You don’t need to have been in a fraternity to understand the culture. There are no secrets. The worst ones are almost always the Southern white guy ones. The same chapters in colleges with different cultures don’t have similar problems. Fraternities in Arizona. Florida , Arkansas, Alabama, Virginia and the outlier Dartmouth New Hampshire have the worst records of hazing and sexual assaults. Alcohol is the main activity and getting girls drunk enough that they will black out and be led to the bedroom is the end goal. Sexism and racism are prevalent There are wonderful fraternities whose goals are to accomplish and do real charity work. There are alcohol free fraternities that don’t have these problems. There are fraternities that don’t do hazing. But the hazing alcohol fueled fraternities are the most popular. |
If UVA claims to be VERY strict about hazing they are failing miserably. They also fail in their dealing with sexual assault cases. |
Inclusion with only a select few who were chosen because they are all similar. And there are rules on what you can and can’t do. One of the best parts of college is meeting so many different kinds of people and you don’t get that as much when you are required to live with the same people. Fraternities down South are all White or all Black. Members of an all white fraternity at the University of Mississippi went out to harass a 30 student protest and three of them started making monkey noises at a Black woman. Weren’t even worried that they were being recorded. Imagine what they do when they aren’t being recorded. Racism at its best |
People in Greek life don’t call them “frats” because they self-importantly feel this is a derogatory term (“Would you call your country a c——?” was how my fratty brother used to earnestly explain to me every time I “forgot”). The rest of us do take great delight in calling them frats, thanks very much. |
yikes |
You don’t address the Why. Why is it necessary to abuse others for 8-10 weeks? Would it be ok to do that to someone as part of the job interview for a consulting job? Why not? You’re likely to try to avoid answering this question by attacking me. No doubt something about me being a big loser who never got into the right frat - and uses the term frat - and has had no success in life as a result. |
| PP back to ask what might happen to a fraternity leader who has graduated from UVA? |
| Potential lawsuits from the families? |
NP. I was not part of the Greek system at all, but even I understand why they do this. At best, light hazing forms tighter bonds in a pledge class. At worst, people die. Unfortunately, these are often groups of wealthy, coddled, incredibly inebriated kids who think they’re invincible. As teenagers, they’ve increasingly been sheltered from any real danger and they get to college and think this makes them tough guys. |
“Pulled more”? Do girls in sororities use that term to describe their conquests? Sad. But ok, I guess my brother “pulled more”; I met my husband while I was at Harvard. He was not in a frat. My brother was a frat boy at the University of Pittsburgh. I visited his frat house once, and it fit the stereotype of frat culture to an almost cartoonish degree. So, yeah, I guess he “pulled more.” Party on, bro. |
Forgot to add, my brother’s frat had a party on Martin Luther King Day at which they served watermelon and fried chicken and dressed in doo rags and “ghetto attire.” This was not so long ago, and my brother’s frat was apparently one of the “best” ones. But don’t call them a “frat”! That’s so disrespectful. |
They love saying this--it gives them an excuse to say the C word. And that's about all you need to know about frat guys. |
+1 |
If you are talking about PIKA, the national office of PIKA already said they were pursuing legal action against at least a dozen members who were involved. I imagine the parents might also do the same. Back to whether UVA is strict about hazing, they ARE. Every year various organizations come under investigation for doing things as innocuous as asking people to carry items. I mean seriously, carrying an item is an issue? I don't consider that hazing, but UVA does. UVA club gymnastics was also accused and investigated for hazing because they made their members who cartwheels. I mean come on. That is not hazing, that is just good innocent fun. Now the problem is that they have very little ability to do much to control those fraternities that are found to be guilty of heinous hazing and thrown off. Many times, they still have their house and they still operate "underground" until they can come back. Example of Fiji. Still a very popular house at UVA though officially not there. |
Sounds like your brother had a way funner college experience than you did. But nice humblebrag about going to Harvard. |