What makes Greek life "hot" in the south?
 

Why is Greek life more popular in the south than anywhere else? At schools in the northeast, many Big Ten institutions, or the mountain areas like Colorado, and even the west coast, all of those places seem to have an attitude of indifference toward fraternities and sororities, and a much smaller percentage of students joining, compared to the schools in the southeastern states. What do you attribute that to? Maybe the rest of the nation can learn something that they are overlooking in marketing themselves if they understood why Greeks in the south are doing so well.

Tradition in general is bigger in the South. Tradition breeds tradition.

Other areas could "market" till they're blue in the face and not have the same results. Not that I see that as a bad thing. Greek life at some Southern schools is seen as a "must" and those who don't participate or are left out can really suffer.

No offense to anyone in the south, because hey, if that's what interests them, great, but from what I've learned from this board, there's no way what flies down south would fly up north. So with all due respect, I think saying that the "rest of the nation" needs to learn from what the southern chapters are doing is over-reaching.

The chapters up north operate the way they do because they fit the personalities of the universities and the people that make up their populations. If you tried to come to Penn State back in my day and tell us to start having high school "teas" and have fashion shows and resume review workshops for HS SENIORS to get them ready for rush, you would have been laughed off campus. Or if area alums had come in to tell us that they were doing that and expected to then have input on who got bids to our chapter, that would have stopped at the door, too. We had a healthy, thriving chapter of 110 (limited to total by the university) and not one of us had been "bred" to rush.

The southern method fits the southern schools. I'd wager their methods are extremely region-specific in terms of guaranteed success.

I think that part of the issue is that in the northeast, we aren't necessarily "bred" to go to the same school as our parents, whereas in the South, several generations of families are affilated with a particular school.

Second, kids around here tend to want to "go away" to school, and end up somewhere brand new, and don't have the Greek connections that many in the south do. For example, I have read that sororities at some southern schools have girls picked out from certain high schools that they want to pledge. Without those connections, students may be less likely to have any insider knowledge into the system, let alone certain chapters or members.

Stories about girls dropping out because they didn't get the right bid are beyond my comprehension. Many kids who go away to school end up living around the area they went to school. Most of my friends never came back after college. Therefore, the roots just aren't planted as deeply as they are in the south.

Third, at many schools (like mine), the curriculum is "college prep" - meaning that they prepare you for college. Ninety-eight percent of my graduating class went to college immediately after graduating. We were encouraged to go to apply to schools with higher academic reputations above anything else; anything else was secondary. Very few people went to state schools; if they did, it was for financial reasons. (I am not saying that state schools lack academically; many private schools usually have a higher percentage of rejections than public universities).

From what I can remember, not too many kids from my HS went Greek. Out of my group of friends, only one other person did, and I remember some people looking down on that.

ree-Xi: Well said, and, I think, very true. About the only thing I'd modify is "Many kids who go away to school end up living around the area they went to school. Most of my friends never came back after college." Instead, I'd say kids "end up living around the area where career opportunities are strong." That may mean the vicinity of their alma mater, but it can just as easily mean a couple of thousand miles away, or more.

People do this?

Yikes.

So stuff like moving away from home and being bred to go to a stellar college versus being bred to go Greek at a "Greek school" are things that people outside of the South and Deep South experience more?

Just trying to understand where these types of discussions about "Greek Life" stem from.

I'm not sure I agree with this. I also went to a rigorous private school in Texas and aside from the Ivys, there was just as much 'prestige' in going to Texas as there was for many of the NESCAC schools or other small school throughout the South. Given, most of the people who do go to Texas from there are in the honors program, but it is still looked favorably upon.

In a state where the state university does not have a very good reputation, I could see that happening. But there are several good state schools throughout the South that have very solid academics as well (UVA, Chapel Hill, Texas, just to name a few) as well as smaller liberal arts schools.

I think the Pacific Coast (WA, OR, CA) has its own cultural weirdness going on. I think I can name maybe three guys in my graduating high school class who went greek in college. It's just not normal out here. Fraternity guys are seen as sleazy, drunk, date rapists, etc. etc. It's really not fair at all but that's life.

I know when I joined I heard a lot "paying for your drunk friends!" comments whereas in the south it might be like "oh you have to carry on your family name, go join what your dad and your daddy's dad were a part of". Honestly I think it's part of that liberal culture outside fo the south that causes anxiety about greeks.

^^^what you said
Out of my high school class (small at about 170), two of us joined sororities and only 1 guy joined a fraternity. As I have said many times on this board, it just wasn't ingrained into our head growing up.

Exactly!!!

Don't count South Florida in...
 

