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As an old fart, I found this thread pretty amusing. I pledged right after Animal House came out (gave the actives lots of ideas for the pledges). Last year my daughter pledged what appears to be the top sorority at her school. This year has brought a lot of the old Greek memories back as she's told me about her experience. Given some of the changes, I've wondered if I would still recognize Greek life. Reading a few of the posts, maybe I would. Couple of thoughts...
Hazing - The definition of hazing today seems pretty ridiculous. Chasing pledges around a muddy field in pickups, like one fraternity did at my college is over the top and a welcome removal. Yet, the Greek system has lost something when it's hazing to make pledgeship challenging, to make initiation something to be earned and an achievement of pride, and to make a pledge class pull together and unite.
Numbers - Every college has a house that blanket bids. Their numbers swell. It doesn't make for a top house. It makes for a big club.
Colonies - It is tough for colonies to climb to the top. Usually there's a handful of really good guys in a colony who are transfers, legacies, or are just attracted to the challenge. But the colony needs numbers, so they use a 98.6 qualification. That's not bad for a colony. It's just part of the process. As someone posted, colonies suck for awhile. Yet, two good pledge classes, back to back, can completely change the pecking order.
National - This seems exactly the same as always. No one cared about national when I was in school. When national sent spies to visit, we played pretend, but couldn't wait for them to leave. The chapters of my fraternity at other schools that national seemed to hold up as shining examples were filled with mullets. We made fun of them at the leadership meetings. National is politically correct. The best locals are not.
Who's The Best - My daughter pledged the top sorority at her school last year. How do I know? I don't since I'm not going to school there. I only know they won IM. They had the top grades. They won Greek Week. Their president was Panhellenic woman of the year or something like that. By all objective measures, her sorority is the best.
Yet, when I was in college, the sorority I thought was top of the heap didn't win IM and didn't have the best grades. Yet, everyone knew they were the best. It was highly subjective, but everyone knew. It was the same with fraternities. Guys on the ground know who's good. No one at a distance can know.
Since I'm not "on the ground" at my daughter's school, I can't make the subjective assessment about my daughter's sorority (it's the same sorority I thought was best when I was in school BTW). I can only look at objective measures. Even then, I'm biased. Any house my daughter's in must be the best. I think the same applies to this thread.
Motivation - What are guys looking for when they pledge? Come on, these are 18 year old kids. They're shallow and narcissistic. They want the house with the greatest parties, that attracts the best looking coeds, that has the coolest guys, and that they fit in with. The last is most compelling. People tend pledge fraternities and sororities where the feel at home. In the end, the best house for an individual may not be the best house on campus and vice versa.
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