Bent out of Shape Greeks
 

So i was finishing up "East of Eden" and if you've read it you'll see that John Steinbeck mentions the SAE's near the end of the book...here's the actual quote:

"The night started dully, but then sixteen members and two pledges from Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Stanford chapter, came in hilarious from a pledge hazing in San Juan. They were full of hourseplay.......The college boys shrieked and pounded each other in their amusement. And then they stole everything that wasn't nailed down."

So i thought it was totally interesting and posted it on their message board about how they were mentioned in the book. This guys gets ALL bent out of shape and sends me this big huge thing about SAE hazing policy and how it's taken very seriously and closed the thread out completely. I mean....yeah i KNOW their policy, but come on ...the book was published in 1952 and who says it's even true. I know that hazing is taken very seriously, but I mean...Millions of people have read this book, it's not like all of a sudden i released the information. Do you think i was out of line? b.c. i don't! haha

You should have said to take it up with John Steinbeck. ;)

sorry to crash your board, but i LOVED that book! i actually don't even remember that part. that guy probably hadn't even read the book, so he probably didn't really know what you were talking about. yay for john steinbeck!
delta glam, beth

p.s. can't wait to see pi phi at ncsu this fall!

Oh come on... it's a fictional book (not even one that claims to be a documentary but reads like fiction). So the fictional SAEs haze in a novel set in the 50s. I got news for those guys who got so P.O'd at you. Fraternities in the 50s DID haze, and hazed hard. That is no secret (my Dad tells me interesting stories of his college experience as a Beta 1951-55 at Williams College-- where they don't have fraternites any more because of hazing) Neither does it reflect current policy in the slightest. If we didn't learn from past mistakes or misdeeds we'd never grow. Personally, the comments that you've made make me more likely to read the book.

As long as we're talking fiction that has Greeks in a positive light, I recommend "Outer Banks" by Anne River Siddens. It is the story of a group of Tri-Deltas (yes, she uses the names of real groups) getting together many years after graduation when one is ill. The past is told in flashbacks but it is a rich depiction of the value of sisterhood.

I love that book! In fact, I've read most of hers. Great fluffy beach books.

And ditto what you said about the Steinbeck book. Come on boys...

seriously....boys get so worked up about nothing! :rolleyes: The SAE mod even closed the thread after his lengthy hazing policy post...sheesh! I'm all for being a serious greek, but DOODS! It's a BOOK! :p
In Wine and Blue and not easily offended by fictional PiPhi mentionings,
Maggie

Actually she changed the name to Tri-Omega (she kinda had to as she was making up initiation rituals) but ARS was a Tri-Delta. The rest of the sororities mentioned are real names.

I was just going to say this.

In her other book that focused around Greek life (Heartbreak Hotel), she used the names of real fraternities and sororities. But I imagine that since she describes an initiation ceremony in "Outer Banks," she thought it was safer to stick to a fake name. ;)