Quote:
Originally posted by vinz
Hello,
My name is Vincent Lambert. I’m 20. I'm French. I study in Paris.
I'm currently doing some research about fraternities and sororities. But this whole system seems to be really particular to the US, so I've got some questions... Would be nice if you took a few minutes to answer.
- How exactly are fraternities organised ? Do fraternities(chapters) from different colleges have any relationship? What about the different fraternities at the same college?
- Are fratenities (and sororities) the only associations you've got ? In France we've got a great variety of associations : in fact there's almost one association for each project! But ours seem to be much less developed than yours (I mean that we can belong to many of them, because we don't have to spend a lot of time for each one). You seem to be spending all your time and energy either working or having fun within your fraternity... So my guess is that fraternities are like super-associations, which have many different activities. Is that right?
- Are there houses where all members of a fraternity meet? sleep ? have parties ?
- Are some/all/any fraternity mixed ?
- Are fraternities only for undergraduate?
And to finish with I have a question which is not particularly linked with fraternities : parties at college... Are they like movies show? I mean lots of people getting drunk (it is the case in France), even girls (not the case here), having sex in the rooms above (not so much the case here...)? Which movie would be the closest to reality according to you? Do fraternities often organise parties?
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First off, please read some of the other posts on this thread AND some of the other threads. Also recommend you read some of the websites out there are the american college fraternity/sorority system. For brevity sake, whenever I refer to fraternities/sororities as "GLO" (Greek Letter Organizations).
* How are fraternities organized?
not sure what you are looking for here. Each chapter is a stand along organization. They have their governing documents (local chapter bylaws) and elect their own officers. If they are part of a national organization (some are not), there will be national governing documents, many which must be followed by local chapters, with national-level leaders.
How much interaction between chapters of the same organization can very. Some organizations will have state/regional conferences, which will bring chapters together for training, fellowing, and the like. If chapters are close enought together, its not uncommon for them to come together for events.
Different chapters on campus may work together in inter-fraternal groups for common goals. There is usually some friendly rivalry (which can sometimes become 'unfriendly'). There are typically greek festivals on campus where the different chapters can compete with one another, etc.
* Are fratenities (and sororities) the only associations you've got ?
NOPE. First off, realize there are many different kinds of GLO. What many will speak about here are the 'social' or 'general' GLO. There are also professional GLO which bring people together who have a common area of study (business, medicine, law, sciences, etc). There are a few service GLO whose focus is mainly doing community service. There are the honorary GLO who honor people with high grades in there area of study. Then most colleges/universities have a variety of political, social, service, religious, hobbies, etc clubs and organizations on campus. Most people will join several organizations, depending on their interests.
*Are there houses where all members of a fraternity meet? sleep ? have parties ?
This will depend on the type of GLO, and their campus. Only social/general GLO have houses (that is, professional, service, honorary GLOs won't). These are places where the members ideally live and hold their meetings. Some campus don't allow (or don't yet have) greek housing. Some may allow for certain floors in campus housing for this purpose instead.
* Are some/all/any fraternity mixed ?
Mixed in what way? Social GLO are usually single-gender, but I have heard of some local socials who are co-ed. While most Social GLO are open to anyone, some are aimed at those in certain ethnic groups (latino, asian, african-american, etc). There are some gay GLO.
Typically professional/service/honorary GLO are mixed and usually aren't allowed to discriminate on the basis of gender, ethnicity, religion, etc.
* Are fraternities only for undergraduate?
Usually social GLOs only take in undergraduates. Some may allow for graduate students to join. Some allow for students who have graduated to join (called 'alumni initiates').
Professional/service/honorary GLOs usually allow for both undergrads or grads to join.
*And to finish with I have a question which is not particularly linked with fraternities : parties at college... Are they like movies show?
Bit of advice. American movies/tv are a poor way to get an idea of american society/life. A lot of people see a movie like "Animal House" and think all social GLOs are like that. Maybe a few at sometime may be kind of like that, but not all. I'll leave it to others to add to this.