[EE-BO]

UGAalum94- one thing that I think helps is to know that top tier fraternities and sororities tend to recruit from very specific places and have done so for a very long time. At Texas, I think it is safe to say the very top end GLOs get most of their numbers out of a very few high schools. So that right there establishes a lot of how the tier system works.

More than anything else, it is driven by the natural urge to go to college and find "safety" in people you know and have things in common with. This is an urge that lasts all through life- and it applies to everyone, not just the affluent. I like to think I am one of those people who can interact comfortably at all levels and truly enjoy and respect people for who they are, but I also have a very specific comfort zone which, for example, dictates where I live. That is something I am scrupulously picky about even though I am more comfortable than most to drive around and do business/hang out in many parts of town.

Many people in top tier organizations choose to wall themselves off in that small world. Their loss, but it is an attitude that came before and will endure after they go Greek.

If a person is comfortable and happy with their chapter, it is easy to talk about the tiers and be practical about it. Talking about them here helps I think in guiding people who are unfamiliar with Greek life since it educates them in the fact that there can be a big difference between a top tier chapter and the chapter that is right for the person looking for a place to pledge.

Granted, that is not how it always goes down- so I get your point. But I think that most people who have a truly deep and angry opposition to the notion of "tiers" are people who are not in top houses and wish they were. And people like that are doing their own chapters a disservice because that attitude means they think they deserve something else but pledged where they did just to have letters. (And for the record, I am not including you in that group since I think you are talking more about the presentation of the discussion and not the existence of tiers.)