12-29-2007, 04:47 AM
I would think that it would depend upon the fraternity, as well as how fraternities in general operate at your particular school. I live in a university town, blocks from frat row, and the school social scene here is pretty much dominated by the Greek system.
Unfortunately, the frats here don't seem to be making a very good name for themselves in our town. Last year, a homeless man got shot in an alley behind a frat house- it turns out that several members of that frat had been making a sport of shooting at the homeless from their frat's window for some time, but this time somebody finally hit. The punishment? A slap on the wrist. Boys will be boys, you know.
You really don't want to walk near any frat houses at night, either, if you don't want to get beer bottles thrown at you. This kind of defeats the purpose of living within walking distance of town. The broken glass and garbage is pretty bad, too. I'm sure that many frat members are fine people individually, but sometimes they will do things in a group that they never would do on their own.
Of course, I'm sure that I hear about the "bad apples" more often than the other examples, but that's just the impression I have as a "townie".
I only know a little bit about sororities, because I've had a few student teachers who have been sorority members who have invited me to events at their house. In my experience, while I'm sure that members make lifelong friendships, it didn't seem like it did anything to foster independence or self-sufficiency in its members. It seemed like most girls went from their parents' house to the sorority to marriage without getting time to support themselves or learn how to be independent first. Some people probably prefer that approach, but it certainly was not for me!
Unfortunately, the frats here don't seem to be making a very good name for themselves in our town. Last year, a homeless man got shot in an alley behind a frat house- it turns out that several members of that frat had been making a sport of shooting at the homeless from their frat's window for some time, but this time somebody finally hit. The punishment? A slap on the wrist. Boys will be boys, you know.
You really don't want to walk near any frat houses at night, either, if you don't want to get beer bottles thrown at you. This kind of defeats the purpose of living within walking distance of town. The broken glass and garbage is pretty bad, too. I'm sure that many frat members are fine people individually, but sometimes they will do things in a group that they never would do on their own.
Of course, I'm sure that I hear about the "bad apples" more often than the other examples, but that's just the impression I have as a "townie".
I only know a little bit about sororities, because I've had a few student teachers who have been sorority members who have invited me to events at their house. In my experience, while I'm sure that members make lifelong friendships, it didn't seem like it did anything to foster independence or self-sufficiency in its members. It seemed like most girls went from their parents' house to the sorority to marriage without getting time to support themselves or learn how to be independent first. Some people probably prefer that approach, but it certainly was not for me!
Why can't we all just get along
--Pete
--Pete