U of Minnesota Sorority Recruitment Feb 2004

[lake]

I realize this is a wayyy old thread, but I was wondering if anyone else who's familiar with U of M - Twin Cities shared my impression that the campus as a whole seems ultra-unfriendly to Greeks? I know this is definitely the case on other (most other?) campuses, but here it seems especially true.

I originally rushed there (this was late 80s/early 90s) and found that some people thought that was a generally uncool thing (the Greek system). Also, one of my friends who DID end up joining the Greek system there later told me that Greeks generally didn't wear their letters around campus because of an almost hostile, in-your-face attitude from non-Greeks when/if they did. I'm not sure how true this is because I never did get to wear letters there (I dropped out of rush after preference)!

Anyway, I guess I attributed it to the fact that Minnesota, and especially the Twin Cities, is so "liberal" and since the Greeks are kind of the most high-profile opposite of this, maybe that's why Greek life is not as popular, but then I guess the fact that it's a commuter school, etc. DOES have an influence too.

Thoughts?

[GeekyPenguin]

Originally Posted by lake

I realize this is a wayyy old thread, but I was wondering if anyone else who's familiar with U of M - Twin Cities shared my impression that the campus as a whole seems ultra-unfriendly to Greeks? I know this is definitely the case on other (most other?) campuses, but here it seems especially true.

I originally rushed there (this was late 80s/early 90s) and found that some people thought that was a generally uncool thing (the Greek system). Also, one of my friends who DID end up joining the Greek system there later told me that Greeks generally didn't wear their letters around campus because of an almost hostile, in-your-face attitude from non-Greeks when/if they did. I'm not sure how true this is because I never did get to wear letters there (I dropped out of rush after preference)!

Anyway, I guess I attributed it to the fact that Minnesota, and especially the Twin Cities, is so "liberal" and since the Greeks are kind of the most high-profile opposite of this, maybe that's why Greek life is not as popular, but then I guess the fact that it's a commuter school, etc. DOES have an influence too.

Thoughts?

A lot of my friends from law school did their undergrad there (and were Greek) and definitely found that to be true. I have a lot of friends from high school that go there as well (yay for reciprocity!) and a lot of them are just aghast that I joined a sorority.

It's actually pretty sad, because most of the sororities at the U are really down to earth and not overly stereotypical - I think that a lot of people would like them, if given the chance.

[jubilance1922]

Originally Posted by lake

I realize this is a wayyy old thread, but I was wondering if anyone else who's familiar with U of M - Twin Cities shared my impression that the campus as a whole seems ultra-unfriendly to Greeks? I know this is definitely the case on other (most other?) campuses, but here it seems especially true.

I originally rushed there (this was late 80s/early 90s) and found that some people thought that was a generally uncool thing (the Greek system). Also, one of my friends who DID end up joining the Greek system there later told me that Greeks generally didn't wear their letters around campus because of an almost hostile, in-your-face attitude from non-Greeks when/if they did. I'm not sure how true this is because I never did get to wear letters there (I dropped out of rush after preference)!

Anyway, I guess I attributed it to the fact that Minnesota, and especially the Twin Cities, is so "liberal" and since the Greeks are kind of the most high-profile opposite of this, maybe that's why Greek life is not as popular, but then I guess the fact that it's a commuter school, etc. DOES have an influence too.

Thoughts?

I graduated in 2004, and I didn't find that to be the case. I had friends in NPC, IFC, NPHC, and NALFO orgs, and we all wore letters and had many successful campus events. I never had a problem with non-Greeks or heard of any stories about incidents between Greeks and non-Greeks.