Quote:
Originally posted by vinz
Still some interrogations remain :
- you talk a lot about tradition, you say these societies are kind of secret : are there some rituals ? why is it secret? Do you do some “illegal stuff” there? You say it’s too religious for instance, but how is this religious spirit expressed?
- what is exactly anti-intellectualism (even in the European sense I can’t get a straight idea…)? the dominant American upper middle class does not like intellectuals? Plus I kind of understood that some fraternities recruited partly on marks…
- say I just graduated from high school and I’m starting my scholarship in a college. How do I get in a fraternity? Do I have to know people in it? How do I choose the one fraternity I want to get in? Does it depend on my religious/political opinions for example?
Thank you all
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Someone already answered the "anti-intellectualism" question, so here are my answers to the other two:
you talk a lot about tradition, you say these societies are kind of secret : are there some rituals ? why is it secret? Do you do some “illegal stuff” there? You say it’s too religious for instance, but how is this religious spirit expressed?
Yes, there are rituals in Greek organizations. Some are very involved and others are not. The rituals are secret because it is a code of values unique to each organization, although some groups have "open ritual," which is similar to a mission statement or purpose. I doubt that any group does anything illegal, because a common belief in all groups with open statements of purpose is adherence to law and upholding the rules of the country, state, and university. Many groups' ideals seem to be based in Judeo-Christian ideals, but may not be overly religious. For example, my own sorority's "open ritual" expresses that we try to act with humility, strength, and a genuine desire to help others. These are values common to religious and non-religious groups alike.
say I just graduated from high school and I’m starting my scholarship in a college. How do I get in a fraternity? Do I have to know people in it? How do I choose the one fraternity I want to get in? Does it depend on my religious/political opinions for example?
Fraternities (and sororities) have membership recruitment processes. The membership recruitment, often called rush, varies from organization to organization and often from campus to campus. Generally, a student that desires to join a Greek group signs up for recruitment and is contacted by the respective umbrella organization (NPC, NPHC, NIC) with information about membership requirements, dates and times of recruitment, etc. Information about the membership recruitment program can be found over in the Rush Forum.
It is not necessary that you know someone in the group you wish to join, but often members recruit people they know outside the group to join. Often, people join a group that a close family member belonged to.
Your best option for figuring out which fraternity suits you best is to attend events for more than one and/or possibly all the fraternities on your campus, depending on how many there are. For example, it's not very easy for a man to visit every fraternity at Auburn University during recruitment because there are so many. However, during sorority recruitment, every potential member is required to visit every sorority at least once.
Usually, religious or political affiliation is not important to join a fraternity. No group that I can think of requires that you have a certain political view to join; most campuses have other organizations on campus for expressing political views. Some groups are religiously based; for example, Alpha Epsilon Pi is a Jewish fraternity. Although many groups were founded on Judeo-Christian ideals, they welcome members from any background, regardless of religion. However, most groups have a grade requirement to join and remain an active member since the primary purpose of attending a university is to get an education, not join groups.
For information on the various types of Greek organizations, I suggest looking at the websites for the "umbrella" organizations. Keep in mind, though, that there are also "local" groups which are not affiliated with an umbrella group. Their membership recruitment is often different from that of national organizations. The three largest umbrella groups are:
National Panhellenic Conference
National Interfraternity Conference
National Pan-Hellenic Conference