What makes Greek life "hot" in the south?

[33girl]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

True, but given his other posts, I assume he was talking about the Vietnam War and the accompanying Question Authority/Down With Tradition/Never Trust Anyone Over 30 sentiments that caused a significant decline in Greekdom in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Ehh. Overrated. There were still people joining fraternities and sororities, fraternities and sororities just became a different thing for different people (i.e. there were hippies in them). Plus, this really depends what schools you're talking about. Look at some of the smaller state schools in the late 60s and early 70s and you'll see fairly large chapters - because the people going there, for the first time, had the funds to afford it. My school chartered 4 Greek chapters in 1966-1967 (3 of which are still there) so obviously our system wasn't declining.

I just don't think "big membership and big new house" instantly equals "awesome Greek experience," so IMO, the whole discussion is flawed.

[banditone]

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by 33girl

Ehh. Overrated.

The point is that based on his other posts in other threads, I think when he said "meltdown," he was referring to anti-tradition student movement/mentality in general rather than to the civil rights movement. Whether you think he has correctly identified the effects that late 60s-early 70s student movement/mentality is a different discussion.

Originally Posted by 33girl

I just don't think "big membership and big new house" instantly equals "awesome Greek experience," so IMO, the whole discussion is flawed.

I agree completely.

[bowsandtoes]

Originally Posted by 33girl

I just don't think "big membership and big new house" instantly equals "awesome Greek experience," so IMO, the whole discussion is flawed.

I find it funny that so many people on this site feel this way. It seems the majority who do so are from the North, where small chapters and houses seem to be the norm.

Not to criticize those schools, but let me just explain how it is at Texas. The largest chapters tend to be the ones that have the most expensive dues. Even then, the number of men who want to join those chapters is so great that they are able to be extremely selective in who they take. This allows those houses to take pledges classes of 40-50, all of which are quality guys. With a chapter that size, and with dues that high, this means a lot of money for the chapter. More money means bigger nicer houses, huge parties, and a more notable presence on campus. With that presence comes recognition from the rest of the student body. Saying "I'm a Fiji/SAE/Sig Ep" carries a lot more weight than "oh ya I'm in Alpha Beta [insert random greek letter]". And of course, there's always the alumni factor. A chapters that's had a large presense on campus for decades will help much more than some guys who colonized a few years back and live in a converted duplex.


In the end, I'm not saying the small northern chapters aren't 'good' at what they do. I just think that the two different types of chapters we're discussing have different goals, and that should be taken into consideration.

[Benzgirl]

Originally Posted by bowsandtoes

I find it funny that so many people on this site feel this way. It seems the majority who do so are from the North, where small chapters and houses seem to be the norm.

Not to criticize those schools, but let me just explain how it is at Texas. The largest chapters tend to be the ones that have the most expensive dues. Even then, the number of men who want to join those chapters is so great that they are able to be extremely selective in who they take. This allows those houses to take pledges classes of 40-50, all of which are quality guys. With a chapter that size, and with dues that high, this means a lot of money for the chapter. More money means bigger nicer houses, huge parties, and a more notable presence on campus. With that presence comes recognition from the rest of the student body. Saying "I'm a Fiji/SAE/Sig Ep" carries a lot more weight than "oh ya I'm in Alpha Beta [insert random greek letter]". And of course, there's always the alumni factor. A chapters that's had a large presense on campus for decades will help much more than some guys who colonized a few years back and live in a converted duplex.


In the end, I'm not saying the small northern chapters aren't 'good' at what they do. I just think that the two different types of chapters we're discussing have different goals, and that should be taken into consideration.

Let's put this into perspective. Comments were not made on pledge classes of 40-50. They were made on pledge classes of 80-90 and house totals of 200 - 300.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by bowsandtoes

In the end, I'm not saying the small northern chapters aren't 'good' at what they do. I just think that the two different types of chapters we're discussing have different goals, and that should be taken into consideration.

We are in agreement, then. I didn't say you NEVER have an awesome Greek experience w/ big membership and big house, I said that those things don't AUTOMATICALLY make a person the happiest Greek in Greekland or automatically make the chapters the "best."

You would be miserable at my school, I would be miserable at yours. In the end, we both got what made us happy.

[jwright25]

I think this sums up the answer to this whole argument of North vs. South.

Originally Posted by 33girl

You would be miserable at my school, I would be miserable at yours. In the end, we both got what made us happy.