frats

[andrew in philadelphia]

very nice to hear h-man was in one. not because i'm a lover of frats or anything, but more that it breaks down some of the stereotypes associated with those organizations - and the people who join them.

speaking of frat stereotypes, anyone have any hilarious/violent/view-changing recollections of interactions with greek organizations they'd like to share? all stories must include one of the following elements:

- extreme hazing
- goldfish swallowings
- competing against other frats via dance shows/javelin tossings
- smashing up another frat's stuff (real good)

[Sarah]

I just remember that both fraternities and sororities were a bunch of bratty cry-babies when they didn't receive the bulk of the money available for student extracurricular activities at the University of Maine, Orono, the year my sister Jane and I decided on a whim to bring down the student government (rigged election, double standards, bare-faced lying--just like the big leagues).  Their sense of entitlement was monumental.  I hated them.

[andrew in philadelphia]

wow. i'm speechless. rigged election? how karl rove-ian of you. very nice.

EDIT: i'm being sincere. it's amazing how sarcastic these posts can sound sometimes.

[gravy boat]

When I was a high school senior we went to the Univ. of Rhode Island to visit a freshman buddy who was in a frat.  We hung out at his frat for a while and then went to another frat's party. By the next dawn, I had been beaten up pretty good by three of those frat's "brothers."  (I probably deserved it -- threw up in some guy's closet -- but the numbers were unfair -- any one of them could have taken me in my condition.) Worse -- my friend, the guy in a frat, and one of the nicest guys I've ever known, passed out and then had one of his eyebrows shaved by his frat brothers. Most everyone in the frat seemed to find this hilarious the next day. 

No frats for me when I went to school.

[Bryan]

my sister Jane and I decided on a whim to bring down the student government (rigged election, double standards, bare-faced lying--just like the big leagues). 

I'd really like to hear more. Were the rigged election, double standards, etc. the reason you decided to bring the student government down, or your methods in bringing it down?

[Pete Velcro]

I thought about joining a frat in college but then decided I would rather not pay for friends. The one frat I attended with regularity was called TKE, and they were the black sheeps of the greek community. I remember being in their house for the first time and thinking that an actual crack house couldn't be all that different.  The frattiest thing I ever witnessed there was the time they heaved a flaming mattress out of the second story window. Ahh...old friends, bookends.

[andrew in philadelphia]

i like where this thread is going. more rigged elections, more flaming mattresses please .

[Sarah]

You're going to be sorry you asked . . .

The candidate we liked for president--who had a sort of funny radio show called "The Street Drunks" (terrible music but worth it for the jokes, especially the weekly wine and cheese report)--won the election but then had his title removed (his VP was kicked out as well).  The reason?  The people within student government in charge of reviewing the election--who favored the runners-up--decided that an ad broadcast on the college TV station that he had made using college equipment should be listed in the budget at the price it would have cost had it been made professionally, which pushed his budget over the limit allowed for campaigning.  Pissed off, my sister and I got hold of the new pres's budget, reviewed it line by line, and found that he had overspent by $40 (!!).  There were emergency senate meetings galore.  Attempts were made to conceal and then fudge the records.  I was accused of being an outside agitator who was pulling my sister's strings (she was a student; I wasn't).  Senate meetings were scheduled, canceled, then rescheduled a few hours later in the hopes that we wouldn't attend them.  It was all very sleazy.  In the end, the runner-up who became president was ousted because of the budget screwup.  Oddly, though, his VP was allowed to ascend to the presidency, even though both the legitimately elected president and vice president had both been booted for the overage in the president's budget.  We were pretty sure this was rigged in order to keep the guys who had come in third--a Somali and an Iraqi--from taking hold of the reins of power.  But by then we were worn out and the semester was over, so we gave up the fight.

It was a very strange hobby.  All I have left of it is a vague memory of Robert's Rules of Order, which I enjoyed poring over for the wherewithal to make obscure objections during sessions of the student senate.

I am prone to brief, violent passions, rare oases in an otherwise neutral desert of exhaustion and indifference.

Note:  gravy boat, I don't agree that vomiting in someone's closet is grounds for a beating.  Annoyance and disgust, sure.  Bruises, no.

[joanna]

i went to a school that had local fraternities and sororities, which they claimed was so the greek system at our school didn't have to conform to outdated practices of national organizations.

however, while i was there, there was a sorority that included in its pledge week an exercise where each stripped down to her underwear and circled on her body in permanent marker the parts of her body she pledged to "work on."

and! a frat was shut down when it was discovered that they had instituted a points system for sexual acts with fellow students when one of their scoring sheets was found on the floor of a meeting room that they shared with a sorority.

oh college.

[yesno]

I ran a "wacky" campaign with overt fascist overtones and got my friend elected to every high school student govt office simultaneously. The "man" only let him have one office, though.

[samir]

I was in a fraternity for a couple of years, and only left because of time constraints. Rather enjoyed my time there, so it's a shame to see that most people seem to have a single "all frat guys are date-rapists" perception.

[iAmBaronVonTito]

unfortunately, any movie i've seen, or person i've known, or stories i've heard about frats put the entire concept in a negative light.  same goes for sororities.  not to mention, in movies, the black sheep are soon molded to be just like the frats we're supposed to dislike...but with a heart of gold.

[joanna]

it's not so much that i think that all frat guys are date rapists but that all date rapists are frat guys.

anyway, at every school there are the good frats and the bad frats. i think that's just universal. having the bad frats there lets all the assholes find and hang out with each other and leave everyone else alone. kind of like how theater lets all the freaks find each other in high school*. it's just a means to an end.

*spoken as a former theater freak.

[Pete Velcro]

it's not so much that i think that all frat guys are date rapists but that all date rapists are frat guys.

anyway, at every school there are the good frats and the bad frats. i think that's just universal. having the bad frats there lets all the assholes find and hang out with each other and leave everyone else alone. kind of like how theater lets all the freaks find each other in high school*. it's just a means to an end.

*spoken as a former theater freak.

My sentiments exactly. A lot of my good friends were in frats.  I just sort of skipped it. And, don't get me wrong, there are few things cooler than an airborn flaming mattress.

[Susannah]

Andrew in Philadelphia, you should check out the Pi Lam house at 3914 Spruce Street in West Philly.  I saw some really great shows there while I was a college student--it's a the co-ed, self-described "punk rock" frat with a conscience.  That might sound insufferable, but many friends of mine were in it, and each year they sponsor the Human Barbeque, which is a really fun all-day music festival.  I've seen Dalek, Kid 606, the Trolleyvoxx, the Walkmen, the Liars etc. there.

I'm not sure if it was their first show, but Psychotic Norman definitely played there in the mid-80s!