older brother went to cornell (I forget what org he was in there) and his gf went to my school and was in that org. She went to drop off her bid card and BEGGED 3 of us to go with her.
Eventually, I ended up at Nu Sig...

So, I guess I figured out greek life through trial and error and personal experience. I would say that this is due to the small greek community on my campus.

I have learned about national orgs, etc through GC though, much of I still don't understand! lol

My parents were both in GLOs.

My grandfather and step-grandfather were also. I have a Cousin who is a FIJI.

I didn't actually intend on joining until a coworker talked me into it.

Since it was pre-internet, I really didn't know much of anything about Greek Life until I was in a sorority. I just learned as I went along.

Back then a book came out, "From Here to Fraternity," that, despite perpetuating the stereotypes, was really very informative...and funny. I just took a look at my old copy. Some info is outdated but for being over 20 years old the book is still pretty dead-on.

For all the resources that are out there these days, I'm always surprised to find so many people who just don't have a clue. It's okay not to know but it seems like most people just ask questions first before doing any reading.

The internet wasn't popular yet when I was in school and organizations didn't have websites so the way I learned about greek life was by observing the members on my college campus and attending their events.

Today there are just so many resources out there that there really is no excuse for being lazy and not doing the research that people should be happy to do if they are truly interested. In addition to the internet, there are even books available that were not available years ago.

If you are especially interested in the NPHC orgs, I suggest reading "The Divine Nine" by Lawrence C. Ross Jr. for an introduction to each NPHC organization and more importantly "African American Fraternities and Sororities: The Legacy and the Vision" by Tamara L. Brown (and others). This book provides in depth insight into the world of BGLO's and provides great historical references regarding all GLO's in America. Both books can be purchased at amazon.com.

Not a thing until I got to college.

But, it was the GLOs who did the most and were the most envolved on campus.:)

Well, neither of my parents are greek but my father is a Mason and I have an uncle who is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha. Watching my dad alone was a lot to take in. But, for me, I knew early what I wanted to do and fortunately, there were people who crossed my path that really mentored me and groomed me so by the time I got to college, I had a pretty good understanding of discretion. Also, observing the greek system at my college campus and the friends I made along the way really helped too.

It is just interesting how now there is so much information available and people still choose to be lazy. My roommate being one of those people and I am trying so hard not to go off on her but I have had to put her in her place a few times and she still doesn't get it. I have noticed, especially on GC, that some of these potentials feel some type of entitlement...like we are suppose to tell them whatever they want to know whether they need to know it right now or not....I don't know...I am real ill on my roommate right now so I will just stop here before I say something real crazy;)!

I learned about Greek life through my older brother (he is ten years older than me), who was in a local that has since been dissolved at his school. He, along with my sister-in-law, who was also in a sorority, encouraged me to pledge basically throughout my entire life. Because he was in local, though, it was a bit different for me when I pledged an NPC, because I had certain preconceived notions about sororities and fraternities which weren't true, at least for the ones I encountered. I grew up at my brother's college, going to fraternity events and actually visiting his house, as well as my sister-in-law's. Alethia Si, I believe my brother and sister-in-law went to your college. :)

I don't want to sound too old (I'm 30+) but I'm noticing that many of the young people today feel a sense of entitlement about everything. This goes back to poor parenting and not preparing children for the world. It's sad but many are in for a rude awakening in many areas of life.

from looking into colleges to attend, GC of course and GREEK the show hahaha

GREEK is a rather good show, actually.

LOL kathykd2005 you are right! they did go to my school, and actually her brother is in my brother fraternity, so technically, are we related? lol :p

Just about everyone in my entire family is greek.

I was doing bows & toes in the womb.

No such thing as the internet back in the day, when the earth was still cooling. I was the first in my family to go to college. All I knew of sororities were the high school versions. I never even dreamed that I COULD join a sorority until an alumna encouraged me. My mom insisted I go to the local alumnae panhellenic tea, where another alum explained a few things. Learned a little more (mostly misinformation) from my roommate at freshman orientation. Still knew very little when I signed up for open rush (COB) a month after formal rush. Thank God for encouraging alumnae!

You are definitely right about that. Our "microwave" society promotes everything worth having should be done quickly. Unfortunately, life does not always hand a person microwavable dishes. I'm only 27 myself but I just don't understand this mentality. It does go back to parenting. Hopefully, these children will be able to bounce back from their awakening because it can be brutal.

