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Ok, I'm going to be leaving my office and won't be back til Monday but I'll start.
I’ll try to write it as I remember it -
My son really hadn't heard much about fraternities even though both my husband and I were Greek at our respective schools. We never stated a preference as to whether we wanted our sons to pledge and really haven't talked much about it, so he was pretty clueless.
Last fall, before his senior year, he starting hearing about fraternity life at the college that he is attending. The guys that were talking to him were old football buddies or family friends who are now actives in their college fraternities, and they wanted to him to come hang out. He thought it would be fun and I bit the bullet and let him go.
His first trip was in the fall. He stayed at one of the fraternity houses with a guy who showed him around the business school and the campus. It was pretty low key, he met a bunch of the brothers and thought they were cool, there wasn't any crazy partying or anything. The guys talked to him a bit about the fraternity, but he didn't feel like he was being rushed.
The next events were Winter Formals. He had been invited to a couple, one explicitly and one more implied. The first was at the house that he had stayed in the fall. This house has MANY kids from his high school so it is like old home week when he goes there. A bunch of kids from his school, both guys and girls, were going to the party, which was semi-formal - jacket and tie, no tux. My son was planning on staying with the rush captain, along with some other guys that he is good friends with.
The other party was black tie. He didn't really think he would go to that one for a number of reasons: he had been asked to come by some guys, but he kind of felt uncomfortable about it; he knew only a handful of members; and no one else from his high school was going. At the time, I think the herd mentality was still in force.
So, off he went to the college town, with his suit, but no tuxedo. Things didn't turn out as he had planned....
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