Oddly enough, it seems that when you get to the EXTREME South, i.e. South Florida, our Greek systems operate more like a Northern chapter. It's pretty weird.

The "Southern" style of recruitment wouldn't fly down here.

No offense to south Florida, but that is NOT the south. Yes it is the southern United States, but it is not the south in the sense of culture. Most people at UA don't consider FL a southern state at all. It's mostly displaced yankees who got tired of snow.

hehe that's the way i see florida past orlando.....

orlando and northwards i still feel like that's the south in terms of culture but get past orlando and it's just northerners that are "fleeing" the snow

It definitely depends on the part of Florida --- it's a patchy state, lol :)

Most definitely! I am from "south" Florida, my hometown is about an hour north of west palm beach, but the town is extremely southern... and the town where my parents are from is even smaller (one blinking light, an elementary school, two gas stations and a post office but it was founded by our family in the 1800's!). I grew up around orange groves, railroading and commercial fishing... Florida is a very different place, some people embrace the southern culture, but a lot are from the north as well. As for my graduating class, most of the people that went Greek we born and raised in the area, a lot of the "transplants" did not.. it definitely depends on how you were raised. Although neither of my parents are Greek they are very accepting, and even encouraged me to go through rush when I was still iffy.

While there are many Floridians that are from somewhere else, there still exist those who were born here. Many of us also have relatives and or ancestors from "the South" as well. Not everyone is trying to get away from snow. Believe it or not we have hospitals with maternity wards here and they have existed for significant amounts of time.

Exactly! :D

Haha, you've got to be from one of three places: Vero Beach, Port St. Lucie, or Stuart!


In my opinion, there's some sort of comformist v individual battle between the southeast and other regions. Down here, social groups are encouraged to help individuals become more well-rounded and become contributing members of society.
Elsewhere, academics seem to be the only things worthwhile and any sort of "conformity" is looked down upon. I don't know- can someone who understands what I'm saying phrase this better?

I am from the South but go to college in the North and I can tell you there is a big difference in the culture of the two areas with respect to GLO's. In the North being in a GLO is something you do in college and not very important after that. In the South it is something that stays with you for your whole life. It will impact who you marry, your future in the job market and so on. Southern moms hope their daughters will go to their state university and join a top sorority as they believe this is their entry to a beautiful life. Northern moms hope their daughters will get in Yale or Amherst and who cares about GLO's. No amount of marketing will change this.

ORLY?

Try telling that to the hundreds and thousands of "Northern" alumnae who serve as volunteers or officers on the local and inter/national levels, decades after their collegiate experience ended.

Same here. Out of my high school class (of about NINE HUNDRED in NE Ohio), I know only a handful that went Greek in college.....a handful being maybe 10-15. It's just not something thats culturally prevalent up here.

OTW - I am not saying that Northern alums aren't involved in their sorority. My chapter has a very strong alum association and they are a big help to us. What I am saying that after college nobody else cares if you were an ABC at the University of Somestate.

Yikes indeed.

I'm from Alabama and most of my classmates were interested in Sororities and Fraternities as most of our teachers were/are Greek, family members, church members ect. I am not sure how many from my class are Greek, but I know that several attempted and some want to attempt again on the Alum (i/ae) level. But again plenty of our HS teachers were Greek and once for a talent expo they even did a stepshow (there were about 18 teachers in the show).

Oh shit, no one told me that. What was I thinking, volunteering to host tonight's alumnae chapter event and for e-board next year. Silly me!

Anyway, IMHO every true bred southern girl I know was raised to be in a GLO. One friend's nursery was outfitted with anchors, and painted pink, blue, and gold. Guess what she had to join in college?

But as it was mentioned before, different parts of the county have different "attitudes" for lack of a better word. Things that fly in the south wouldn't make it in the north and vice versa. And honestly, I wouldn't want them too. I enjoy that each region is unique.

That's why I'm wondering where these perceived "differences" come from.

I know there are some differences, depending on the where and the who, but I think they aren't as pronounced as people portray them to be

As for the comments about Florida- you couldn't be more correct. The greek life at UCF, USF, FIU, etc. is comparable to that at northern colleges, Sigma Chi at USF being an exception.
I spent a lot of time in Michigan growing up and I can say that greek life is frowned upon there because it is viewed as a bunch of partiers with no ambition where as I was raised with the mentality of a fraternity being a great tool. If you want to network in college here you almost have to be in a fraternity. It's a system- to get a bid from a decent fraternity you have to be very sociable and to make it through pledgeship you have to be able to work as a team, essential skills for any career. My university president (Wetherell), governor (Crist), and president are all southerners and they're all greeks... its hard to paint us as unmotivated party animals with those kind of results.
"its not the grades you make, its the hands you shake."