Greek Life before the Internet
 

Yes, there really was life, and there was Greek life, before the Internet became a defining entity in our society. I knew nothing about sororities until my best friend went to Ohio State University and pledged Alpha Phi there. She came home and told exciting stories about Greek life, and it sounded like fun. The next year I went to the University of Kentucky, went thru rush, and pledged Pi Beta Phi there. The best way to learn about being Greek is to have your own Greek experience by joining a fraternity or sorority.
Books on houses are great - I especially like "Pledged" and "The Divine Nine." I even have read Baird's through the years. Sure, you can read about Greek life, or have a member tell you about it, but there is no substitute for learning on your own by doing. Just do it!!!!
That said, I have learned much by reading posts on Greek Chat. Things change over the years, and GC is an excellent resource for how things are done now. The older GC'ers can tell you all about how it was when we were actives, but Greek life goes on. I like to hear about what fraternities and sororities are doing currently, and not just my own national. It's my natural curiosity, I guess. But there are other ways to find out - I think that some of the larger Panhellenics still have area "informational" meetings for high-school seniors that are considering going thru rush. Each college or university has its own umbrella org.'s over the individual chapters, and they are always a good source of information. It's become too easy to get lazy and let the Internet "do it all." There is a life beyond the Internet! :)

Most of what I learned about Greek life came from just experiencing things. Neither of my parents were Greek, so I came into college not knowing what to expect. After getting in, I jumped on to several committees (in my GLO, local MGC, NALFO) and attended several leadership retreats with other Greeks. Interacting with everyone has given me the most knowledge.

There were a few magazines and books that I made a point to read, but I can't think of the names right now.

Greek LIfe
 

Greeks are not procastinators they are Philosphers......philosphy is their way of thinking that everything on this earth came after them.......I am greek and truthfully that is truth.........we believe that we are the first and last besides God..but that is our thinking and in the Latin somewhat the truth..as you see Alpha Beta schools are in our names of the alphabet..Greek LIfe is embeded in us from birth..but as we get older we attach the new with the old..i.e. church old fashion ...shy old ...attitude new..darn that attitude gonna kills us women..to much attitude causes our greek men now a days to say ohhhhhhhhhhhh hell noooooo..now girls go half way ...our men are beautiful and dont deserve half of what they get ..as much as you think you all that and a bag of chips hell there is one more beautiful WOMAN than you and beauty is not all that now a days ..count on more.......your beauty will get you ONE month and no place else...........THATS GREEK LIFE

I don't understand. :(

Earp may have met his match.

Pagining drolefille . . .
 

. . . I don't know - this one might stump her!

Like Dionysus, much of what I know about Greek Life is because of GC. Alpha Gam is still the only NPC sorority at my alma mater, so it's pretty hard learning about other organizations and just being Greek.

When I was pledging, my pledge manual had a section dedicated to NPC/NIC/NPHC information. The NPC info was great because not only was there basic info on each sorority (When founded, where founded, # founders, official flower, jewel, motto, # initiated members), there was also an illustration of their Badge.

I haven't seen the latest version of the pledge, er, New Member Manual...but I'm wondering if you all learned about the other 25 NPC sororities during your pledge period...?

Interpretation more than translation on this one.
 

*cracks knuckles* I'm avoiding finishing a project for my appraisal/assessment class.
Fair enough, btw we're talking Grecian Greeks here.
Greeks are a bit full of themselves, and are riding on their history for that.

Really, no really, I'm totally honestly without a doubt or a lie Greek. Really.
Alpha and Omega, I suspect we have a Greek Orthodox here.
Not sure how Latin makes it true, possibly a religious thing I'm missing.

Yea for I have not a single thing here. Er... got nothin.

Raised Greek, born into Greek culture
Old Greeks are shy and go to church, young Greeks have attitude. Young Greeks are apparently stuck in the 90s.
Us women have too much attitude
And that attitude drives our men to go after non-Greek.
Girls are only going to second base? Er?
Greek men are beautiful *coughLEONIDAScough* but think too highly of themselves and get too much attention for their beauty.
Interesting note, Greeks have bags of chips and not bags of crisps like England does. I should circulate a poll. Also for every man there is a more beautiful woman. Not that beauty counts for anything.
Get it? JUST ONE. ONE DELICIOUS MONTH OF GREEK LOVING. *ahem* But no kissing on the mouth.
Word to your mother.

Ha ha, I was working on it already. :D

Hmmm. First post and....that writing style...with the ellipses...as the only...punctuation....seems awfully....familiar...

Just me?

Yeah I forgot to point that out. Except that a) other poster's much worse at the philosophy b) this person thought this was Greece Greek and c) this poster had a much better grasp on reality.

I've said this before, but literally everyone I knew who went to college was in a fraternity or a sorority. I honestly thought that anyone who wasn't in one had tried to get a bid and failed. I also had the influence of my mother, who wasn't in a sorority herself but her mother was. She did her level best to groom me for my late grandmother's sorority, showing me her pin with the reference of the Holy Grail, painting my room two shades of blue, starting me on a collection of keys. My daddy's aunts were greek, too, but I'm still not sure which one(s). He equated "campus success" with being a greek, also. My high school graduation present was a trip to Portugal - and an upgraded sorority pin, when I pledged.

I sometimes wonder how freaked out my parents would have been had I not gone greek!

Most of my immediate and extended family are in fraternities and sororities. I also grew up in a college town and the fraternities and sororities were looked on favorably both by the college and in the local community. While growing up, my Mother was active in various alumnae and chapter events - some of which were held in our home. I have brothers who pledged Sigma Chi by the time I was in high school. I use to quiz one for his pledge tests so I was already reading The Norman Shield (Sigma Chi pledge book) at an early age. As a result, I learned a lot. But not just about Sigma Chi but about the history of fraternities in general. And most of my high school peers ended up pledging various fraternities and sororities at different campuses. And I heard about their experiences as well. So by the time I got to college I had a good understanding as what to expect.

