Greek Life, Is It More Than Just Letters?

[aoiicheer]

Hey all! I'm doing a paper for class about Greek Life and was wondering if ya'll could help me on filling out my questionnaire. It would be greatly appreciated!!! Thanks so much!!!

First, tell me what school you go to and if you are a part of Greek Life, what sorority/fraternity you belong to.

For Non-Greeks:

1) What do you think Greek Life is like?

2)What nicknames do you have for Greeks?

3) What are the different stereotypes for Greeks? Do you think any of them are legitimate? Why do you feel this way?

4) What are you feelings about Greeks?

5) Do you ever want/wish to be part of Greek Life? Why or why not?

6) Do you have any friends in Greek Life? Do you feel your relationship with them is affected by them being in Greek Life?

7) Have you ever been to a sorority/fraternity event or party? What was it and how was it?

8) What do you think being in a sorority/fraternity would be like?


For Greeks:

1) Do you feel that Greek Life has a bad reputation? What do you think fuels this? Do you think these reputations are legitimate?

2) How has joining a sorority/fraternity affected you?

3) Do you think that Greek Life is more than just social?

4) Do you really think you're buying your friends? Why or why not?

5) How did joining the sisterhood/brotherhood affect your previous relationships or friendships? Do you still have them?

6) What are the fads, statements, or unwritten codes of trends & styles in your sorority/fraternity?

7) What kinds of rules do you have for you house or floor regarding alcohol, drugs, opposite sex, etc.? How do you feel about these?

8) Do you have any "activities" for pledges to become sisters/brothers? What kind?

9) What's Greek Week like for you? What kinds of activities are there?

10) Have you ever fought with another sister/brother? What about? How bad was it? Did this affect the rest of the chapter?

11) Do you know of any sorority/fraternity feuds? What kinds?

12) What kinds of philanthropies do you have? How often do you have them?

13) Describe formal recruitment (or rush) for you. Feelings? Emotions?

And finally for those who have alumned: Do you feel that being a part of Greek Life has helped you or not helped you in anyway? How?

[33girl]

You might want to double check with your professor that anonymous posters on a message board (whose Greek affiliation or lack of same cannot necessarily be confirmed) are an acceptable form of research for this paper. I would hate to see you put work into this or have other people go to the time and trouble of answering the questions and then have it not be usable for you.

[kddani]

Originally posted by 33girl
You might want to double check with your professor that anonymous posters on a message board (whose Greek affiliation or lack of same cannot necessarily be confirmed) are an acceptable form of research for this paper. I would hate to see you put work into this or have other people go to the time and trouble of answering the questions and then have it not be usable for you.

Ditto. Also wondering what kind of class this is for that you can write a paper on greek life

If you truly want people to take the time to answer your questions, some more background information would be helpful and give you more credibility.

[PsychTau2]

I too would check your sampling method. Depending on how you defined your population and what your research design is, getting responses from GC would bias your results and you would be unable to generalize from them.

That being said, I am interested in knowing more background about your paper. It sounds like it could be interesting (based on the questions you ask).

PsychTau

[chideltjen]

Could be a freshman English paper. Or communications class. I knew of a few people that had classes where they would just have to write some form of a research paper on ANYTHING.

[aoiicheer]

I'm doing this for a Comp II class. We are writing argumentive papers on whatever we choose. Being in a Sorority from the school I transferred from, to a school that has no Greek Life, I have been given weird looks and talked about for being in a Sorority. I decided to write my paper and prove all the looks wrong. I wanted different points of views on Greek Life from all across the country since I know Greek Life is different from school to school. That's why I did the interview.

[LightBulb]

Originally posted by aoiicheer
For Greeks:

1) Do you feel that Greek Life has a bad reputation? What do you think fuels this? Do you think these reputations are legitimate?
Yes, some people talk badly about greek life. This is because people don't understand everything about being greek if they are not. Greek stereotypes are fueled by meeting sisters or brothers who have a few characteristics of the stereotypem or by rumors. Some reputations of individual chapters are probably legitimate, but far and wide, they are not. After all, all Greeks pledge to certain standards of ideals.

