<p>People make decisions as to who they are going to hang out, room with, etc based arbitrary social criteria all the time. You’re giving way too much power to the concept that sometimes they are called the Kappa Chi Whatevers and sometimes they are called the group of girls at that table in the cafeteria who all live on the third floor of dorm X and are getting an apartment next year. </p>
<p>For a shy person, this system broadens social interaction. I could have very easily just hung out with a few people in my dorm and the few people in my major (I had a major where there were only 15 of us and fully half of our classes were together). Instead, the
system enabled me to meet girls BEYOND my dorm and major networks; and then being in a house gave me access to girls who were involved in activities I never would have met on my own. For girls such as myself, who didn’t play a sport or have a burning extracurricular at the start of college, this can be pretty important. I didn’t have the tennis team or the debate team or the play rehearsal or the religious-affiliation club to get to know people.</p>
<p>^^^What Pizzagirl said … goes double for commuters, the “stepchildren” of most college communities. If not for my sorority, I would have driven to school, gone to my classes and driven home, probably not interacting with anybody outside of necessary classroom exchanges. It’s not that others were intentionally unfriendly, but they had their lives and friends in the dorms and on campus. And I didn’t want to be around the same old high school people and the same old high school crap. Going Greek opened doors for me that never would have opened otherwise and the lessons I learned have stood me in good stead through life.</p>
<p>^Soze, how about the eating clubs at Princeton? do you think we should get rid of those too?</p>
<p>It’s possible to get a group of friends by joining greek life or not, for me it’s just different ways of finding a social life and doing things with a certain group of friends to become closer with each other.</p>
<p>This past year, I decided to join an FCA small group. I was ASSIGNED because I didn’t know anyone in FCA. After spending a lot of time with them, I’ve become really close with them and we’re gonna stick together for the next 3 years. Do you think that since FCA is a university supported organization and that it assigns people to groups that it should not be allowed on campus? I’m not in greek life but I’m having a hard time seeing the difference.</p>
<p>There are so many options in college and in real life, if you can’t belong to one club, there are 100 other clubs to belong to. I’ve never had a problem with all men sports club or social club either. They are private clubs, if whole bunch guys feel more comfortable with each other, then let them fart around in private. Sometimes we try to carry this whole equality thing too far. People do have the right to choose who they want to spend time with, sometimes people choose you and sometimes you choose them.</p>
<p>How do people feel about the house system at Rice, where students are assigned to a house that they belong to for all four years, and nobody is left out of any house affiliation?
I thought this was a good idea when I saw it, except that there is a housing shortage and a minority of students are randomly told to live off-campus for one year.</p>
<p>Pierre, I too was puzzled that Princeton would be against Greek life, but have no problems with exclusionary eating clubs. </p>
<p>I think that part of the discomfort many have with Greek organizations is that there is little transparency to their selection methods, and this could be seen as contrary to the mission statements of colleges. Contrast this to membership criteria for ethnic organizations sponsored by colleges(African American students association, Asian student association, etc.)in which non-members of an ethnic group might not feel comfortable joining, but would not be turned away at the outset, either. Also contrast this to college admissions in general, in which colleges are routinely taken to task for preferential admissions to certain groups as confirmed by published data - and who need to then defend their decisions.</p>
<p>At many schools, students who wish to participate in philanthropic associations can choose to join APO, BTW.</p>
<p>I think the whole perspective needs to be re-adjusted. Rather than focusing on individual houses, the focus should be made on the whole greek system. A fact missing from this discussion is that at the beginning of recruitment, the greek system makes plans to admit ALL potential greeks. Allotments are set for each house that determine their goal of new members. So if there are 500 potential new greeks entering recruitment at a university of 10 houses, each house will invite 50 new greeks to join. The goal is to include all who enter recruitment. Those who meet the academic criteria, enter with an open mind and are willing to meet and participate in all the events will be matched. </p>
<p>The information on the Auburn rush showing that the potential greeks being released are released because they were not willing to include all of their options. Auburn has one of the most massive greek recruitments in the country. This is an example of what some on this thread have called a “competitive” rush and yet even here in the most “competitive” environment the goal is to accomadate everyone. </p>
<p>So what you really have is global entry into the greek system. Some individuals choose not to participate based on particulars within that system. </p>
<p>I am disappointed that there are some on here who have come with preconceived notions and prejudices throwing inflamatory remarks around this is completely unnecessary and uncivil. For the most part there has been open dialogue supported by facts. But, some have come with an idea of what greek life is and have not comprehended any of the posts or done any independent research to weigh their concepts against.</p>
<p>My3t, I don’t think that’s the case at every school, though. I agree a system where pledge class size is based on number of girls going through is best though.</p>
<p>PG - I have actually done considerable web surfing on the subject and while it may not be the case at all schools. It is the case at the 20 or so schools (primarily large state colleges) that I have looked into. There may be exceptions, but again, that’s what this whole thread has turned on, exceptions. Perhaps I just happened to only look at the 20 exceptions…</p>
<p>So Soze, supposing the above is true … 500 girls go through rush, there are 10 houses, and the quota is set for 50 girls. Any girl can wind up getting into a house as long as she doesn’t “suicide” - that is, she goes back to all parties she is invited to, and on the last night indicates a first, second or third choice, instead of just indicating a first choice and running the risk of not making the first choice. Does that change anything?</p>
<p>My daughter belongs to a sorority and attends an SEC school. It is the case for her school. Quota is set by the numbers of girls going through recruitment. Everyone gets a bid - maybe not to their first choice, but again, if they go through the process, they will get a bid.</p>
<p>Typed too quickly - my daughter attends an ACC school, not an SEC school. But the SEC flagship in my state operates the same way as my daughter’s ACC school (my niece has gone through rush there).</p>
<p>Well, whaddya know. So I guess the next question is … is that determined by the # of girls at the beginning of rush, or at the last phase of parties before preference?<br>
And the other key question is what % of girls get invited back by nobody.</p>
<p>Actually, at Indiana University, they determine quota by the amount of open beds in each sorority house on campus. The number is different for each house and has nothing to do with the number of PNMs, which makes recruitment more challenging for everyone there.</p>
<p>I lived in NYC for number of years, bought and rented few coops. Every time we were interviewed in order to get approval. Some coops required 50% down payment (only taking people with money), some wanted quiet people, some wanted no pets…those coop boards did not need to give a reason for rejection as long as it was not based on religion or race. We also needed recommendation letters from friends and employers. The reason they screen people was because it is a coop, they were all jointly responsible for their building. They want to live with people they like, not everyone had the right to live in the building. </p>
<p>Greek life is no different. It is a social and residential life. People have the right to form associations, and be with people they want to associate with, as long as it is not exclusion due to race or religion. A college does not need to guarantee everyone has similar experience, that notion went out after 3rd grade when my kids didn’t have to invite everyone to their parties any more. College is a time when young people learn what the real world is all about. In th real world we are all excluded from clubs, employment, resident, school for one reason or another. If it is so important to belong to something, then try to figure out what it would take. If it’s not achievable then suck it up and move on.</p>
<p>At my son’s school, the frats are more worried about getting enough kids to pledge so they can fill the house. Frat rush isn’t very formalized at all, and any guy who expresses interest in a house and doesn’t act like a total idiot or really annoy people is probably going to get a bid. It’s not a matter of excluding people - its a matter of finding kids who want to join and giving them a reason to do so.</p>
<p>^For some reason, fraternities don’t seem to be as competitive as sororities. My understanding is it’s pretty easy to join a frat at most schools (even in the south!) and the process is much more casual.</p>