Underground Chapters

[MysticCat]

Originally posted by 33girl
Maybe that's the case. But it's a heck of a lot easier to just say "I went to a party at XYZ. They are an underground fraternity" than "I went to a party at the house that holds men that were members of the former chapter of XYZ who used to be chartered but now are not and are a just a group of people posing as a chapter." I mean, let's get real. No one is going to say that. "Underground" conveys the sense of outlawism and how serious the offense is - kind of like "suicide" vs. "intentional single preference."

Of course, which is why I said earlier that "underground" has taken on a more fluid meaning. Obviously, a short hand is needed. And I wouldn't have a problem with "underground fraternity, which is what you used above, or even "underground house." My problem is with using "underground chapter" to describe a group operating without a national fraternity's authorization.

"Underground" in the context of fraternity operations means "secret" or "clandestine." Thus, for a "chapter" to be "underground," it has to be operating clandestinely with regard to some authority. Historically, the authority in question was the academic institution.

Now, the term is sometimes/often used where the authority is the fraternity itself, or perhaps the fraternity and the academic institution. My only point was that "underground chapter" is probably not the best shorthand for "members of the former chapter of XYZ who used to be chartered but now are not and are a just a group of people posing as a chapter." It's not the best shorthand because (1) "underground chapter" implies that the group really is a chapter of a national GLO when it's not, and (2) "underground chapter" historically has a specific meaning for GLOs: a fully-chartered clandestine chapter, the existence or membership of which is kept secret from -- or at least not admitted to -- the academic institution. One can still find this kind of underground chapter at some schools today.

That's the only reason I questioned "underground chapter" as a good shorthand for renegade groups that a national fraternity doesn't know about or recognize.