4 ms·

Compared to what the average college student was doing? No. It was a great use of time. We had a team, a goal, and a purpose. No stupider than being on mock tri

by forgotpw2018 9y ago

Compared to what the average college student was doing? No. It was a great use of time. We had a team, a goal, and a purpose. No stupider than being on mock trial or chess team. It's all pointless if you think about it too much, but that competition drove a ton of benefits to the school. IFC (Interfraternity counsil) ran most of the school events. Our attendance at official school functions like football games or president speeches was about 30% of attendees, even though 'greek life' was only 4% of the student population. Over 50% of alumni endowment/donation money was from sorority/fraternity members even though they made up a single digits percentage of graduates since the 60s. I don't understand why Greek life is attacked so judiciously on HN when it's clearly a net positive to schools and the students that join. Of course it's not for everyone but that's not a reason to vilify it.

strgcmc 9y ago
> Of course it's not for everyone but that's not a reason to vilify it. Knitting is not for everyone, but by choosing not to be a knitter, I'm generally not missing out on social/career advancement opportunities (e.g. I apply for a job but I'm not in a frat, I'm more qualified than the next guy, but the next guy was a frat brother of the hiring manager, so guess who wins?). Even if I do choose to be a knitter, I'm generally not putting myself at higher risk of death, such as by being forced to drink toxic amounts of alcohol and then having my supposed "brothers" abandon me after I fall down the stairs and lie there bleeding to death. There's a huge logical gap inside the statement, "not everyone has to like thing XYZ, q.e.d. there can be no criticism of thing XYZ".
- softawre 9y ago
  Interesting that joining the military grants the same benefits and has the same risks you mention.
  - forgotpw2018 9y ago
    Fraternity hazing and military bootcamp are basically the same. There's a lot of parallels that shouldn't be legal since hazing isn't, but nobody talks about it
sirspacey 9y ago
I’d be very interested to learn more from your experience. i see great potential in Greek orgs, a training ground that is systematically undervalued. if you’d be game for an interview, my email is: sirspacey.hn at the Gmail

strgcmc 9y ago

> Of course it's not for everyone but that's not a reason to vilify it. Knitting is not for everyone, but by choosing not to be a knitter, I'm generally not missing out on social/career advancement opportunities (e.g. I apply for a job but I'm not in a frat, I'm more qualified than the next guy, but the next guy was a frat brother of the hiring manager, so guess who wins?). Even if I do choose to be a knitter, I'm generally not putting myself at higher risk of death, such as by being forced to drink toxic amounts of alcohol and then having my supposed "brothers" abandon me after I fall down the stairs and lie there bleeding to death. There's a huge logical gap inside the statement, "not everyone has to like thing XYZ, q.e.d. there can be no criticism of thing XYZ".

softawre 9y ago
Interesting that joining the military grants the same benefits and has the same risks you mention.
- forgotpw2018 9y ago
  Fraternity hazing and military bootcamp are basically the same. There's a lot of parallels that shouldn't be legal since hazing isn't, but nobody talks about it

sirspacey 9y ago

I’d be very interested to learn more from your experience. i see great potential in Greek orgs, a training ground that is systematically undervalued. if you’d be game for an interview, my email is: sirspacey.hn at the Gmail