When was the best time to be a collegiate Greek?

[TriDeltaSallie]

I've been thinking about whether there was a golden age in collegiate Greek life. Was there a time period that was the "best" time to be Greek in college?

So many things have changed with programming, recruitment (please change it back to rush), pledging, etc. that I wonder if one time in history was better than another.

Would you rather be a Greek collegian now if you've been Greek a long time? Or would you like to go back to a different time if you are currently in school? Does any five to ten year span in history appeal to you more than the one you were in?

I was in college in the late 80's and I'd be hard pressed to pick a different time. We still had frills rush, Greek life was pretty popular, risk management wasn't such a huge issue, etc. Not sure I've seen another time I would like better other than the opportunity to be there at the founding.

The only other thing that comes to mind is hearing the stories about everyone taking trains to Convention and so on. It would be fun to have had that experience.

[Drolefille]

Either back to our founding and the times shortly after (before hazing became an issue, at least in my GLO) or some time in the future

[Senusret I]

I think the golden age of Alpha Phi Alpha was the 1950s. We were approaching our golden anniversary, collegiate chapters were large, and the alumni base was large and robust enough to provide adequate fraternal and community leadership. We were also preparing our members for greater action in the civil rights movement.



We looked good. We weren't distracted by things like step shows and the type of brutality we see today in the underground pledge process.

We weren't perfect, but I don't think we've ever been so good as we were fifty years ago.

[TriDeltaSallie]

Originally Posted by Senusret I

I think the golden age of Alpha Phi Alpha was the 1950s. We were approaching our golden anniversary, collegiate chapters were large, and the alumni base was large and robust enough to provide adequate fraternal and community leadership.

That's an interesting comment about the alumni base. I get the sense that it has been much harder to recruit alumni/alumnae to support collegiate chapters over the past fifteen years or so. So many women now work and don't have the time to give like they have in the past.

[BraveMaroon]

Originally Posted by Drolefille

Either back to our founding and the times shortly after (before hazing became an issue, at least in my GLO) or some time in the future

Interesting choice. I like to think of Sigma Kappa's founders as the original feminists - the only five women at the college, one of them her class Valedictorian, trying to make their place in a man's world.

That said, I think that the mid-1950s through early 1960s would have been a fun era, but that's probably due to far too many viewings of "Where The Boys Are".

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by BraveMaroon

Interesting choice. I like to think of Sigma Kappa's founders as the original feminists - the only five women at the college, one of them her class Valedictorian, trying to make their place in a man's world.

Yeah I like that idea too. And I've read some of the old Sigma Kappa Triangles from the turn of the century, the founders were mostly still around and we'd expanded and just started really dealing with more complicated issues, but they're very cool. (And on Google Books, some are even downloadable!)

That said, I think that the mid-1950s through early 1960s would have been a fun era, but that's probably due to far too many viewings of "Where The Boys Are".

I just lack much nostalgia in general, I still think that better times are always to come.

[8ff1856]

Mid '60s to early '70s when hazing was not a major issue and before risk management costs were out of sight. This was a time when pledges enjoyed learning about the history of their fraternities and there weren't so many "helicopter parents protecting their students sensitivities.

[TriDeltaSallie]

Originally Posted by 8ff1856

Mid '60s to early '70s when hazing was not a major issue and before risk management costs were out of sight. This was a time when pledges enjoyed learning about the history of their fraternities and there weren't so many "helicopter parents protecting their students sensitivities.

Wasn't this a time of increased anti-Greek sentiment though? I thought the sixties were a rather difficult time for the Greek system in general although perhaps it also depended on the area of the country?

[Drolefille]

Those old Triangles I talked about actually mentioned the rise in hazing. I think people are conflating the times when risk management rules changed with when hazing was actually a 'problem.'

I'd be willing to bet hazing was a problem long before those rules changed in more recent years, otherwise why write about it in the early 1900s?

[PhoenixAzul]

I dunno, I think I would have loved to have been active in my chapter around our original founding (1912), just because of the excitement of becoming a "sorority". We, and all of the other fraternities/sororities on campus were "clubs" (basically, Greek life with another name, opperating as fraternities and sororities, without the approval of the administration). And basically little by little we transformed into GLO's. My sorority was one of the last to adopt Greek Letters. We're also missing two sororities that were previously in existence, and a few fraternities. I'd love to go back to that time and see Greek Life as so central to Otterbein's campus core.

[honeychile]

1851-1852.

[carnation]

Originally Posted by 8ff1856

Mid '60s to early '70s when hazing was not a major issue and before risk management costs were out of sight. This was a time when pledges enjoyed learning about the history of their fraternities and there weren't so many "helicopter parents protecting their students sensitivities.

It was definitely a good time to be Greek in the SEC and SWC. The anti-Greek sentiments weren't noticeable and Greek life was affordable. My dues were $13 a month! I don't know if sororities hazed elsewhere but they didn't where I was; it would've been ill-bred to haze.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

From historical accounts, I believe that the 1920's was actually the height of the Greek system, nationwide. My campus had close to 150 organizations!

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by carnation

My dues were $13 a month!

Looks like I picked the wrong era.

[Elephant Walk]

early 80's.

The government didn't care much about hazing yet, dressed well, cocaine, and good music.