That's our new member manual's title, too :)

My cousin, who is 10 years older, was in a sorority at a very small college during the 70s. Not the best time to be Greek. I didn't really pay much attention to it since I was still pretty removed from college.

When I was a senior in high school, my friend pledged DG at a very competitive Greek school -- Large chapters and a very high percent of the student population. I spent one weekend there and thought it was really cool sleeping in the dormer and having tons of friends around. I also liked the set up of the meals (that you could go down in your jammies for breakfast), the social calendar and the emphasis on studying and grades.

It wasn't until that time that I realized my dad was Greek. He deactivated when he switched colleges, but he had still experienced it.

As it turned out, I pledged the same sorority as my cousin, but at a much larger university. Even though I wasn't a legacy, it made me feel like it when she attended my initiation and sat with me during the Feast of Roses.

I learned in several phases:

Pre-college: I was first exposed to Greek life back in 1985 when I was one of many middle school scholars sponsored by the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. At about the same time, I saw Revenge of the Nerds for the first time and between the Pi Delta Pis and the AKA, they obviously were different as night and day. I was an AKA scholar again in 1986 which was a repeat of the prior year--I still have the original certificate to this very day--and presented it to the membership when I spoke at their Founders Day earlier this year. But I digress.

My next exposure was in 1990 as a high school student visiting OSU and some of my now frat brothers put on a brief exhibition step show for us. Funny thing was, I didn't know them by name, I just remembered the canes being used.

My final pre-college exposure was in the spring of 1991 when I was invited to a Delta Sigma Theta Scholarship Reception where we had to write an essay on why we was best qualified to get a scholarship--and we were given only 24 hours to complete and hand deliver it to the scholarship coordinator's house. Quite an experience.

Oh, and the summer before I went off to college, I got a pamphlet mailed to me inviting me to rush one of the fraternitites from the campus' IFC. I promptly discarded the pamphlet; I had a very jaded view of Greeks--my attitude was that I wasn't about to be running around some frat house with bing cherries jammed in my butt trying to drop it in a martini glass or some mess like that.

College: My first exposure at college was seeing the Black Greeks stroll
at the Alpha Phi Alpha icebreaker at the local skating rink, which all I remember was that it took over an hour before they let anybody in the place, and that the bathrooms smelled like yesterday's piss.

But as the first semester pressed on, I found out that the Black Greeks had gotten a lot of clout, in that they sponsored a lot of black student oriented events, and they strolled at parties. Now anyone who knew me in college (and even now) knows that I LOVE a good party!!

So I decided to research Greek life, and I went to the source. Yup, Baird's manual and read it virtually cover to cover. And because this was pre-internet, I researched the old fashioned way--using books, magazine articles and newspaper articles. I have archived in my Alpha Phi Omega pledge book clippings and copies of numerous Greek oriented articles and commentaries from a variety of sources. My other book I hold in high regard as far as research was From Here To Fraternity by Robert Egan. Great book, lots of stuff I learned about (like one-handed boilermakers and how to megachug a beer).

Of course, I also learned about Greek life by talking and inquiring to others as well. Lotsa good discussions.

Then in 1995, I lost my internet virginity and began researching electronically. It changed my horizon of Greek (and other) research from wide screen to VistaVision. Even then though, the internet was still in its relative infancy (who remembers when sites were in gopher format)?

Then the Greek message board system came about with sites such as stepshow.com and meetgreeks.com and even the original version of this site: Greeksource.com. But in my 15 years of Greekdom, I have learned a lot and still learning more each and every day.

One of my h.s. teachers I remember being a Delta....and she let everyone know (Crimson and Creme suits every other day, Car with loads of DST insignia, the works!), she would show us clips of her org's step shows, them doing their call and whatnot.

I didn't pay much attention especially to the stepping since we had a step team at our school, I just thought they were college step teams. When I got into college I was exposed to Latino Greeks (which I didn't even know existed), a couple of my friends who are sisters of Gamma Phi Omega, introduced me to Greek Life more intensely...I did my research and found LUL :cool:

When I arrived at UF, got a newsletter about it, saw all the lovely Greek houses, and saw classmates wearing Greek letter t-shirts.

i had many family members and family friends who were members of greek organizations as i was growing up. i also spent many happy fall saturdays growing up in tallahassee attending fl. state football games and we would drive by many of the greek houses on our way to the staduim. at the time most of the greek orgs. would paint signs in support of the teams(but that included their org. name)and hang them on the stadium fences. good times, good times.

I don't even remember how I first learned about Greek Life. My dad is a Phi Tau, and I just knew it was something I wanted to do when I went to college. I didn't rush my freshman year because I honestly didn't hear anything about rush, and I didn't know any Greeks. I really didn't even think I was the "type". In the spring, I heard about some COBs, and I went to a couple, but they weren't the group for me.

You hit it right on the head. It is a generational thing that is present in everything from eating (fast food) to entertainment (downloaded movies and music) to education (get your degree in just 12-18 months!). Instant gratification is the name of game....