Books about Fraternities and Sororities

[naraht]

What books about Fraternities and Sororities do you recommend or recommend against...


Recommend:
Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities: Last Edition published in 1991, but definitely still worth reading.

Broken Pledges: (or for that matter anything by Hank Nuwer). Good book on Hazing, written by someone who is *not* anti-fraternities and sororities.

Divine Nine: Pretty good book about the NPHC

In Search of Sisterhood: History of Delta Sigma Theta that has been published in the wider market.


Recommend Against:
Pledged: very sensationalistic.

Fraternity Gang Rape: (By Sanday) Truly a sickening book. Supposedly intended as a sociology textbook I guess. If the stories in there are true, she has enough detail that people should have been prosecuted and if they are false, they are useless. From looking at her other work, she definitely had an anti-fraternity fraternity view before she wrote the book.

[Senusret I]

I recommend Black Greek 101 for people who want to know more about the culture and customs of BGLOs, especially if you are a Greek affairs professional or a volunteer for APO, GSS, KKY, TBS, and other GLOs in which there are chapters at HBCUs and/or have BGLO customs.

ETA: I also recommend Black Haze for the same reasons, but with a slant toward BGLO specific hazing.

[BluPhire]

Originally Posted by Senusret I

I recommend Black Greek 101 for people who want to know more about the culture and customs of BGLOs, especially if you are a Greek affairs professional or a volunteer for APO, GSS, KKY, TBS, and other GLOs in which there are chapters at HBCUs and/or have BGLO customs.

ETA: I also recommend Black Haze for the same reasons, but with a slant toward BGLO specific hazing.

I was about to ask about this book, but I did a search and saw it is highly recommended. I will pick it up.

[Gusteau]

Originally Posted by Senusret I

I recommend Black Greek 101 for people who want to know more about the culture and customs of BGLOs, especially if you are a Greek affairs professional or a volunteer for APO, GSS, KKY, TBS, and other GLOs in which there are chapters at HBCUs and/or have BGLO customs.

ETA: I also recommend Black Haze for the same reasons, but with a slant toward BGLO specific hazing.

I really enjoyed both of these, it really helped me to understand (at least a little bit better) where my NPHC friends were coming from.

[jennyj87]

Recommend for NPC sororites: I <3 (heart) Recruitment.

[AZTheta]

Bound By a Mighty Vow: Sisterhood and Women's Fraternities, 1870-1920, Diana B. Turk.

Highly recommended.

[IrishLake]

Originally Posted by AzTheta

Bound By a Mighty Vow: Sisterhood and Women's Fraternities, 1870-1920, Diana B. Turk.

Highly recommended.

Ditto. And I won't even donate my copy of "Pledged" to the library. It's sitting dusty on my bookshelf. The fewer in circulation, the better.

[33girl]

I wouldn't recommend anything by Hank Nuwer. His fact-checking methods are spotty at best. I've had to email his website several times because he had incorrect facts on it.

Not only that, he's a publicity whore.

[carnation]

For southern PNMs and maybe for others: Sorority Guide, Everything You Need to Know From Alpha to Zeta- by Ceil Howle and Anna Stephens.

[exlurker]

Going Greek: Jewish College Fraternities in the United States, 1895 – 1945 by Marianne R. Sanua (2003, Wayne State University Press)

Recommended. Includes material regarding historically Jewish sororities, too.

+++++++++

Inside Greek U:
Fraternities, Sororities, and the Pursuit of Pleasure, Power, and Prestige
By Alan D. Desantis
Year Published: 2007

Might be worth checking out reviews of this one before buying it. Not bad, but not outstanding, either, IMO.

[LucyKKG]

Originally Posted by carnation

For southern PNMs and maybe for others: Sorority Guide, Everything You Need to Know From Alpha to Zeta- by Ceil Howle and Anna Stephens.

Shouldn't it be from "Alpha to Omega"? That reminds me of a class I've subbed for a couple of times. The 6th graders are covering Greece in their ancient history section. They're making a book about everything they've learned, and it's called "Greek ABC Book." Hehehe...

[LucyKKG]

Another ditto for Bound by a Mighty Vow! I saw the author speak at our convention in 2008, and she was a very interesting and insightful woman. She isn't Greek, but she showed a great deal of respect for sororities and the positive influences they had on women around the turn of the century. (You know, turning to the 20th century. )

[pshsx1]

If I see that movie with a bunch of friends, I can see everyone leaving pissed off and breaking something.

Since there's a book about the Deltas posted, I'll post a pretty good one for SPE. It's called OUR JOURNEY OF BROTHERHOOD Sigma Phi Epsilon's First Hundred Years. I learned a lot of info from this book about SPE's history that isn't even in touched in member education.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by pshsx1

If I see that movie with a bunch of friends, I can see everyone leaving pissed off and breaking something.

Since there's a book about the Deltas posted, I'll post a pretty good one for SPE. It's called OUR JOURNEY OF BROTHERHOOD Sigma Phi Epsilon's First Hundred Years. I learned a lot of info from this book about SPE's history that isn't even in touched in member education.

I'd wager that most GLOs more than a few decades old have at least one history book if not more. They are interesting reads. I always keep an eye out for them at used book stores and on used book websites.

[Senusret I]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

I'd wager that most GLOs more than a few decades old have at least one history book if not more. They are interesting reads. I always keep an eye out for them at used book stores and on used book websites.

Me too.