College Fraternities

[knapplc]

Football fans are not cult-like. Sure, we get together once every Saturday to enjoy the Huskers, but then we go our separate ways and all live completely different lives the other six days of the week. Fraternities are a 24/7 deal, being surrounded by your "brothers" all the time. You form bonds and pick up on the same things as everybody you live with. I don't pick up any characteristic traits from Husker fans other than the passion for the game. Otherwise, we're all completely different people. I think AR is hinting towards the idea that frat guys can become almost the same person.

I think that's completely different than being a fan of a football team.

Having been a member of a fraternity, a member of a church and a Husker fan, I can tell you without any reservations that being in a house has NOTHING to do with a religion/cult. NOTHING. It has far more in common with being a fan of a football team than being in a cult.

Seriously, that's a ridiculous stretch you just made there, Enhance. I kid you not when I tell you that you are exactly the kind of guy I met when I was in a house at UNL. Cool, decent, down-to-earth, regular fellas. There was one guy in the house who popped his collar and we gave him no end of sh!t about it. As far as I know he's still kind of a tool, but the rest of the guys were just normal schmoes.

And while I spent time with my "brothers" at the house, I spent a lot of time away from the house with my girlfriend, just getting out around town, with some non-Greek friends I'd made in class... whatever. Just because you're in a house doesn't mean you're there 24/7 doing things 24/7 any more than just because you're a Husker fan means you're thinking about the Huskers 24/7, wearing Husker clothes 24/7, talking about the Huskers 24/7, etc.

In fact, I'll just about guarantee you that the average Husker fan has 5x more paraphernalia related to the Huskers than I ever had related to my house. I'll guarantee you that the average Husker fan can tell you the members of the Husker football team from 1983 better than I can tell you the members of my house in 1983. I'll guarantee you the average Husker fan knows more about the Bo Pelini, Carl Pelini and Shawn Watson than I know/knew about the president, veep and treasurer at my house. If we went item for item on your list, I'm pretty sure the parallels to Husker fandom vastly outnumber the parallels to a cult. By a wide margin.

 

[Enhance]

Football fans are not cult-like. Sure, we get together once every Saturday to enjoy the Huskers, but then we go our separate ways and all live completely different lives the other six days of the week. Fraternities are a 24/7 deal, being surrounded by your "brothers" all the time. You form bonds and pick up on the same things as everybody you live with. I don't pick up any characteristic traits from Husker fans other than the passion for the game. Otherwise, we're all completely different people. I think AR is hinting towards the idea that frat guys can become almost the same person.

I think that's completely different than being a fan of a football team.

Having been a member of a fraternity, a member of a church and a Husker fan, I can tell you without any reservations that being in a house has NOTHING to do with a religion/cult. NOTHING. It has far more in common with being a fan of a football team than being in a cult.

From what I can muster you are older than me by 19 years, knapplc. And no offense to you, because I respect your opinion on here probably more than I do anybody else, but your fraternity experience is 20 years old. I'm sure things haven't changed a lot, but your experience is far different than anything I experienced.

I was in a fraternity for one year, which obviously doesn't give me a lot of experience in the matter, but the main reason I quit was because of the guys I had to deal with and because of the entire system of the house. It was much more similar to what AR is talking about than anything you have said. Ergo, my view on them appears to be vastly different than yours, which is why both of us find one another's analogies equally ridiculous.

My experience tells me it is absolutely nothing like being a sports fan, but you seem to have enjoyed your fraternity experience far more than I did. We should probably just keep this as an each to his own.

 

[AR Husker Fan]

Perhaps things have changed since I was in college, but what always bothered me about fraternities was the homogeny. Essentially, you are in an environment in which the culture, thought processes - hell, to some extent even the dress - are basically the same. Without realizing it, most people in that environment adopt the same patterns. It can be constrictive, and very easy to forego opportunities to branch out - learn about others, how they think, and why.

I'm certainly not saying all houses are like that, or all people who pledge fraternities - but it was prevelent when I went to school, and I suspect it still is.

How is that different than being a Husker fan, or a Giants fan?

Shared passions is not exactly what I'm getting at. Nor am I saying that a person that joins a fraternity can't experience different people and thinking. It's that your time is dominated by the fraternity - you spend the majority of your free time with people that share (mostly) an entire culture, not simply a shared passion. Fraternities tend to gather together people that mirror each other in a number of ways. How many fraternities have (with some token exceptions) individuals that share a commonality of life? Same ethnicity, same religious background (at least in a broad sense, if not a particular version of a particular religion), same socio-economic background? Most, in my experience. Now, there are both benefits and detriments to that. The benefits is an instant connection with the people with whom you share so much of your free time, obviously. But the detriment is that for many members, that's the only culture to which they are exposed - or want to be exposed. That's limiting at a time in which a person should be most open to experiencing differences. It becomes a self-limiting experience - or can be easily.

When I was in college, you could point to most of the fraternities as being predominately white, middle-class males of the Christian faith. There were "specialty" fraternities based on certain aspects - religion, race, even a few in which the members were from upper-middle class or higher socio-economic families, etc. - but those were variations on a theme.

It's somewhat analogous to religion. If you are Baptist, you tend to spend time with those of a similar faith - and most likely, share the same ethnicity, socio-economic background, and so on. Such a person isn't exposed to others of different faith - and depending on their degree of involvement in their church, not only have no interest in exploring those faiths (or even the lack of faith), but are discouraged from doing so (if not overtly, then through peer pressure).

All I'm saying is that degree of homogeny exists, and can be stifling to a person's development. Doesn't have to be, but for many it is.

