Sororities and fraternities are one thing. But young men and women and their families in the USA want to join elite fraternities and sororities because this can give a person a huge advantage in post-university employment, and possibly allow you to extract financial benefits for decades afterward. And this is true of student societies historically and in many other countries today.
really? As an (somewhat embarrassed) Ivy league fraternity member, I never saw one example of this actually being true. Networking sure, but greek life is just one, and not even particularly potent form, of job networking.
It's possible I was blind to it since I didn't go through corporate recruiting and stayed academic, but it truly didn't seem like anyone's motivation when I was in college.
I wonder if lack of a fraternity and sorority scene in the UK, is due to the fact networking among the children of the elites in the UK starts even earlier in life, at public schools. Historically, by the time you went up to a university, you were already well set on an elite path.
A general observation would be that in-group and out-group behaviour in teens and early stage adults is normal, but normalising the formalism of being in or out is a regressive tendency.
you may like it. Lots of people don't and it's their business because its about all of us in the end.
That said, Geraldo opening skull and bones vaults Doonesbury is a great cartoon sequence.
A better model might be "erasmus" -a European norm, which has led to strong bonds, without the hazing and drinking rituals.
Paying to have friends sounds a lot like "college" in general to this nerd.
I was always told "wait until you get to college and you'll find those people." Plus there's the common narrative of college friends you'll have for the rest of your life.
Yeah it wasn’t my experience either to be fair, I don’t talk to a single person from that time any longer. I found some of those experiences elsewhere in life though and I hope you did too!
You are joining a cult which doubles as a long term support group. Since race and shared experience are no longer unifying social pillars, frats and sororities fill the void. Initiates pledge allegiance and loyalty to the cult and its goals and these commitments are verified through psychological tests.
Fraternities are not for everyone but I enjoyed my time in one. I am still close friends with at least 20 of my fraternity brothers. We have had several reunions in the past few years where I have seen over 50 of them.
Other than the omnipotent self-appointed leader, a Frat/Sorority satisfies every definition of cult. If you assign some metaphysical form to the Frat-house, then that final exclusion can also be considered satisfied. Remember, as much as we might hate on them, cults provide community. Mormonism started as a cult, and is now a successful religion by every metric we have.
The issue with Frats is not the cultishness. It's that they're (practically) imposed onto young-adults at the most vulnerable stage of their life.
Frats (the legacy ones at least) by their own admission, breed a strict form of tribalism. 'Us vs Them' mindsets, 'anything for a brother, anything', trauma bonding, infinite cycles of abuse, you name it. These aren't accusations. These are on their marketing pamphlet.
Then comes the more recent culture of modern frats. "Drink till you wake up besides a drunk stranger who couldn't possibly have consented"; "Do a kind-of illegal thing to stay in the frat"; or the blatant 'pay2win' nature of it all. I know people in exclusive Ivy-league frats who were initially looked down upon because they weren't white, but were able to buy their way into the Frat, and to be clear I am talking about children of multi-multi-millionaires here. 'Professional Organization'? Hah, more like weaponized nepotism.
I hate sounding like a communist here, but this is very much the future capitalistic class. By being able to consistently separate themselves from the labor force, they can both dehumanize the others and collude to ensure the future prosperity of their community. Lots of rich people are rich, not because they provide capitalistic efficiency, but because they effectively function as cartels.
Frats aren't exactly popular for producing professionals in the STEM field. Real estate, Car dealerships, Investment Banking and Politics seem to be the most common stereotypical professions. All of these professions are known for nepotism, cartelizing and corruption.
Complaining about Frats is so early-2000s. But, the article seems to express surprise about the most well-known traits of frats. So I guess I am not being as much of a Captain Obvious as I would've thought.
