Quote:
Originally Posted by DrPhil
So, now you are reducing our replies to the demand for "PC terms?"
Perhaps your chapter would consist of non-Americans as far as the OP is concerned. He may prefer being the token in a chapter. It seems that he wants to be accepted but doesn't want "too many others" accepted as to reduce the American fraternity experience for him. Quite a conundrum.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by knight_shadow
So I got an unusual, international college experience? Wow. That Texas university sure fooled me.
As stated earlier, he wants to join a fraternity with white membership (since we're not beating around the bush).
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To both posts, I don't think this is remotely what he meant. I think he chose his words poorly, but to me it seems like he is looking for a particular experience, not a particular ethnic group. He wants to join a fraternity that offers the stereotypical American experience: the big parties with elaborate props and bands, the sorority exchanges, living in a house, the intramurals, etc. I think the number of chapters outside the IFC/Panhellenic umbrella groups that can offer this experience are extremely limited (if they even exist), and frankly many schools can't offer this experience even with their IFC/Panhellenic GLOs.
Yes, I understand that due to America's de facto segregation that the majority of the participants in chapters like these are Caucasian, or at least identify with Caucasian cultures more than they do their own. I don't think racial ideals are the driving force behind his desire though, I think that he wants to experience the broadest level of American "culture" (think baseball, Dylan, apple pie, whatever) during his time here. America is a land with a huge diversity in culture, and many of them are extremely marginalized, but I don't think it's inappropriate to want to experience the mainstream culture when studying abroad. And once again, yes I understand that this stereotypical experience is primarily driven by the power majority which is Caucasian, in the same way that the British tea/football/rugby/pub culture reflects the Caucasian population rather than the scores of Indian immigrants. That still doesn't make me think it's inappropriate to purposefully seek out when studying abroad.
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