2) How has joining a sorority affected you?
I am more of a leader. I have a lot of responsibilities, but I am also privileged to know that I have thousands of sisters. I have a lot of fun being in a sorority too... from picking out my first letters with my big sis to dancing at our formal to preparing for chapter installation later this month!

3) Do you think that Greek Life is more than just social?
Definitely - it is a strong bond of loyalty. I am not embarrassed to be silly around sisters. See #4 for lots of other things greek life provides.

4) Do you really think you're buying your friends? Why or why not?
No, like in many organizations, dues pay for many things. They go towards service projects, social events, recruiting new members, celebration of traditions and rituals, and welcoming visiting sisters from other chapters.

5) How did joining the sisterhood affect your previous relationships or friendships? Do you still have them?
I have not lost any friendships or relationships, but I have gained many more!

6) What are the fads, statements, or unwritten codes of trends & styles in your sorority/fraternity?
At my school...
One style is big, often colorful chandelier earrings.
Another is flip flops, including flip flops with our sorority letters on them.

7) What kinds of rules do you have for you house or floor regarding alcohol, drugs, opposite sex, etc.? How do you feel about these?
(We do not have sorority housing at my school.)

8) Do you have any "activities" for pledges to become sisters/brothers? What kind?
We do not participate in hazing, but we have new member education. New members learn about the sorority in weekly classes. They also plan a service project.

9) What's Greek Week like for you? What kinds of activities are there?
Greek Week changed this year. This year we had:
Publicity Day (wear letters), Greek Olympics (each sorority and fraternity competes against each other in things like pie eating contest, tug-of-war, baseball throw, etc.), Greek Carnival for the Kidz (each organization hosted games like bean bag toss or cupcake walk for kids attending a local school. The event was held at our school), and Greek Fest (an outdoor, school-sponsored party for all Greeks).

10) Have you ever fought with another sister? What about? How bad was it? Did this affect the rest of the chapter?
Of course, everybody fights, even with family members. However, being sisters is a strong bond, and it makes you want to quit fighting, which happens.

11) Do you know of any sorority/fraternity feuds? What kinds?
Three fraternities on campus always try to beat each other at everything (spray painting the rock over each other's letters multiple times in the same night, etc.).

12) What kinds of philanthropies do you have? How often do you have them?
1 Cynthia Milk Fund - local. We raise money to buy milk formula for local families who can't afford it.
2 Eating Disorders Coalition of Tennessee - local. We sponsor Eating Disorders Awareness Week, participate in a 5K, and built a resource collection about eating disorders in the school library.
3 Habitat for Humanity - national. We hope to help in a build soon. We donated housewarming gifts.
4 Pine Mountain Settlement School - national. We donate money and school supplies to an environmental education school in Harlan County, Kentucky.
We generally do something for each philanthropy annually.

13) Describe formal recruitment (or rush) for you. Feelings? Emotions?
Hectic! We have Info Night, where potential sisters meet each Panhellenic sorority, Philanthropy Night, where we talk about our projects and participate in one with potentials, Skit Night, where we perform a fun skit about our sorority, and Pref Night. Bid Day is the next day. Recruitment is nerve-wracking, but fun.

[LightBulb]

Where do you go to school that has no Greek life?

Good reason to write that as a persuasive paper; I'm sure it will be one of the more unique in your class.

[epchick]

Well, I'm a non-greek, so....

1) What do you think Greek Life is like? I think Greek life is great. Having that strong bond of sisterhood is something that i've wanted to have since I was little. I'm also a person that likes to give back to my community, so being able to do that is awesome.

2)What nicknames do you have for Greeks? If I'm taking to my "regular" friends, I just say Greeks, but if i'm talking to my Greek friends, I'll use the sororities/fraternities nicknames

3) What are the different stereotypes for Greeks? Do you think any of them are legitimate? Why do you feel this way? I'm not too sure about the different stereotypes because I really don't listen to them. I know that one sorority has a reputation of being really rude and bitchy, and from experience the stereotype seems to be legit (except for a couple of the girls). I think that people have to find SOMETHING wrong with being Greek, just to be bullies because they don't know what "being Greek" is all about. I also think there is a hint of jealous when it comes to starting and continuing stereotypes. I mean if you continually say that ABC sorority is slutty or whatnot, there has to be some alterior motive to why they continually "pick on" certain sororities.

