What makes Greek life "hot" in the south?

[BabyPiNK_FL]

While there are many Floridians that are from somewhere else, there still exist those who were born here. Many of us also have relatives and or ancestors from "the South" as well. Not everyone is trying to get away from snow. Believe it or not we have hospitals with maternity wards here and they have existed for significant amounts of time.

[PhiLove83]

Originally Posted by BabyPiNK_FL

Believe it or not we have hospitals with maternity wards here and they have existed for significant amounts of time.

Exactly!

[SECdomination]

Originally Posted by PhiLove83

Most definitely! I am from "south" Florida, my hometown is about an hour north of west palm beach, but the town is extremely southern... and the town where my parents are from is even smaller (one blinking light, an elementary school, two gas stations and a post office but it was founded by our family in the 1800's!). I grew up around orange groves, railroading and commercial fishing... Florida is a very different place, some people embrace the southern culture, but a lot are from the north as well. As for my graduating, most of the people that went Greek we born and raised in the area, a lot of the "transplants" did not.. it definitely depends on how you were raised. Although neither of my parents are Greek they are very accepting, and even encouraged me to go through rush when I was still iffy.

Haha, you've got to be from one of three places: Vero Beach, Port St. Lucie, or Stuart!


In my opinion, there's some sort of comformist v individual battle between the southeast and other regions. Down here, social groups are encouraged to help individuals become more well-rounded and become contributing members of society.
Elsewhere, academics seem to be the only things worthwhile and any sort of "conformity" is looked down upon. I don't know- can someone who understands what I'm saying phrase this better?

[BadCat25]

I am from the South but go to college in the North and I can tell you there is a big difference in the culture of the two areas with respect to GLO's. In the North being in a GLO is something you do in college and not very important after that. In the South it is something that stays with you for your whole life. It will impact who you marry, your future in the job market and so on. Southern moms hope their daughters will go to their state university and join a top sorority as they believe this is their entry to a beautiful life. Northern moms hope their daughters will get in Yale or Amherst and who cares about GLO's. No amount of marketing will change this.

Originally Posted by BadCat25

In the North being in a GLO is something you do in college and not very important after that. In the South it is something that stays with you for your whole life.

ORLY?

Try telling that to the hundreds and thousands of "Northern" alumnae who serve as volunteers or officers on the local and inter/national levels, decades after their collegiate experience ended.

[Kappamd]

Originally Posted by Benzgirl

^^^what you said
Out of my high school class (small at about 170), two of us joined sororities and only 1 guy joined a fraternity. As I have said many times on this board, it just wasn't ingrained into our head growing up.



Exactly!!!

Same here. Out of my high school class (of about NINE HUNDRED in NE Ohio), I know only a handful that went Greek in college.....a handful being maybe 10-15. It's just not something thats culturally prevalent up here.

[BadCat25]

OTW - I am not saying that Northern alums aren't involved in their sorority. My chapter has a very strong alum association and they are a big help to us. What I am saying that after college nobody else cares if you were an ABC at the University of Somestate.

[1908Revelations]

Originally Posted by DSTCHAOS

People do this?

Yikes.

Yikes indeed.

I'm from Alabama and most of my classmates were interested in Sororities and Fraternities as most of our teachers were/are Greek, family members, church members ect. I am not sure how many from my class are Greek, but I know that several attempted and some want to attempt again on the Alum (i/ae) level. But again plenty of our HS teachers were Greek and once for a talent expo they even did a stepshow (there were about 18 teachers in the show).

[DolphinChicaDDD]

Originally Posted by BadCat25

In the North being in a GLO is something you do in college and not very important after that.

Oh shit, no one told me that. What was I thinking, volunteering to host tonight's alumnae chapter event and for e-board next year. Silly me!

Anyway, IMHO every true bred southern girl I know was raised to be in a GLO. One friend's nursery was outfitted with anchors, and painted pink, blue, and gold. Guess what she had to join in college?

But as it was mentioned before, different parts of the county have different "attitudes" for lack of a better word. Things that fly in the south wouldn't make it in the north and vice versa. And honestly, I wouldn't want them too. I enjoy that each region is unique.

[DSTCHAOS]

Originally Posted by OTW

ORLY?

Try telling that to the hundreds and thousands of "Northern" alumnae who serve as volunteers or officers on the local and inter/national levels, decades after their collegiate experience ended.

That's why I'm wondering where these perceived "differences" come from.

I know there are some differences, depending on the where and the who, but I think they aren't as pronounced as people portray them to be

[PhiGam]

As for the comments about Florida- you couldn't be more correct. The greek life at UCF, USF, FIU, etc. is comparable to that at northern colleges, Sigma Chi at USF being an exception.
I spent a lot of time in Michigan growing up and I can say that greek life is frowned upon there because it is viewed as a bunch of partiers with no ambition where as I was raised with the mentality of a fraternity being a great tool. If you want to network in college here you almost have to be in a fraternity. It's a system- to get a bid from a decent fraternity you have to be very sociable and to make it through pledgeship you have to be able to work as a team, essential skills for any career. My university president (Wetherell), governor (Crist), and president are all southerners and they're all greeks... its hard to paint us as unmotivated party animals with those kind of results.
"its not the grades you make, its the hands you shake."

[PhiGam]

Originally Posted by OTW

ORLY?

Try telling that to the hundreds and thousands of "Northern" alumnae who serve as volunteers or officers on the local and inter/national levels, decades after their collegiate experience ended.

Try finding out how much southern fraternities love their nationals.

[VandalSquirrel]

Originally Posted by PhiGam

As for the comments about Florida- you couldn't be more correct. The greek life at UCF, USF, FIU, etc. is comparable to that at northern colleges, Sigma Chi at USF being an exception.
I spent a lot of time in Michigan growing up and I can say that greek life is frowned upon there because it is viewed as a bunch of partiers with no ambition where as I was raised with the mentality of a fraternity being a great tool. If you want to network in college here you almost have to be in a fraternity. It's a system- to get a bid from a decent fraternity you have to be very sociable and to make it through pledgeship you have to be able to work as a team, essential skills for any career. My university president (Wetherell), governor (Crist), and president are all southerners and they're all greeks... its hard to paint us as unmotivated party animals with those kind of results.
"its not the grades you make, its the hands you shake."

I guess my Fraternity Founder Emily Helen Butterfield, my family members, my bff/college roommate, and my sister Dee, as well as the founders of Theta Phi Alpha (all from or in Michigan) didn't get the don't go Greek memo. My grandmother told me about Alpha Gam and how I was going to college and joining a sorority before I entered elementary school, and trust our roots left Michigan and came west and none of us have lived below the Mason Dixon line. Was Alpha Gam her first choice for me? Obviously but I had attended a school without a chapter and I still had an interest in Greek Life. I have plenty of ambition as do all the people I mentioned above.

[Leslie Anne]

Yes, there's a big difference but I would take being Greek at my own college over being Greek in the South any day.

Originally Posted by PhiGam

"its not the grades you make, its the hands you shake."

That's nauseating.

And while I'm at it, there are plenty of university presidents who are Greek. Big deal.

[PhiGam]

Originally Posted by Leslie Anne

Yes, there's a big difference but I would take being Greek at my own college over being Greek in the South any day.



That's nauseating.

And while I'm at it, there are plenty of university presidents who are Greek. Big deal.

To each their own. I'll take a letter of recommendation from Charlie Crist over a 4.0 any day.