How has your view of "Greek" changed over time?
 

Just a quick introduction: I was a very involved Greek member in a national fraternity at a large SoCal university. I have since DA'd to focus more on my future after college. I have no animosity toward my fraternity or Greek members. To this day, I remain best friends with a handful of Greek students.

Question: Has your view or opinion of the Greek system changed since your induction? For the better or worse?

First off - it sucks that you deactivated - you may regret it later in life and want to be involved on the alumni level and now it's pretty likely that you never can.

Secondly, my views on Greekdom have greatly improved since I joined. I knew very little about sororities and thankfully I met a wonderful Chi Omega who talked me into going through formal recruitment. I am nothing but proud to be a member of ZTA, and a Greek in general and I consider myself part of a truly wonderful tradition. :)

I have to disagree with you. My decision to DA, in hindsight, was the smartest decision I made in my college career. For what I want to do being an Alumni has little to zero effect. I'm happy to see that you've found a home in your fraternity and wish the best.

Well considering getting out of the greek system is the "smartest decision" you ever made, what legitimacy do you think you'll carry on this site with a user name like GreekRankings (sounds destructive) and asking for input on applications you want to build to suit the greek community (and likely profit from it)? Gee, sounds like a great situation where a supportive collegiate and alumni base could really have gotten things rolling for you...

I don't think you got my point, it's not about how you feel right now. And it's not about whether or not it affects you either way. Joining a GLO is not something you do lightly, and it's certainly not just another college club. These are organizations that are built on many years of traditions and it's a lifetime commitment. The fact that you took it so lightly shows a lot about your character. I don't mean to be offensive, just being honest. The way I see it, there's nothing but benefits from being a member of a GLO, you just haven't seen them yet and so you DA'd right after college it sounds like. We ALL know that the real benefits of being in a GLO is from being alum and now you'll never know about them. Pity.

And what is it you want to do that being Greek will have no effect - what does that matter anyway???? And how do you know this - I'm in vet med and commercial real estate and I meet other Greeks all the time, you'd never think being Greek could affect your job but I say it definitely does!

ETA: Nevermind, just check out his charming posts on the Cool Sites forum. Ugh. :rolleyes:

wow, so you have go be totally pro-greek to survive here. I'm offering a view from another angle and all i get is hate. Like i said, greek has it's positives and negatives. Can someone with a more realistic/unbiased view respond please.

You, a non-Greek, come on here, GREEKchat, and expect to get a non-biased answer? That doesn't make much sense...

Um. Duh?
http://www.greekchat.com/images/GreekChat.jpg

I understand what you're saying, no need to be condescending. If I were going to be a lawyer or real estate agent maybe I would have stayed but I'm not. In fact, most people who I have met are anti-Greek and I end up on the defensive. I find it very sad that I am ostracized for having a neutral stand point. Hint hint* greek is big business too, make no mistake.

Oh people, people. Pay no attention to the former Greek who appears to still be interested in Greek rankings. He's just drumming up interest in and looking for fodder for the "Greek Facebook" he plans to start. :rolleyes:

I guess I am confused.

If leaving your greek affliation was the "best decision" ever for you....

why are you here?

I think you are looking for validation for your decision, and a way to justify wanting to transact business with the groups you chose to leave.

You won't find that here.

Thank you!!!:) I <3 you!

You are a riot!! And a cutie, but that has nothing to do with this thread....lol.

Senusret, that's just awesome :D

validation for what? I left because Greek life, contrary to promises, did nothing to further myself as a person -- character and career included.

Here is a question: Can you remain friends with someone who isn't "Greek?" Further, what if they oppose your view on joining.

Sorry to burst bubbles but the majority of people aren't greek and most people hate them -- for good reason.

Could I join a frat if I didn't want to pay? Why?


I joined to understand the Greek community and perhaps contribute in a positive sense but these ignorant responses have me questioning my judgement.

You already DA'd, what's there to question? Look, you came on GREEKchat, so obviously we're all here because either we are Greek or we have a respect for Greekdom. So, you came to the wrong place for people to tell you, yeah I joined and now I don't like being Greek. This is NOT the place where you're going to find that answer. You have gotten all the serious answers you're going to get - you're a spammer and a troll. Or maybe you're another Alexandra Robbins or whatever her name is... You joined to "understand the Greek community" and now you've DA'd. Interesting...


We're all fine with what FB has to offer Greeks, we all like being Greek and we like to chat with others who feel the same way.

Done. Now go play at Juicy Campus instead.

If you didn't gain anything from your Greek membership, why are you interested in Greek applications for Facebook? Why would you want to spend your time working on something that you didn't enjoy? That's what people are confused about.

And in answer to your last question...can I live in an apartment if I don't want to pay rent?

I am a firm believer in you get out of an organization what you PUT INTO it. So your statement of getting nothing out of it is quite telling.

I realize a majority of people aren't members of GLOs but I do not find in my personal experience that the "majority hate them". In fact, many have interesting questions about membership etc.

Could you join an organization like say the Boy Scouts of America or Girl Scouts of the USA and not pay? Could you join a non-GLO organization...Kiwanis, Rotary, a local country club, etc and "not pay".
Even a local bridge club or sports teams has costs associated with it. Every organization has costs to support its membership and the programs they offer. So your statement about "not paying" is really a smoke screen.

Co-sign. In all my years as an active, an alumna advisor, a professor and alumnae panhellenic officer I have yet to see any one who tried to get something out of their GLO fail to do so. No, those who complain that it didn't do anything for them are the same people who sat on the sidelines, let others do the heavy lifting, treated it like just another club, joined just to help their career, and somehow thought the ritual and wearing those letters would transform them with no effort on their part.

