Quote:
Originally Posted by ausguals
i didn't even know they existed on our campus.
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For those not familiar with UGA, the Greek community is quite close. There are lots of cross-friendships in the campus church groups and other organizations, and we attend each other's parties to a degree that I have not seen at other campuses.
TKE exists completely outside of that sphere, and are about the only GLO with a house that does so.
That in and of itself is okay- to each his own. What I object to is that back in my time TKE marketed themselves in a way completely opposite from this reality. They spoke about planned mixers etc. And they called every freaking day during formal rush- and even after. Once I finally told them the 2 houses I was rushing, they STILL did not give up even though that should have been a big clue. They most targeted people like me who were out of state, or people who came into the Greek system not knowing how it works. So it was all about getting numbers and going after the rushees who were least likely to know what was happening.
Some of my eventual pledge brothers got the same treatment, and a couple of guys in my rush group who were naive bought into it and pledged there.
Well, as seems to always be the case- a week or two later a bunch of their pledges left, including one guy in my rush group who I had hoped would pledge with me.
And so every semester you have this small group of guys who quit, and they either give up on Greek life or they rush again in the spring with the fact they once pledged TKE hanging over their heads- which can and does hurt their chances.
Even after rush was over, 3 of my pledge brothers and I were still getting calls to see if we had pledged anywhere (they were willing to- in violation of IFC rules at the time, and I assume now- pledge us after bid cards were due to the IFC office), and later on to see if we were STILL pledges- again with the offer to come there if we decided to depledge our current choice.
At a school the size of UGA, there is plenty of room for a fraternity that is not part of the general Greek social system. We have several here at Texas- including one "un-fraternity" with a damn nice house and a solid membership history. I don't see why they don't go a more honest route- since the guys who do stay were clearly ok with TKE as it is despite the line they were fed.
So I am not getting on TKE UGA for being that chapter. I AM critizing them for systematically deceiving and screwing over guys who come into the rush process just to keep their numbers up. This goes beyond the usual BS rushees get during rush in my view. The number of people who buy it and later change their mind is a testament to that.
The OP of this thread and I have had a discussion, and I have heard from a couple of other people over the years since I was in school. The stories are the same and it tells me what happened my pledge semester was not an isolated incident.
Hybrid Mode
