[GammaGirl1908]

Also WAYYY out of my lane as well, but I agree with the previous posters.

I may not have ever interviewed people for fraternities, but I have interviewed many people for jobs and scholarships; I've gone on dates; I've made friends in this world; and so forth. You interact differently with people in each of those situations. You don't flirt at a job interview, but you do on a date. You don't spout facts about thermonuclear physics at happy hour, but you do at a job interview.

It sounds like you took more of a job-interview approach than a fraternity-joining approach. Both have their place in life, but a job interview is where you are trying to let people know how much you know about a given topic, impress them with your competence and maturity, and seem capable, well-informed, and helpful. By comparison, my understanding and (limited, obviously) experience is that during fraternity rush, the brothers are looking for someone who fits in and who they will be comfortable bonding with, hanging out with, living with, and sharing experiences with ... i.e., a potential friend.

I don't know about you, but I'm way less concerned about whether my friends are capable and well-informed. It's nice if they are, but mostly I care that we have things in common and have fun together. I have plenty of friends that I wouldn't hire, and I have hired people with whom I have nothing in common and likely wouldn't ever be friends if I didn't know them from work.

Most conversations that end with a person thinking, "He was pretty cool, I'd definitely hang out with him again" don't involve a non-member's savant-like knowledge of fraternity mottos and a discourse on the upside of Joe Paterno (and I'm a big football fan from another Big Ten school; I know the upside of Joe Paterno).

Your goal is to have them think when you walk away, "He was pretty cool, I'd definitely hang out with him again," not "Um ... did that dude just tell me he's heavily influenced by a disgraced dead football coach with a reputation for having protected a child rapist and 111 vacated wins? ... Um ...

... NEXT!"

You are trying to make friends with these people, not astound them with your knowledge of facts. Be a great guy, not a fraternity encyclopedia.

(And definitely steer clear of Joe Paterno. It's perfectly fine to choose your SECOND biggest influence. I promise, no one will know.)