Fraternity or Sorority in Europe?

[Tulip86]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

As a generalization—perhaps a significant over-generalization—I'd say that traditionally the things that have set fraternities apart from other clubs include:

• An emphasis on brotherhood (hence the name "fraternity");
• An emphasis on specific values and principles that are intended to be guides for members' interations with each other, interactions with society, education and/or life in general;
• A coherent system of rituals, particularly initiation rituals, and symbols (usually including the Greek letters themselves), the content and meaning of which is usually known only by members, that express and reinforce the values and principles central to the fraternity;
• An emphasis on providing for some kind of common life—social life, mutual support, service to others, and/or room and board—to members;
• Exclusive membership, meaning membership by invitation only, and usually (though not always) single-sex membership; and
• At least for national or international fraternities, connections with students at other universities and with alumni after university.

Frankly, I think it would be really interesting to see what a group that combines some of these traits with the traditions of European student societies might look like.

That would look like most Dutch fraternities and sororities.
One of the things I noticed about "Greek" life when I got here (the Netherlands) is that it resembles the American Greek system a lot. They just have local, city-wide groups and the setup is different between universities to suit the scale and style of the city. They don't have Greek letters, but a name instead. Some groups are on their own, some are part of larger associations and that is where you really see the old European traditions (no fencing though). But at their core, they're all pretty similar to the Greek system.

Rituals, alumni-involvement, leadership, specific values, friendship, recruiting, activities, pledging, parties, mixers, formals, traditions? All there.
The tent-talk and the gossip are present. Even the tales about hazing are the exact same stories I heard in high school.


Trèves, my friends founded new groups so they could found them to fit in with campus culture and make sure it was something that could grow and thrive. I agree with MysticCat that it would be a good idea to look at those things you like about the American fraternities and adapt them to something that suits your group and would work at your university.

[Trèves]

@MysticCat
By 'project', I mean the whole organisation/fraternity.

I would not take it as a truly accurate representation of what fraternities are about

I am aware that those movies are not an accurate representation but it was the first time I heard about fraternities when I watched them.

@Tulip86

That would look like most Dutch fraternities and sororities.
One of the things I noticed about "Greek" life when I got here (the Netherlands) is that it resembles the American Greek system a lot. They just have local, city-wide groups and the setup is different between universities to suit the scale and style of the city. They don't have Greek letters, but a name instead. Some groups are on their own, some are part of larger associations and that is where you really see the old European traditions (no fencing though). But at their core, they're all pretty similar to the Greek system.

I visited some websites of fraternities in the Netherlands (Maastricht). They look very similar to American fraternities.

I will do some more research and maybe I am going to start something like that at my university.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by Tulip86

That would look like most Dutch fraternities and sororities.

One of the things I noticed about "Greek" life when I got here (the Netherlands) is that it resembles the American Greek system a lot. They just have local, city-wide groups and the setup is different between universities to suit the scale and style of the city. They don't have Greek letters, but a name instead. Some groups are on their own, some are part of larger associations and that is where you really see the old European traditions (no fencing though). But at their core, they're all pretty similar to the Greek system.

Rituals, alumni-involvement, leadership, specific values, friendship, recruiting, activities, pledging, parties, mixers, formals, traditions? All there.
The tent-talk and the gossip are present. Even the tales about hazing are the exact same stories I heard in high school.

Really interesting. Thanks for the info. Are these groups single-sex?

And as for the bolded, that's certaily not without precedent in North America. While the vast majority of fraternities and sororities use Greek letter names, not all do, or did. Consider Triangle, Acacia, FarmHouse, Ceres, . . . . And, of course, there's the case of Sinfonia, a name which our tradition says was taken from the name of a German student organization that the Director of New England Consevratory, George W. Chadwick, had been initiated into while studying at the Royal Conservatory in Leipzig.

[Tulip86]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

Really interesting. Thanks for the info. Are these groups single-sex?

And as for the bolded, that's certaily not without precedent in North America. While the vast majority of fraternities and sororities use Greek letter names, not all do, or did. Consider Triangle, Acacia, FarmHouse, Ceres, . . . . And, of course, there's the case of Sinfonia, a name which our tradition says was taken from the name of a German student organization that the Director of New England Consevratory, George W. Chadwick, had been initiated into while studying at the Royal Conservatory in Leipzig.

Most are single-sex, there are a few mixed groups. The larger associations are even same-sex in a few cases, though in a lot of cities two same-sex groups have formed a larger coed association (up to 2700 members in some cases ). It seems so work very well here. Membership has been growing steadily in the past 10 years.

I completely blanked on the non-Greek letter fraternities and sororities in the US. Their names are very similar to those in the Netherlands. There's even a group here called Ceres, though it's a larger association not a sorority but it is associated with a university that specializes in agriculture.

Originally Posted by Trèves

I visited some websites of fraternities in the Netherlands (Maastricht). They look very similar to American fraternities.

I will do some more research and maybe I am going to start something like that at my university.

Good luck, if you need any more info feel free to send me a PM.