Any Greeks(Frat/Sorority) out here?
Yes. had a great time in undergrad days and still in touch with most of ppl from my days in the fraternity.
I was a founding member of the chapter at my uni for Phi Sigma Kappa National fraternity
[quote]
Originally posted by seeker:
Any Greeks(Frat/Sorority) out here?
[/quote]
just curious .. u from lahore right?? i didn't know if there were any frats back in pak??
Can someone please fill in, what exactly is the fraternity and sorority organisation, its aims and objectives?
I always thought it was the UK equivalent of University Clubs/Societies, but it seems so much more organised and formal. Is there a UK equivalent?
[quote]
Originally posted by Khairun Nisa:
**Can someone please fill in, what exactly is the fraternity and sorority organisation, its aims and objectives?
I always thought it was the UK equivalent of University Clubs/Societies, but it seems so much more organised and formal. Is there a UK equivalent? **
[/quote]
frats and sororities are university funded societies where frats is for boys and sororities for girls. and as far as i know in short there "objective" is to arrange parties/get-togethers where they can drink and dance...:/
dunno about how it is in the uk..
[This message has been edited by heart beat (edited July 05, 2002).]
heartbeat
fraternities and sororities are not university funded.
They are social organizations the history of which goes back more than a century.
The first fraternity established has since then become an honorary organization for highest scholastic achievement.
Although fraternities and sororities have had their share of issues, but have always succeeded in creating leaders which have led industry and government.
The objectives are to share a bond of brotherhood, to have a family away from home, to build lifelong freindships, to have a fulfilling college life, and to build a network socially which will be a professional network throughout your life.
[quote]
Originally posted by Fraudz:
**heartbeat
fraternities and sororities are not university funded.
**
[/quote]
my uni has a quite a few frats and sororities[about 30] and they are provided with funds by the uni which in turn gets them from the alumni members and other sources. they are considered as a "student" organizations and just like any other student organization they have "some" share from the student funds. i have heard that a "lot of money" is spent on them by the uni.
i am sure same would be the case in other uni. if time permits i will confirm this from an authentic source.
[quote]
Originally posted by Fraudz:
**
They are social organizations the history of which goes back more than a century.
The first fraternity established has since then become an honorary organization for highest scholastic achievement.
Although fraternities and sororities have had their share of issues, but have always succeeded in creating leaders which have led industry and government.
The objectives are to share a bond of brotherhood, to have a family away from home, to build lifelong freindships, to have a fulfilling college life, and to build a network socially which will be a professional network throughout your life.**
[/quote]
perhaps thats the positive side of them
[quote]
Originally posted by heart beat:
** just curious .. u from lahore right?? i didn't know if there were any frats back in pak??**
[/quote]
I am from islamabad and i believe there are no frats in pak
I definitely think that frats are incorrectly portrayed through the media with movies like Animal House etc. There is much more to them. Many of the frats are involved in philanthropic events, which some other clubs wont even think about. They are funded through member fees which range about $300-500 /year.
Heartbeat
most fraternities get almost no funding from universities. They sustain themselves through fundraisers. The alumni contributions which you are talking about come from the members of that specific fraternity or sorority and go to that specific fraternity or sorority and in general are not managed by the university but through the national headquarters of the fraternities.
The student government based allocations that fraternities can apply for are no differentthan what the Pakistan Students Association or the Bicycling club can apply for. I know this through my expereinces both as a fraternity VP as well as a student government chair.
seeker, you are correct about fraternities. Only one side of them is shown in entertainment. Facts such as fraternity members on average have higher grades than avergae university population as well as higher graduation rates are something that are not commonly portrayed. But then again using hollywood movies as a guide to learn about any institution is a bit strange. I am glad you see the difference.
Fraudz
Being the VP of ur Frat, how much funds did ur frat generate on an average(annually)?
***I dunno where I'm going. I dunno what for. But I'm making progress.
been a while since i was in a fraternity
http://www3.pak.org/gupshup/smilies/smile.gif
I am not sure if you are asking about funds which we raised for our own programs or for charity. For our own programs it varied.
well monthly membership dues were $35. multiply that by 70+ members per month. portion of the rent for the 40+ people who lived in house also went to general fraternity account. about 25/person/month. Additionally, we had a few scholarships which were established by the alumni ranging from a few hundred to a few thousands but they went to individual fraternity members and not to the fraternity accounts.
Alumni also gave us donations for specific projects, e.g. setting up a computer room in the house, replacement of furniture in common areas.
Now, if we are talking about fundraising that we did each year for charity. I dont recall excactly but I can tell you that one dance-a-thon which we had done to raise funds for a charity group had netted us about $11,000. This was just one of the several events which we had sponsored that year.
