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I think the 60s and 70s did a lot to shift the socioeconomic status of Greeks. Prior to WWII, it was a luxury of the WASP upper classes to participate in para-academic life. After the civil rights movements and in Canada, the formation of human rights legislation, you started to see other groups become part of Greek life. Black fraternities would have been impossible in 1869 when my fraternity started, yet now we see movies about them (ie Stomp the Yard).
Something else is that the animal house attitude sure took off. I think the problems we have now with the stereotype of a fraternity house being filled with dope smokers and alcoholics who are only going to "gut" courses to get financial aid. Well, I've never smoked dope, nor accepted any authentic financial aid beyond some scholarships I won in high school. In the 1930s, this attitude would be a lot less prevelent, as the luxury of Greek life was still a time of respect for Greek values which were more traditional.
Was the socialization of the Greek system during the 1970s a bad thing? Certainly, as society shifted, we evolved to appeal to a new breed of pledge. Had we still been wearing cardigan sweaters with the university initials, or mandated ties for our members (long a pet project of mine as a AAA) we might not have survived into the t-shirt and jeans culture. Was this wrong? In many ways, we rejected the ideals we were founded upon and found new ideals, ones which were more hedonistic and selfish.
Call me a romantic, but I would have loved to be a Kappa Sig during the 50s or late 40s. I think men and women were different back then, and we would have had many advantages which were lost as the fraternity became a social alternative to a poker game.
Tom
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