4) What are you feelings about Greeks? About the people? Except for those certain few girls i talked about in the last question, everyone has been really kind to me. I have been through Rush once before and it was a great experience. I have no "bad" feelings towards any greeks...its all postive.

5) Do you ever want/wish to be part of Greek Life? Why or why not? Yes I do want to be a part of Greek Life for the reasons I stated in the first question...philanthropies and sisterhood. I've been wanting to be in a sorority for the longest time, It is just something i long for.

6) Do you have any friends in Greek Life? Do you feel your relationship with them is affected by them being in Greek Life? I have a couple of friends in a sorority. With the except of one, I think that our friends has NOT being affected by being in Greek Life. They are still the same old goofy people. That exception, well, is the exception. We had both wanted to be in the same sorority, and when it came down to bid day, I didnt reveal the sorority i wanted to be in, so she joined the one she wanted and I went a different way....and she decided to not talk to me again. So i'd say that our friendship was affected....but that was the lone exception. Most of my friends are in sororities and we still talk, hang out, our relationship is the same as it was before they went Greek

7) Have you ever been to a sorority/fraternity event or party? What was it and how was it? I've been to a couple of sorority events. They were NOT parties, just a sort of "lets hang out" type events. It was great, everyone made me feel so welcome

8) What do you think being in a sorority/fraternity would be like? Wonderful. A great learning experience, something i'll treasure forever

[Tom Earp]

This could be an interesting thread. Waiting to hear response from starter of said!

WHAT, WHAT, and WHERE?

[aoiicheer]

I go to Columbia College in Chicago. It's a real big arts school and that's all they focus on. A lot of people at the school feel that sororities/fraternities is just big social clubs for snobs/jocks and that they are too good for this stuff. You guys should see all the looks I get when I wear my letters around campus! Yeah, my paper will definitely be unique for them. Thanks for all the responds! You guys are amazing!

[AOII_LB93]

1) Do you feel that Greek Life has a bad reputation? What do you think fuels this? Do you think these reputations are legitimate? -I think that it can have a bad reputation because a large portion of what people here about greek life can be the negative stereotypes and not the positive aspects that we contribute to the community. It also doesn't help that some greeks act like complete morons and give a bunch of us a bad name. I think they can be legitimate, if people are looking at both the good and bad that greeks do.

2) How has joining a sorority/fraternity affected you?- A lot of my closest friends are AOIIs and my fiance is a Sigma Nu, so we have a lot in common right from the start. I also learned about the importance of community service, scholarship, lifelong friendship loyalty and personal dignity through my sisters and my interactions with others.

3) Do you think that Greek Life is more than just social? - Absolutely! Community service is an integral part of greek life.

4) Do you really think you're buying your friends? Why or why not? - No, I pay to go out to do activities with my non greek friends as well. I paid for activities with a group of people that I had things in common with, not the people. Buying your friends makes it sound like prostitution. =P

5) How did joining the sisterhood/brotherhood affect your previous relationships or friendships? Do you still have them? It didn't, all of the people I was friends with before I was lucky enough to be an AOII, are still my friends. They all encouraged my decision and some are even interested in AI.

6) What are the fads, statements, or unwritten codes of trends & styles in your sorority/fraternity?-I don't know that there are fads or trends with AOII, we've been around for almost 110 years and while the face of AOII has changed, the most important things like our ritual have not.

7) What kinds of rules do you have for you house or floor regarding alcohol, drugs, opposite sex, etc.? How do you feel about these? - House rules were and still are no boys, no alcohol, no drugs in the house. I was fine with them when I was a collegiate, every organization has rules of some sort and you agree to abide by them when you join said organization.

8) Do you have any "activities" for pledges to become sisters/brothers? What kind? - Nope, the new members did all the same stuff that the initiated members did. It was fun being a new member.

