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.
