Books on fraternity/Greek life

[Amaterasu]

You don't believe her just because she's the only person to say it?

The world is a big place...

[JonInKC]

I can't believe no one mentioned the Fraternity Gang Rape book. The new pop-up edition for younger readers is especially graphic but not without its charm.

[ThetaPrincess24]

There is also:

Bound by a Mighty Vow: Sisterhood and Women's Fraternities, 1870-1920 by Diana Turk.

I own this book and I highly recommend it to all greek women. Ms. Turk is not a greek herself, but does present women's fraternities in a good light.

To quote part of the back cover: " Bound by a Mighty Vow, a history of the women's greek system, demonstrates that these organizations have always served more serious purposes" rather than being thought of as exclusive clubs for socially inclined college students. " Diana B. Turk explores the founding and development of the earliest sororities...and explains how these groups served as support networks to help the first female collegians succees in the hostile world of nineteenth-century higher education."

Kappa Alpha Theta archives were used as a primary source for this book but several other women's fraternities are also discussed.

[exlurker]

New (2007) Book on Greek Life: Inside Greek U.

A book review, an e-mailed Q & A with the author, and assorted comments can be seen at

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/10/25/greek

I bought a copy a couple of weeks ago, and found it interesting. It isn't anti-Greek, although as the book review mentions, it may not completely please Greeks or college and university administrators.

The author, Alan De Santis, is a faculty member at the U. of Kentucky. There's a substantial amount of discussion of gender roles. A long bibliography indicates a degree of research considerably above that of, say, Pledged. It's unlikely that Inside Greek U. will ever be a runaway best-seller; not quite popular enough in style (still readable, though), and no big ad campaign behind it.

A mild caveat: when De Santis discusses "quota," he gives the impression (at least as I read it) that quota is set by the university or college. That's usually not true -- it's set by Panhellenic using formulas associated with the fairly new release figures method, or by some other math application.

Edited to add: Inside Greek U. has little to say about NPHC, multicultural, Latino/Latina, or Asian social fraternities or sororities. That's a limitation potential buyers / readers may want to be aware of.

[Wolfman]

Biographies (or autobiogrpahies) are places where this information can be found. For Omega Psi Phi luminaries, I've seen discussion of Fraternity experiences for the following:

Biographies:
Langston Hughes by Arnold Ramparsad
Founder,Dr. Ernest E. Just ('Black Apollo of Science') by Kenneth Manning

Autobiographies:
Vernon Jordan
Sterling Brown
Roy Wilkins

[kddani]

Originally posted by JonInKC
I can't believe no one mentioned the Fraternity Gang Rape book. The new pop-up edition for younger readers is especially graphic but not without its charm.

You're disgusting.

[BobbyTheDon]

There is a book called " The Goat Brothers" by a Pike from UC Berkeley.

It has stuff of what the PIkes from his chapter did back in the 60's. It also follows several Pikes' lives. One went onto become an astranaut, another a MLB player.

Really good book, I recommend to everyone.

[LaneSig]

"Goat Brothers" was a memoir of a man and the lives of 3 or 4 of his brothers after their fraternity years.

"Loose Change" by Sarah Davidson (Davis?). She tells about her life at UC-Berkeley in the mid-to late '60's, just as the Free Speech/Anti-war movements began. It's interesting to read about her being all gung-ho sorority girl to becoming part of the movement. (This book was made into a NBC mini-series. It's semi-famous because NBC accidently showed 20 minutes of part 3 before anyone at the network noticed. They interrupted the show, apologized, and then showed part 2. John Belushi made a funny comment about it on an episode of SNL.)

"Toward What Bright Glory?" is a fiction book surrounding fraternity brothers right before World War II starts. It's a little heavy handed, covers a lot of subjects - racism, gays, anti-Semitism, etc. But, it's pretty interesting. It's set at Stanford.
The author, Allen Drury, treats fraternity life respectfully.

Anne Rivers Siddons has written two fiction novels that have sorority backgrounds. "Heartbreak Hotel" is about a sorority girl and her introduction to racism in the mid-50's. Mrs. Siddons used real sorority and fraternity names. It's a pretty good book and fairly accurately portrays attitudes in the deep South in the '50's.
The second book is "Outer Banks". This one alternates between the lives of four sorority sisters during their school years and their lives when they reunite years later. It's interesting. Mrs. Siddons is a member of Chi Omega if I remember correctly. Both books treat sorority life respectfully.

If you can't tell, I love to read, and I read alot. lol

[TriDeltaGal]

Originally posted by LaneSig
Anne Rivers Siddons has written two fiction novels that have sorority backgrounds. "Heartbreak Hotel" is about a sorority girl and her introduction to racism in the mid-50's. Mrs. Siddons used real sorority and fraternity names. It's a pretty good book and fairly accurately portrays attitudes in the deep South in the '50's.
The second book is "Outer Banks". This one alternates between the lives of four sorority sisters during their school years and their lives when they reunite years later. It's interesting. Mrs. Siddons is a member of Chi Omega if I remember correctly. Both books treat sorority life respectfully.

Actually, Anne Rivers Siddons is a Delta Delta Delta. She is listed under our "Distinguished Alumnae" on the national website.

I actually read "Heartbreak Hotel" before I even joined DDD so I really impressed after I learned she is a tridelta.

[Greekopedia]

Originally posted by LaneSig
"Goat Brothers" was a memoir of a man and the lives of 3 or 4 of his brothers after their fraternity years.

hmmmm..... travelers? ...

[Sister Havana]

Originally posted by SigKapCoug
I'm going to unfortunately say I don't believe you, as you are the ONLY person on GC (to my knowledge) to ever say she came to your sorority/school while writing the book.

Actually, if she is who I think she is, she was featured in a large section of the book. Unlike the four main characters, her name was not changed.

To keep this on topic, I was going to recommend Loose Change and Goat Brothers too. Both are excellent books.

[ADSigMel]

Originally posted by SigKapCoug
I'm going to unfortunately say I don't believe you, as you are the ONLY person on GC (to my knowledge) to ever say she came to your sorority/school while writing the book.

Sweetie, I'm not saying she came to my sorority/school, I'm saying I'm Melody Twilley (well, I was before I got married, anyway) of the University of Alabama, and I'm featured in the book.

[kddani]

Originally posted by ADSigMel
Sweetie, I'm not saying she came to my sorority/school, I'm saying I'm Melody Twilley (well, I was before I got married, anyway) of the University of Alabama, and I'm featured in the book.

lol, i'm not sure if that's really something to be proud of

[ADSigMel]

Originally posted by kddani
lol, i'm not sure if that's really something to be proud of

Is there any particular reason that you would say something like that to me? Or do you just like to be inconceivably rude to strangers you see on the internet? I'm very proud of who I am, and I hope that you are, too (although your manners certainly leave something to be desired).

[Rudey]

Originally posted by ADSigMel
Is there any particular reason that you would say something like that to me? Or do you just like to be inconceivably rude to strangers you see on the internet? I'm very proud of who I am, and I hope that you are, too (although your manners certainly leave something to be desired).

Melody, kddani has a history of being rude, impolite, and hostile to others for no reason.

I've tried to encourage her to be kind but pay her no attention.