Rushing currently, have a few questions

[Firehouse]

You'll have a different expereince as a Founder than you will as a member of a top tier fraternity. Both experiences are legit and positive; they're just different. As a Founder you're wrapped up in the excitement of expansion and striving together toward the goal of chartering. You have a real influence over the individuals who are selected for membership so you can help form the persoanlity of the fraternity.
On the other hand, as a brother in a top tier house you are surrounded by the movers and shakers of the campus, by men who want and expect to always be part of the championship team. A top tier fraternity at a major university produces the future leaders of the state, and the alumni network is extremely valuable.
In terms of social life, yes it's true that a confident man can enjoy a good social life in spite of being in a lower tier house. But the fact is that top fraternities and top sororities tend to mix together, and it similarly goes down the ladder all the way to the bottom.
I've seen men in a top tier chapter told, "By the time you leave here, you'll never walk into any Board room and be intimidated; you'll never lack confidence in the presence of any beautiful woman."

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Originally Posted by Firehouse

You'll have a different expereince as a Founder than you will as a member of a top tier fraternity. Both experiences are legit and positive; they're just different. As a Founder you're wrapped up in the excitement of expansion and striving together toward the goal of chartering. You have a real influence over the individuals who are selected for membership so you can help form the persoanlity of the fraternity.
On the other hand, as a brother in a top tier house you are surrounded by the movers and shakers of the campus, by men who want and expect to always be part of the championship team. A top tier fraternity at a major university produces the future leaders of the state, and the alumni network is extremely valuable.
In terms of social life, yes it's true that a confident man can enjoy a good social life in spite of being in a lower tier house. But the fact is that top fraternities and top sororities tend to mix together, and it similarly goes down the ladder all the way to the bottom.
I've seen men in a top tier chapter told, "By the time you leave here, you'll never walk into any Board room and be intimidated; you'll never lack confidence in the presence of any beautiful woman."

Correlation is not causation.

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by Firehouse

You'll have a different expereince as a Founder than you will as a member of a top tier fraternity. Both experiences are legit and positive; they're just different. As a Founder you're wrapped up in the excitement of expansion and striving together toward the goal of chartering. You have a real influence over the individuals who are selected for membership so you can help form the persoanlity of the fraternity.
On the other hand, as a brother in a top tier house you are surrounded by the movers and shakers of the campus, by men who want and expect to always be part of the championship team. A top tier fraternity at a major university produces the future leaders of the state, and the alumni network is extremely valuable.
In terms of social life, yes it's true that a confident man can enjoy a good social life in spite of being in a lower tier house. But the fact is that top fraternities and top sororities tend to mix together, and it similarly goes down the ladder all the way to the bottom.
I've seen men in a top tier chapter told, "By the time you leave here, you'll never walk into any Board room and be intimidated; you'll never lack confidence in the presence of any beautiful woman."

This is one of the dumbest things I've ever heard.

Success and confidence can be obtained, but it isn't handed to you just because you're a founder of "top-tiered" ABC fraternity. You get out of Greek life what you put in. That goes for any chapter on any campus.

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by Firehouse

Does top tier status breed arrogance, as 'DubaiSis' charges? You're dealing with 18-21 year old males, so yes, the confidence and pride displayed by top chapters on every major campus are often viewed as arrogance.

Maybe that's because they're being told things like this:

I've seen men in a top tier chapter told, "By the time you leave here, you'll never walk into any Board room and be intimidated; you'll never lack confidence in the presence of any beautiful woman."

Just because someone says this to you, doesn't mean it's true.

...the top fraternities routinely produce the top performers, the top leaders, and eventually the top contributors to their university. It's hard to think of any famous, accomplished man who was in a college fraternity who was not in a top tier chapter when he was there. Off the top of my head: Sam Walton, George Bush, John Wayne, Warren Buffet, Jon Stewart, David Letterman, T. Boone Pickens, Burt Reynolds, Michael Jordan, Eli Manning, lots of Congressmen on both the left and the right...

It sounds to me like you're saying that only if you're famous can you be considered successful. There are so many people in this world who are successful, and you couldn't possibly know them all. And I guarantee that those that are Greek didn't all come from "leading chapters."

And quite frankly, even if all of these famous people were in "leading fraternity chapters," it doesn't mean that everyone else in those chapters is successful.

I believe that people make their own success, regardless of where they come from.

[Firehouse]

To ASTAlumna06
OK. I say with respect, I think you probably do understand what I'm saying, you just do not care for the narrative.
The truth is that 'programming' is not what differentiates one fraternity chapter from another. The truth is that individual fraternity reputations flow from the composition of their memberships. College men are drawn toward fraternities composed of men like themselves.
Here are two chapters on the same campus: AAA and Tri-Chi. The AAA fraternity is large, well housed with powerful alumni support, strong in athletics and campus leadership. Their members are aggressive, confident, ambitious. They sustain their standing by recruiting men who want the same things
Tri-Chi is very different. They are not a large fraternity and see no reason to grow. The play intramurals for fun not for glory. If a member happens to win some office on campus they are happy for him but they don't particularly attach that achievement to the chapter at large. They tend to be low key, non-competitive, non-aggressive.
Who has the better college Greek experience? Well, that depends on the individual. AAA and XXX both draw specific types of individuals to their chapters, and those guys WANT to be in THOSE chapters. All of the members in both chapters can have rewarding Greek Life expereicnes if they make the effort.
Now...Go back to the original premise. If you desire to be the Governor or a corporate CEO or a pro quarterback or a lion of Wall Street, you are going to be drawn to AAA. If you are just a laid-back type with little compelling ambition to be in the limelight, then XXX my be for you.
The movie 'Animal House' illustrated both types. The author Chris Miller was a member of Alpha Delta Phi at Dartmouth where his chapter was very much like Delta Tau Chi of the movie. I'm guessing that every fraternity in Amercia could cast that wonderful movie with emmebrs from their own individual chapter. But Miller, needing a foil to make the story work, and being from an Animal House chapter himself, made the Omegas to be the guys whose stories ended badly and the Deltas into the later-in-life success stories.
But that's not the way it really works. Sure, Miller is a great success, but in real life it is the Omegas who end up running the show. In the movie, the hero John Belushi ends up as a United States Senator. In the real world, as we know, Belushi dies of a drug overdose.

[MysticCat]

You're trying too hard, Firehouse. Way too hard.

[Firehouse]

OK. Probably. I haven't posted in a long time and I got bored. And chatty.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by Firehouse

OK. Probably. I haven't posted in a long time and I got bored. And chatty.

LOL. Don't be a stranger!