 

[Manhattan]

Same ethnicity, same religious background (at least in a broad sense, if not a particular version of a particular religion), same socio-economic background? Most, in my experience.

That's funny, because that sounds exactly how most people associate in every day life outside of fraternities.

 

[CornHOLIO]

Ohhh boy...

Second, in reponse to Cornholio, I don't understand the knock. What is wrong with looking presentable? I wear a polo, button-down, khaki pants or shorts, flip-flops and baseball hat 90% of the time when I leave the house (sometimes a T-Shirt) when I'm not going to the gym and I change into loafers and take my hat off at work. What is wrong with this look?

I didn't mean it aS a knock. (But until your post, I thought I was exagerating).

I guess once you all agree on a uniform you stick with it for 30+ years.

I remember when my wife's brother and his wife had their first boy, I of course wanted to send them a Baby Husker shirt..Since they were living in Philladelphia I was afraid some Penn State fan might beat me to the punch. I guess since the new mother was a fashion designer she wouldn't allow any child of hers to wear anything that wasn't "designer".

I almost warned them that their son might turn out to be a frat rat.."Not that there's anything wrong with..."

 

[UGAHusker]

Ohhh boy...

Second, in reponse to Cornholio, I don't understand the knock. What is wrong with looking presentable? I wear a polo, button-down, khaki pants or shorts, flip-flops and baseball hat 90% of the time when I leave the house (sometimes a T-Shirt) when I'm not going to the gym and I change into loafers and take my hat off at work. What is wrong with this look?

I didn't mean it aS a knock. (But until your post, I thought I was exagerating).

I guess once you all agree on a uniform you stick with it for 30+ years.

I remember when my wife's brother and his wife had their first boy, I of course wanted to send them a Baby Husker shirt..Since they were living in Philladelphia I was afraid some Penn State fan might beat me to the punch. I guess since the new mother was a fashion designer she wouldn't allow any child of hers to wear anything that wasn't "designer".

I almost warned them that their son might turn out to be a frat rat.."Not that there's anything wrong with..."

I still don't understand why this look isn't presentable. What do you wear to work? I guarantee that about 90% of men in buisness-casual work environments wear something similar.

What's wrong with wearing Husker gear in another state? About half of my 20 or so T-shirts are Nebraska shirts.

 

[CornHOLIO]

Ohhh boy...

Second, in reponse to Cornholio, I don't understand the knock. What is wrong with looking presentable? I wear a polo, button-down, khaki pants or shorts, flip-flops and baseball hat 90% of the time when I leave the house (sometimes a T-Shirt) when I'm not going to the gym and I change into loafers and take my hat off at work. What is wrong with this look?

I didn't mean it aS a knock. (But until your post, I thought I was exagerating).

I guess once you all agree on a uniform you stick with it for 30+ years.

I remember when my wife's brother and his wife had their first boy, I of course wanted to send them a Baby Husker shirt..Since they were living in Philladelphia I was afraid some Penn State fan might beat me to the punch. I guess since the new mother was a fashion designer she wouldn't allow any child of hers to wear anything that wasn't "designer".

I almost warned them that their son might turn out to be a frat rat.."Not that there's anything wrong with..."

I still don't understand why this look isn't presentable. What do you wear to work? I guarantee that about 90% of men in buisness-casual work environments wear something similar.

What's wrong with wearing Husker gear in another state? About half of my 20 or so T-shirts are Nebraska shirts.

Who said anything about "presentable" besides you?

I just think it shows a lack of imagination if everybody dresses the same.

One of the best things my older brother did while he was president of the student council at my old highschool was to help get rid of the dress code before I got there..To this day, I still prefer holes in my jeans, but I still wear tails with my sneakers occasionally.

 

[Nebraska]

Cause guys who spend 100 dollars on a polo shirt are dumb...

 

[Enhance]

Cause guys who spend 100 dollars on a polo shirt are dumb...

 

[UGAHusker]

Ohhh boy...

Second, in reponse to Cornholio, I don't understand the knock. What is wrong with looking presentable? I wear a polo, button-down, khaki pants or shorts, flip-flops and baseball hat 90% of the time when I leave the house (sometimes a T-Shirt) when I'm not going to the gym and I change into loafers and take my hat off at work. What is wrong with this look?

I didn't mean it aS a knock. (But until your post, I thought I was exagerating).

I guess once you all agree on a uniform you stick with it for 30+ years.

I remember when my wife's brother and his wife had their first boy, I of course wanted to send them a Baby Husker shirt..Since they were living in Philladelphia I was afraid some Penn State fan might beat me to the punch. I guess since the new mother was a fashion designer she wouldn't allow any child of hers to wear anything that wasn't "designer".

I almost warned them that their son might turn out to be a frat rat.."Not that there's anything wrong with..."

I still don't understand why this look isn't presentable. What do you wear to work? I guarantee that about 90% of men in buisness-casual work environments wear something similar.

What's wrong with wearing Husker gear in another state? About half of my 20 or so T-shirts are Nebraska shirts.

Who said anything about "presentable" besides you?

I just think it shows a lack of imagination if everybody dresses the same.

One of the best things my older brother did while he was president of the student council at my old highschool was to help get rid of the dress code before I got there..To this day, I still prefer holes in my jeans, but I still wear tails with my sneakers occasionally.

Don't all the boys in the 4th grade classroom wear jeans with holes in them? Kinda a lack of imagination on your part, I'd say. Or do you mean those jeans you buy with holes already in them? In that case, I think all of the 8th grade boys are wearing those these days.

 

[UGAHusker]

Cause guys who spend 100 dollars on a polo shirt are dumb...

Yeah, those guys suck. Again, not fraternity guys from SEC schools...maybe somewhere in New England?