Try finding out how much southern fraternities love their nationals.

I guess my Fraternity Founder Emily Helen Butterfield, my family members, my bff/college roommate, and my sister Dee, as well as the founders of Theta Phi Alpha (all from or in Michigan) didn't get the don't go Greek memo. My grandmother told me about Alpha Gam and how I was going to college and joining a sorority before I entered elementary school, and trust our roots left Michigan and came west and none of us have lived below the Mason Dixon line. Was Alpha Gam her first choice for me? Obviously but I had attended a school without a chapter and I still had an interest in Greek Life. I have plenty of ambition as do all the people I mentioned above.

Yes, there's a big difference but I would take being Greek at my own college over being Greek in the South any day.

That's nauseating.

And while I'm at it, there are plenty of university presidents who are Greek. Big deal. :rolleyes:

To each their own. I'll take a letter of recommendation from Charlie Crist over a 4.0 any day.

I said nothing of ambition and I have no idea what Theta Phi Alpha is.

High School in the North
 

Theta Phi Alpha is another NPC organization with great and strong values...I say this because I have love for EVERY NPC and NPHC...and believe they all deserve respect....

In regards to "GO GREEK" while in college...I came from a high school where my graduating class had 180 students. Of all the 180 students I can name maybe one other person I know who went Greek. He joined Alpha Gamma Rho at Penn State...Every other person from my high school who went Greek was either in a class or two below me or maybe a class or so ahead of me...

I was happy to see the one girl in school I always looked up to (she was involved in EVERYTHING) joined Delta Phi Epsilon. That is the only reason I'm a little jealous of my younger cousin (She's a DPhiE too) because she can call this girl a "sister"....

A few guys from my high school (younger than me) joined FIJI at Penn State. My cousin's friend from high school (also younger than me) joined Tri-Sig at Penn State, while her other friend joined Chi Omega at Bucknell. That's about all the Greeks I know...It's not pushed in the North the way it is in the South.

I once wore my letter shirt into a store when the guy who was ringing me out (an aquaintance from high school years before) looked at me and asked, "What does I-Ome mean?" I had no clue what he meant and I thought it was a joike so I said, "I don't know-what does it mean?" He pointed to my shirt and said...."You're the one who has it on your shirt." I looked down and said, "That means Phi Mu-those are Greek Letters." Had I been in the South-this conversation probably never would have taken place.

LOL, no, I assure you everyone knows Phi Mu in the South. There seems to be a handful of groups that have more chapters down here and Phi Mu seems to be one of them (along with Zeta :) )

In my experiance and I am well traveled and also well rooted in the south, It seems to me that in the "southern" states education is to be expected its not as if We attend college with the hopes of graduating. Our parents have allready instilled in us great determination and a high level of expectation, so we allready know what we are there for. Where the greek thing comes into play in most southern schools either HBCU or otheris its seem that "greeks" Have more of an impact on the student body at their particular universities. The are usually in the "know" of whats going on on campus. The more popular and generally accepted amongst most students in college. With saying that most freshman and sophmores in college in school are looking to be in those type of arena, or looked at in that type of manner. Well at least in the south. Or maybe its just attitude, in my travels to the north Ie. Baltimore, NY, NJ, The whole greek attitude was just so unbarable That my communication with my OWn fraternity was brief.

Who knows?
Just my 63 cents

Until after World War II, almost every fraternity and sorority (including those founded in the south) was dominated by chapters and alumni from the north. The chapter houses in the south were pathetic compared to those at the large universities and private colleges in the north. Following the "melt-down" of the late 1960s that role began to reverse. Today those nice houses in the north are deteriorating and the grand new homes are being built in the south. My question, which has yet to be answered, is why? Surely a fraternity or sorority can fill the same need in the north that such a higher percentage of students in the south deem to be a benefit.

You call it a meltdown, we call it the civil rights movement.

What Makes Greek Life "Hot" in the South?
 

It's the humidity. It makes everything hot here. You don't think Tennessee Williams had all those women sittin' on the front porch drinking tea in their slips as a fashion statement, do you?

I think he was talking about the war or something. He has referenced the late 1960s before and wasn't talking about the Civil Rights Movement.

The Civil Rights Movement obviously didn't have an impact on anyone or anything.

LOL--This is what I thought about posting early on and decided not to since I didn't think folx would appreciate the joke.

LOL.

I think there were more than a few chapters at private colleges in the North that either turned in their charters or went local over white clauses.