re: The thread where we discuss the wisdom of allowing Jr to join a Frat

If not for my membership in a frat I wouldn't have my job cleaning bathrooms at rouses. The network alone is worth it.

With all our family members in greek systems around the country, our experience is yes. There are far more positives than negatives, IMHO.

While not to everyone's liking, and that is understandable, we have found that being a member of a sorority/fraternity provides a strong connection to the friends made there AND the university attended.

And far and away the greek chapters just want to be treated as any other entity on their respective campuses. And they have the responsibility to adhere to set policies and rules. As with any group, that doesn't always happen.

In the case with the Phi Delt at LSU, the focus should be on the family and the tragedy that has occurred and looking at every point/issue to prevent this in the future.

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FWIW, the Greek students have a substantially higher GPA than non Greeks every year. I know being Greek doesn't cause your grades to be higher, but most fraternities are over 3.0 as a whole. As to your specific question out of the 30-35 guys I pledged with 3 are in med school, 5-10 are engineers, 2 working on CPA, and 4 or 5 did the internal audit program. Only a couple where really shitheads that didn't care about school, and we were one of the more "party" fraternities.

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I don't know what the frats require, but sororities are very strict about grades. Most national headquarters require a certain overall grade point average or the chapter is placed on probation until that is reached and, if not, there could be other consequences. LSU may require a certain overall grade point average, as well.

If a member is having grades trouble, many sororities require study hall hours and other members will help tutor or whatever. Grades were serious business in addition to having fun and supporting the philanthropy.

Members of mine became doctors, lawyers, engineers, CPAs, teachers, nurses, construction contractors, architects, college professors, business owners of various kinds.... Lots of professional careers.

The networking has been invaluable in a lot of ways.

There are pros and cons to Greek life and it's not for everyone. Those who never try it really don't know the intricacies. It's a shame that this latest incident puts another big old black mark on what can be and has been a worthwhile system.

I don't think it generally promotes "binge" drinking, though drinking is certainly a large part of the social events, more so with frats than sororities, but it's there. Kids make poor choices and there are consequences. This recent incident is the ultimate consequence. I hate to see the entire Greek system punished over this one frat, though it may be a lesson learned...hopefully so. My hope is that the time spent is one ways to have a more strict overseeing of the organizations and I think alums can play a large part in that if they will.

Joining an organization in college is a good thing in my opinion, whether it's Greek or otherwise. Talk to your child about what may go on and teach your child to make good choices.

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BRgetthenet

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The ultimate driving machine is at PEAK BMW on veterans in Kennah

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It won't last much longer than that. LSU really just wants this to die down some. Can you imagine if the news got some video of Greeks partying and getting wrecked this weekend? Much less if another fraternity had someone else get injured/killed in some hazing incident? Not that the latter is likely, but that's a hell of a downside risk to take on regardless.

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It's an away game. Everything'll be fine for Syracuse.

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Is it a wise decision by a parent to allow and encourage your son to join a fraternity

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It'll make it easier for him to come out of the closet.

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Part of the benefit was finding a way to work well with peers who may have different interests and personalities. So often teammates are outside each others social circles yet we still had to have good communication. Most people don't get to choose who they work with 100% of the time and being able to adapt to those conditions was beneficial to me.

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There's this myth that fraternities are made up of members who are near-identical in interests and social status. That's possibly the case in some small fraternities. But in my case, it ranged from rich kids to guys who had to work offshore to pay their tuition. We had jocks, brains, artists, dopers and non-dopers, boozers and straight-arrows, hunters and guys who would never fire a gun. If not for the fraternity, my college years would've been spent with guys in my major, with similar interests as mine.

Athletic teams may bring the races and those from different economic backgrounds together, but you're still around guys who share your high level of athleticism, drive, and who had similar levels of high popularity in high school. That's a huge, ready-made bond that you have going in. When you join a fraternity, sometimes you're the same race and that's it.

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The best chefs, and Cooks, shop at Rouses.

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Funny, I actually stood in line behind Emeril at the Rouses near me a couple months back.. he's very short and bald, had with him a very large bodyguard-- and the most overpacked, overstuffed buggy I've ever seen.. most likely buying for one of his restaurants.. seemed very friendly though, smiled the whole time.

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Athletic teams may bring the races and those from different economic backgrounds together, but you're still around guys who share your high level of athleticism, drive, and who had similar levels of high popularity in high school.

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It wasn't me who said that frats recruit and accept based on similar interests. That was the guy who's been in a frat.

As far as athletics, you sound like a hypocrite. I was my high school salutatorian and getting a degree in physics. I certainly wasn't part of the "popular" group in high school. My point was that team members don't get to choose their teammates. The only thing we had in common from day one was the sport and school we represented much like the only thing you and your coworkers have in common is the company you work for (in most situations). FWIW, I'm talking about baseball. Maybe your stereotype holds better for other sports. I wouldn't know although I doubt it.

$1-10,000