9) What's Greek Week like for you? What kinds of activities are there?-Greek week just started on my campus a few years ago, so I'm not sure.

10) Have you ever fought with another sister/brother? What about? How bad was it? Did this affect the rest of the chapter? - Of course, everyone doesn't get along all of the time, but you work it out because you care about one another.

11) Do you know of any sorority/fraternity feuds? What kinds? -None that I know of currently, or even while I was a collegiate. (I graduated in 98)

12) What kinds of philanthropies do you have? How often do you have them? -The chapter I advise( my old chapter) does a lot more philanthropy than we did when I was a collegiate. Strike out arthritis is a big one, (bowling, one dollar donated for each strike to AR), and there is some other stuff on the calendar for fall. I'll get back to you on this one.

13) Describe formal recruitment (or rush) for you. Feelings? Emotions? - As a PNM I hated it, all the houses seemed extra fake, and I was basically promised a bid at another house during their pref. I hated my FR experience. On the other side, having been the recruitment chair, I LOVED IT!

And finally for those who have alumned: Do you feel that being a part of Greek Life has helped you or not helped you in anyway? How? -Absolutely. I'm a lot more outgoing than I was when I started college. I've learned how to ask people questions and make small talk really well. =) I also got involved on the alum level, so it's been a big part of my life right from the start.

P.S. aoiicheer, stop by the AOII message board and say hi, don't feel like you can't connect with your sisters here too. =P

[sdblonde07]

I'm not in a sorority at the moment, but I have the intention of joining one.

1) What do you think Greek Life is like?
Greek life sounds like a lot of fun, though a lot of work. It sounds like a great way to make lifelong friends and contacts, give back to the community, get involved at school and just have fun in general.

2)What nicknames do you have for Greeks?
Depends who I'm talking to-- most of the time I just use general nicknames for the fraternity or sorority (ie- "Theta" for Kappa Alpha Theta or "SAMmy" for Sigma Alpha Mu), though when I'm talking to people unfamiliar with the greek system I tend to refer to them as "the fraternity and sorority people".

3) What are the different stereotypes for Greeks? Do you think any of them are legitimate? Why do you feel this way?
There are plenty of different stereotypes for greek orgs-- both positive and negative, though none of them are necessarily true. Some sororities are known as "rich" ones, some are "skanky", some are the "hot blondes" or "hot brunettes"...though I can honestly say after taking a good look at each one, these stereotypes don't hold true to every member or even a majority of a sorority. With fraternities, it's usually "the one with the hot guys" or something to that effect...I don't particularly feel that these are legitimate stereotypes either.

4) What are you feelings about Greeks?
I think greeks are normal people.

5) Do you ever want/wish to be part of Greek Life? Why or why not?
I do want to be a part of greek life because I think it sounds like fun and it sounds like a great way to meet people.

6) Do you have any friends in Greek Life? Do you feel your relationship with them is affected by them being in Greek Life?
Yes, and yes. You tend to get pulled into greek life and learn about the different events that go on and what each sorority thinks about each fraternity or vice-versa. Also they spend a LOT of time with their greek orgs, so my relationships are affected in that sense.

7) Have you ever been to a sorority/fraternity event or party? What was it and how was it?
I've been to a public new member ritual for a fraternity-- I thought it was very interesting and I enjoyed it. I've also been to fraternity parties and I think they're fun.

8) What do you think being in a sorority/fraternity would be like?
I think it would take up a considerable amount of time and energy, but I think it would be fun, enriching and rewarding.

[Xanthuos]

I wish I had the time to go through and write answers to your questions, but today I'm a little pressed.

I DID just want to say one thing...thank you for using "fraternity" and not frat. My organization, Phi Delta Theta International Fraternity, tries to move away from that term and the negative connotations it can and does represent whenever and wherever it can.

Good luck on your paper!

[KSigkid]

I would be surprised if anonymous posts on a message board would be looked upon as good research. If I were you I'd try to find colleges in the area with Greek life and try to find members there who could help you.