In addition we spent many hours of personal effort towards civic projects. anything from staffing soup kitchens, and helping in senior citizen homes, battered women shelters, highway cleanup, etc etc.
Higher education studies have shown that men and women who join fraternities or sororities are:
1.more pleased with their college experience
2.attain higher grades while in college
3.graduate at higher levels than non-affiliated students
4.remain active and loyal after graduation
• A recent study by the US Government shows that 71% of all members graduate from college while 50% of non-Greeks graduate from college
• All but two US Presidents since 1825 have been affiliated
• Seven out of ten people listed in Who's Who in America are affiliated
• Three-fourths of US Congress is affiliated
• Forty-three of the nations fifty largest corporations are under the leadership of a sorority or fraternity member
• Eighty-five percent of the Fortune 500 executives are members of fraternities or sororities
• Since 1920, 85% of all Supreme Court justices have been members of a fraternity or sorority
• More than seven million men and women in the US and Canada are affiliated
okiee.. today i had a chance to talk to a friend who held some kind of a position in a frat.
well he did agree that most of the so called “social gatherings” arranged by the frat ended were another name for drinking, dancing & meeting new ppl. But at the same time he said that there are good sides of a frat too. In particular if u are a freshman, frat provides u with a good orientation. You can hang out with the guys u want to.
and the most imp thing was the “funding”. well i was surprised to hear from him that no funding is provided to frats.[well i guess the person who told me wasn’t right] he said that ofcourse the alumni contribute as much as they can..like somebody can donate $1000 or give an amount to get a new carpet and sooo onnn…
and he also mentioned about the charity thing..
u have given a quite a detail on the “funding thing” .. amazing u still remember all of it
http://www3.pak.org/gupshup/smilies/smile.gif
PS. this guy was moving out of his frat as according to him he had enough(not in the negative sense). according to him it was a good experience.
***I dunno where I’m going. I dunno what for. But I’m making progress.
[quote]
Originally posted by Fraudz:
**Higher education studies have shown that men and women who join fraternities or sororities are:
1.more pleased with their college experience
2.attain higher grades while in college
3.graduate at higher levels than non-affiliated students
4.remain active and loyal after graduation
• A recent study by the US Government shows that 71% of all members graduate from college while 50% of non-Greeks graduate from college
• All but two US Presidents since 1825 have been affiliated
• Seven out of ten people listed in Who's Who in America are affiliated
• Three-fourths of US Congress is affiliated
• Forty-three of the nations fifty largest corporations are under the leadership of a sorority or fraternity member
• Eighty-five percent of the Fortune 500 executives are members of fraternities or sororities
• Since 1920, 85% of all Supreme Court justices have been members of a fraternity or sorority
• More than seven million men and women in the US and Canada are affiliated
**
[/quote]
interesting
***I dunno where I'm going. I dunno what for. But I'm making progress.
I am a Delta Sigma Pi brother.
Joining a frat was the best thing I did while in College. While attending college I was unable to work, or get an internship as I didn't have a greencard at the time. Joining the frat provided me with the opportunity to gain considerable leadership experience by holding various offices during my tenure as an active member.
I was a Vice President for Financial Activities, The Senior Vice President for the Chapter, as well as President of the Chapter (in that order!). I leveraged all my experience, and skill sets gained by being a leader in my frat, while interviewing for a job after college. As a matter of fact two of my recruiters were brothers from other chapters (talk about networking!!!!)
I highly reccomend the experience
heartbeat I can understand why your pal would want to move out of the house. I lived in the house all the way until my senior year(s) when I just wanted to have my own place.
I was a Phi Sig.
My younger brother went to a different university and was a member of Sigma Pi, he had a great exerience as well.
Later in the career, not only do u get a good chance to network with you own fraternity brothers but even when you run into someone from another chapter or another fraternity you have a similar set of experiences.
well i have never been a member of a frat. so i personally cannot give an opinion. i had an impression that normally frats are for americans.
and i personally don't know anybody(desi) who is a member of a frat. probably it varies from uni to uni. but i guess listening to you guys, it seems that i was under a wrong impression.
***I dunno where I'm going. I dunno what for. But I'm making progress.
Fraudz and Ahmar how was your pledge period? Was there any hazing particularly during Hell Week?
seeker
none. hazing is outlawed and the nationals are very serious about it. There are group activities during the pledge period but to ensure that people dont think its hazing, u can opt out of any activity that you dont want to be a part of.
Additionally, many chapters, mine included shared our entire rush and pledge education and pledge period activities, with the nationals to get their blessings as wel as the local Inter fraternity council so people knew what the activities were all about.
Inititation was a very interesting, very moving and very civilised affair as well.