In answer to the op - I have grown from thinking only of my chapter and the GLOs at my campus to understanding the breadth and depth and scope of the Greek movement. I am awed when I look at the leaders - on every level of society - who continue to so positively impact their communities. I see thousands of women with whom I share a bond - both my sisters in Gamma Phi AND my NPC "cousins' - a bond which has enriched my life, and which has enabled me to challenge myself to aspire to live my creed every day.

So was all this right out of the recruitment handbook? Remember, I was Greek for 4 years. I know what to say, "If you just cut out a Starbucks coffee a day you can afford dues." Would you dare call your sorority a club?

Thanks for a thoughtful intelligent response. You're correct, not everyone who joins a sorority or fraternity is doomed to reenacting scenes from ANIMAL HOUSE or tallying sorority girls to be laid. My girlfriend is in Gamma Phi Beta and I will tell you that she is truly a leader in her sorority, however, she also understands the hypocrisy and drama that comes along with it.

GLOs are organizations, and as such, require funding to operate. If you were very involved in your (now ex-)organization, you should understand that.

You seem like you're just trying to stir up some trouble. You're asking for unbiased answers on a message board that's obviously going to be biased. When you do get responses, you try to shoot them down.

Why do you care so much? If you disaffiliated and don't have a need for fraternity/sorority affairs in your life, why are you so concerned about them?

Wait, you deactivated AFTER you graduated and had been a collegiate member for 4 years? In god's name, why?? Why not just be an inactive alumni? Why take the absolutist step of dropping your affiliation when basically there are no requirements or expectations for you to keep your membership anymore???

No, my view has not changed. I had a very high opinion of the Greek system before, and it has not changed. If anything, I have an even higher opinion of Greek Life now than before.

I have remained friends with many people who are not "Greek". So the answer to your question is yes. I would add that the majority of my friends are not Greek and it is a non-issue with us. And to your follow up question, quite a few of my friends may have been opposed to my view on joining (i.e. Greek life was not for them). However, they respect my choice, just like I respect their choice. We know that Greek Life is not for everyone. And frankly, it was never intended to be. And as such, and perhaps simply because we *are* friends, we agree to disagree.

And while I would not be surprised to know that someone might "hate" me for my choice, it really is their issue and not mine. And while I am happy to try to educate them about my view, if they refuse to learn - or at the very least, understand my point of view - then there is little I can do to help them.

My guess is there may be some sort of fraternity that does not require "official" dues. Frankly, I can not think of any. So you might need to do some research to find one. And to answer the question behind that question, like most everything else in the world, organizations (fraternities included) require capital to function. Either through dues, voluntary contributions, taxes, fees, expenses etc. As well as man hours. Otherwise, they might not function as intended. And while you did not ask this, if I may expand just a little bit more regarding dues, fraternities will work with their members who are in need of financial assistance. That is part of what being in a brotherhood is about.

I too am a firm believer that you get out of an organization what you put into it. It is a shame that you came away from your Greek Life experience with what seems to be any true understanding of what the Greek community is really about.

Club, sorority, order, society, fraternity - these are all just names. There is much more to fraternal organizations then what they are called. And while I am not in a sorority, I will say that I might call my fraternity a club if I felt it might help open a discussion about what my organization (fraternity) means to me and so many others.

Best of luck in your future endeavors.

Here's my Greek story that might hopefully give an alternative perspective to some, particularly the OP. I share this regularly with my members, especially those who are considering canceling their membership. They're always shocked because after being they're advisor for 13 years they just assume I must have been born wearing our letters. :)

I was a random, average member while in college . I never held an office and I did the tasks I was supposed to do, but not much more than that. Sure I went to all the parties and had a great time. I had a lot of friends both within my sorority, the rest of the Greek system and non-Greeks as well. In all honesty back then I didn't have this overwhelming commitment to my sorority. I had fun and I was glad I had joined. After graduation I didn't even think that much about it. Maybe someday if I had a daughter I'd be happy she was a legacy, that's about it.

Fast forward about a decade. My husband and I moved down South from the Midwest for him to take a new job. He was traveling extensively that first year. I was commuting an hour + each way to my job. Aside from the people I worked with, I didn't have any friends in about a 300 mile radius. I barely even knew my next door neighbors. Needless to say I was lonely and not happy.

One day out of the blue I received an invitation to an alumnae tea at my local Chapter's house. They had gotten my address from Inat'l when I sent in the change of address form for our magazine. I figured why not go? It might be a way for me to meet people. Little did I know it was actually a recruitment function for their House Corporation. I decided to join, but again it was not because of an overwhelming commitment to my sorority. My reasons were selfish. I wanted to meet people and hopefully make friends in my new hometown.

I admit though I was hesitant to even join. Here I was a Yankee (which I never knew I was until I moved here :)) joining a group of Southern women. I wasn't sure if they'd welcome me with open arms. My fears seem so silly now because to them I was a sister. It didn't matter where I'd come from. They embraced me. They supported me when my husband was traveling. They encouraged me when I became pregnant for the first time shortly afterwards. They prayed for us and aided us when my daughter was born with severe complications. They showed me what true sisterhood was all about.

That's when I finally "got it". This organization I had joined so many years ago was so much more I thought it was when I was a collegian. Those words in our Ritual, the ideals laid out by our Founders, the generations of women who have come before and after us, the vows we all made in our Initiation, we are all tied together. We are sisters. These wonderful women proved it to me. It finally all made sense to me. The surprising thing for me was that this all occurred within a year. Now I look back and wish I would have realized this while I was in school. But better late than never IMHO.

LOL

You made your choice and have to stand by it.

You come onto a Greek Site and try to justify yourself and I/We do not know why.

You keep trying to get a justication for your quiting from us and you will not.

I just wonder if you will quit other things in life?