What exactly is a fraternity?

Islander4
Wed, 18 Apr 2012 14:54:47 +0000

What do you do in a fraternity? Like, what’s day to day life like?

Not really different from what you’re already doing. There are events, but it’s not like you magically turn into someone else.

Do you all have to live together in a big house?

Some fraternities require certain years to live in a house. In most places, though, not everyone lives in the house.

What is rushing/pledging? Do they involve any forms of hazing or ■■■■■■■■ initiations (Tying a brick to your *****).

Rushing is the recruitment process that occurs once each semester (the big rush occurs right before the spring semester starts). Pledging is the time period in which prospective members learn more about the fraternity while trying to bond as a “pledge class”. Hazing is any activity that involves putting someone through physical or mental discomfort as an expectation for joining a group. The third thing is illegal; and too many people confuse these terms. Sadly, I think even the administration has been guilty of that.

Could I join if I don’t drink alcohol?

Yes. It does limit your options a bit, though, as I personally found out. There’s a bit more of a drinking/alcoholic culture in some of the more prominent fraternities, too.

*Basically, I’ve read that after the first semester, the party scene for freshman/sophmores goes tits up because of some elitist, selective ********. People aren’t really welcome to house parties anymore because they are no longer part of a frat. I just find this ridiculous, especially considering the lack of a clubbing scene in cornell, and don’t really want to miss out on one of the biggest parts of student life. *

Well, the party scene is declining anyway. This year freshmen couldn’t attend parties in the first half of the fall semester. And even my freshman year restrictions were setting in. Compared to the past, the whole social scene is becoming more and more exclusive, which sucks if you’re not 21.