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From: wbruvold@udenva.UUCP (wbruvold)
Newsgroups: net.college
Subject: Re: A \"frat-boy\" takes exception...
Message-ID: <987@udenva.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 6-Dec-85 03:36:24 EST
Article-I.D.: udenva.987
Posted: Fri Dec  6 03:36:24 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 8-Dec-85 02:59:36 EST
References: <1208@mit-vax.UUCP>
Reply-To: wbruvold@udenva.UUCP ()
Organization: Penrose Library -- University of Denver
Lines: 59
Orgnaization: University of Denver- Poli Sci Department

In article <1208@mit-vax.UUCP>, csdf@mit-vax.UUCP (Charles Forsythe) claims:
-->>Mr. Gerber, if fraternities are more conformist that some dorms, perhaps
-->>that happens because people *choose* to join a fraternity and the fraternity
-->>*chooses* to offer a student a place in their house; this choosing process 
-->>tends, without effort to the contrary, to breed homogeneity, or else a few
-->>small cliques. 
-->
-->I don't buy that for a picosecond. Not even a femto-second. Fraternities
-->have, and always will, choose those they feel will "fit in". Only in a
-->sitf-com or a movie would a frat rush director say,"Gee, we have too many
-->athletic, social and good-looking brothers, let's pledge some pimply,
-->wierd nerds!"
-->
-->>Outside, the fraternity is a unit; inside, the fraternity is
-->>individuals, each exercising his own tastes.
-->
-->Nobody said that a frat WASN'T a group of individuals, but instead, Mr.
-->Gerber and I claimed that fraternities have sort of a "Gaussian" social
-->make-up and many MIT frats, such as "Number 6" have a particularly small
-->"standard deviation".
-->
-->>My fraternity was large and *diverse* enough that there was always
-->>someone driving where I wanted to go, or a large enough crowd to go out with.
-->I think your point that "not all frat guys are beer-swilling jocks" is a
-->very important one, but let's face it, non-conformity on an individual
-->basis is not a major component of the fraternity ideal.
-->
-->
-->-- 
Ok Time for My two cents.  I am not a student at MIT an in fact have
only one remote friend that has gone there but I think it is a good
time to comment on a commenly held misperception about fraternities.

I have see both sides, as a so called "GDI" for my first two years
and as a Greek for my Last two.  I agree with the above point that on
the whole fraternities look for a general "type" of person as in a
type that will fit well with the brothers in the house.
But this is a natural motivation when one is trying to select
members who will become friends and associated in the house.

Lets face it, opposites rarely get along well for along time.

HOWEVER, what fraternities on the average do not do is exclussively 
look for people that are clones.  Frankly looking at the greeks at DU,
UC Berkeley (where I grew up) and UCLA, the houses that have the best
reputation on campus for leadership, scholarship, and social are the
ones that look for people that will bring diversity to a fraternity.

I can tell you that at least our fraternity looks for this type
of trait when rushing someone.  The question frankly hinges on 
"what can this person offer to our house?"  I think this is the
approach to take for if you view fraternities a faceless group and
not as a collective body of individuals I think you ignore some
very important facets of the greek system


W. Erik Bruvold
Delta Upsilon chapter of Phi Gamma Delta
wbruvold@undenva