Are fraternities are welcoming of brothers at other colleges?
 

My dad was in a fraternity, Phi Sigma Kappa, actually. And he said he sometimes would visit other colleges and meet the other brothers at the college he was visiting. And sometimes they even let him stay a night or two when he was trying to get home.

I'm not sure if these guys were just nice. But do fraternities welcome other brothers from other universities?

Usually - if there is space and one has inquired in advance. I wouldn't just show up somewhere and ask for a bed for the night - that's not brotherly.

When I was in college, I worked for my dad in the summers and because I worked out of town, u would take the weekends and travel to as many chapters of my fraternity as possible, in all I visited well over 150 different schools and chapters. At each chapter if anyone was home (due to summer breaks) I was welcomed warmly. At the time I was a founding father of my chapter, so that was interesting to many guys, since most of the already established chapters really didn't know how that worked so it was a good starting point.

Visiting other chapters I think is a great way to fully experience the brotherhood. I wish many more of my fellow chapter mates had done that, maybe then they would have seen the bigger picture and the chapter wouldn't have closed down.....but that's a different story.

If you do visit other chapters, yes calling ahead is a good idea, but sometimes it's fun to just drop in on a chapter and say hey.

BG

Ah yes, common courtesy is always proper and contact that chapter in advance, even if it is just for a tour of their house. I always attempt to email/snail mail the current president or alumni advisor when I want to visit a chapter of Lambda Chi Alpha.

Less than 10 years ago the U.T. Knoxville chapter of Lambda Chi Alpha was conned by 2 men. fugitives if I remember correctly, from Louisiana, who fled Hurricane Katrina, who said they were brothers and they actually stayed at the house for a while, so it is always best to check (in the proper verification methods known only to each organization) that they are members of your organization.

When I was in school it wasn't just accepted but almost expected that you would visit other chapters in your region. It helps when you have Iowa, Iowa State, Wisconsin, Illinois, Nebraska and (a bit further) Illinois all within driving distance with similar Greek systems and all with large houses to accommodate guests on sofas or whatever. The sororities did it too. But we always knew they were coming. We generally went to Iowa State once in the fall and once in the spring for a football game or whatever. And I spent TONS of time at UNI, but that was just me, not a group of us.

Your mileage may vary is the answer.

But the advice about the welcoming chapter verifying membership should be heeded. And even if these guys are indeed members, that's all you know about them. There's a lot of liability to go along with letting someone in your house.

Now, if it's a brother from a chapter you have a lot of contact with, say they're in your athletic conference or they're physically nearby and you know what kind of folks they initiate, I wouldn't worry so much. On the other hand, I've met members at national/regional events who I'd think twice about inviting in.

I can say, only once was I not given a warm welcome but Kudos to so many others on visits.

Have heard good reports about my chapter and the welcomes they have given which warms me very much!

What also means something to me is stopping at other GLO houses, (NOT MINE) and asking for help and getting it.

What does that say about the closeness of GLOs? It means a lot to me!:cool:

BTW, we may wear different Badges/Pins or have different Coat of Arms, we still rely on the same beleifs.

We care not only for our own but others, Right?

Since our house was in Miami, we had a lot of brothers from the North visit throughout the year and we tried to put all of them up as best we could. It was a very enjoyable experience for us and we found that the guys from all over the country fit in very well with us. We even had repeat visits from the guys at California State (PA) and Villanova.

Be sure you are contacting them in advance. Don't put a chapter in a tough spot by showing up with half a dozen guys and expecting them to put you up for the night.

Absolutely. Just because you have a mansion that holds 100 members doesn't mean every chapter is like that.

Right. In some chapters, you'd be put up in a brother's dorm room or apartment.