Fraternity death...

[KFC911]

How many of y'all pledged when you were in college....I did not. But hazing and hard core drinking were part of the culture on my campus...I attended many "rush" and other frat parties. Discusss...

[URY914]

I did and we weren't angels but we would never allowed anything like this to happen.

[widgeon13]

Drinking yes but gross neglect, never!

[legion]

Nope. Didn't have the money to join a frat. From what I could tell, you were paying $4,000 a year for some superficial friends.

I had a friend that was kicked out of a frat over check fraud--the short version is someone left their checkbook in his room and he accidentally used it to buy a textbook. Back in those days the bookstore would print on the check for you who the check was to and the amount. You just had to sign. It was easy not to look too closely at the checks. He signed his signature and put his DL# on it. (Which he used as evidence that it was an honest mistake.) He ended up getting prosecuted for a misdemeanor and the frat he was in tossed him as soon as he was charged. So much for brothers forever and all that. Still, he craved the life and ended up joining a different frat the next year.

[masraum]

I never understood the desire.

[Rick Lee]

Originally Posted by legion

Nope. Didn't have the money to join a frat. From what I could tell, you were paying $4,000 a year for some superficial friends.

$4000 for fraternity dues? Wha?!?!!? I think mine were $200 per semester, which I easily made playing out in bars with my band, all members of which were in frats. Some of those guys are still my best friends 25 years later and I talk or text with them daily and we get together from across the country several times a year. If that makes for superficial friends, I'll take it all day long.

[Gogar]

I did and it was ok but I got out of it what I put in, which was not much.
Would I do it again? Probably not.

Staying in the fraternity house for 2 years was actually quite a bit cheaper than staying in university housing, and I didn't have to move at the end of the school year.


Like any social organization, Fraternity membership can also give you a good business network after school if you capitalize on it.

[yazhound]

Originally Posted by KC911

How many of y'all pledged when you were in college....I did not. But hazing and hard core drinking were part of the culture on my campus...I attended many "rush" and other frat parties. Discusss...

Did not need to pay for friends nor want to hang with a crowd that thought it was cool to wear izods with collars turned up. Lemmings...

[legion]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

$4000 for fraternity dues? Wha?!?!!? I think mine were $200 per semester

I don't know what the dues were. I do know that almost all frat members lived in the house and that's roughly what it cost per year.

The school I went to was founded when the Menonite Church donated the land to the State of Illinois. The school's charter forbid the sale of alcohol in town and the formation of fraternities/sororities. The charter contained a clause that the land would revert back to the Menonite Church if it were violated. 130 years later, the university and the town went to court and somehow had the charter invalidated. I attended the university 25 years after that. The Greek community was small (something like 2% of the student body). The houses were big. Most fraternity members were required to live in the houses to be members.

[Rick Lee]

Originally Posted by legion

I don't know what the dues were. I do know that almost all frat members lived in the house and that's roughly what it cost per year.

Room and board are different then. You have to pay that whether you're in a frat or not. At my school the frat house land and structures belonged to the university and so were priced the same as all other dorms for room and board. Some had a kitchen and cook, so that was considered part of the meal plan. But the dues were $200 per semester and that was all I paid over and above what I would have paid, had I not been in a frat.

I still don't get how anyone thinks you're paying for friends. Did anyone here who was in a frat not have non-frat friends? I sure had plenty. Lots of people belong to organizations where they have to pay member dues to fund the org's activities and become close friends with other members. Anyone here tithe 10% to their church and have a lot of friends there? Is that paying for friends? How many of you have close friends who can't pay for anything and you end up treating them every time you do something?

[legion]

At the time, room & board in a dorm was $2,000 a year, so joining a frat was another $2,000 a year on top of that.

The guy I cited above we were friends with when he was between frats. We didn't really see him after he rejoined. Most of the frat members lived together, off campus, in their respective houses, so the rest of us didn't see them unless we went to a party at a house. I'm sure there were some people with friends not in frats, but the setup made it a pretty closed-off world. I'd pretty much see frat members in class and that was about it. Most of the frat houses were all clustered together in one corner off campus.

[Rick Lee]

The guy who now manages my IRAs is the very first person I met when I moved into the freshmen dorm on the first day of college. He and I later pledged different frats, but always remained friends. A few years later he introduced me to a younger guy in his frat who became the bassist in my band and we still get together and play a gig or two per year, 23 years later. We were all at each other's weddings. Other than the friends I made while an exchange student in Germany in high school and college, those buddies from college are my closest friends. I have run into one or two former high school buddies since graduation in 1989. But being Facebook friends with them is enough for me. My real friends came from the college experience, but that probably would have been the case, had I not been in a frat.

[varmint]

Originally Posted by KC911

How many of y'all pledged when you were in college....I did not. But hazing and hard core drinking were part of the culture on my campus...I attended many "rush" and other frat parties. Discusss...

Those of us in the dorms and off campus drank pretty heavily too. No shortage of ODs there.


Had some friends in a frat. Looked like fun. But not fun enough to get blindfolded and let another dude spank me in a basement.

[legion]

Back on topic. This whole situation sounds like some hazing got WAY out of control, and was made way worse by attempting a cover up. Should some people go to jail over this? Absolutely.

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by legion

Back on topic. This whole situation sounds like some hazing got WAY out of control, and was made way worse by attempting a cover up. Should some people go to jail over this? Absolutely.

This.

From 2000 to 2015 there were over 50 deaths dues to hazing on campus. That is a lot of hazing incidents. Totally unacceptable.

[Gogar]

Yes quite a few people should go to jail.

[scottmandue]

I didn't go to college but my friend did (Long Beach) he joined a 'party frat' where it was just an excuse to get together on the weekends and get drunk (and meet girls) those were my buddies prime objectives... I got invited to many of the parties... not sure anyone actually stayed at the house, it was pretty small.

I presume this is referencing another case of a hazing death? Can someone post a link?
I thought hazing... and even fraternities had been banned by many universities?

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by varmint

Those of us in the dorms and off campus drank pretty heavily too. No shortage of ODs there.


Had some friends in a frat. Looked like fun. But not fun enough to get blindfolded and let another dude spank me in a basement.

I attended a notorious "party school" and we were all legal (18 back then).....the stories I could tell....if I could only remember . This isn't about frat verses GDI...as posted, the hazing and coerced drinking haven't changed one bit. Don't recall anyone anyone OD'ing on alcohol back in the day, but massive, and I mean massive quantities were consumed every damn weekend...a way of life on campus and off. It's the callousness and coverup that's changed...dunno why? Our Greeks weren't as "closed" as some campuses...many a frat party was attended by all....post rugby match parties were a hoot...good times! But what happened here was criminal imo...

[David]

I was in a fraternity in college back in the mid 80's. I had a great time and I'm still friends with many of my brothers.

What these guys did was criminal and I can't imagine me or any of my fraternity brothers not getting medical attention if needed.

We didn't have the draconian underage drinking rules like do now. I blame many of these current issues on being scared to get the police or medical authorities involved. Back then if we had a problem we called the police or ambulance without giving it a second thought.

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by David

...

We didn't have the draconian underage drinking rules like do now. I blame many of these current issues on being scared to get the police or medical authorities involved. Back then if we had a problem we called the police or ambulance without giving it a second thought.

Damn straight....the campus police looked after our young, drunk, dumb azzes on more than one occasion....good point!