NationStates Jolt Archive

Yeah, this may be a ridiculous post, but I'm a little curious.

Is anyone here in a Greek letter organization (fraternity/sorority)? Not necessarily just an NPC/IFC/NPHC one. I earned letters, but not in a purely social Greek organization. (Music Greeks ftw.) I ask because it seems like a lot of people here are college-age or older. (Or so I ASSume.)

While a lot of the stereotypes seem to be sort of true around this campus (dumb as rocks, party all the time, wouldn't do something as nerdy as, say, posting on a forum on a Friday night), I've seen some interestingly different types occasionally that join and I think that's kind of cool.

So, discuss. Or discuss why you're GDI... your choice.

Back in college I had a roommate who left for a fraternity, and he fits the stereotype very well.

So much of that OP means absolutely nothing to me. :confused:

So much of that OP means absolutely nothing to me. :confused:

While there are some "international" organizations, the whole fraternity/sorority thing seems to almost exclusively be American. (I know I've heard of chapters started in Canada frequently, but outside of North America the only chapters of Greek letter organizations I know of are a few inactive chapters of my organization in Korea. Kinda random.)

It's pretty much a "secret society" sort of social organization. It is public knowledge who are members, but certain things (like the rituals to be initiated, among others) are secret and known only to members. Usually there are governing bodies over groups of fraternities (usually male-only) and/or sororities (usually female-only), three of the bigger ones are the National Panhellenic Councile, the Inter-Fraternity Council, and the National Pan Hellenic Council. Those are for groups that are purely social organizations. My organization, while still being social, is also a professional organization for women in music professions. There are a lot of groups like this- dedicated to certain professions or lines of study.

They're Greek organizations because we use Greek letters for our names- Sigma Alpha Iota (http://www.sai-national.org), Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia (http://www.sinfonia.org), Kappa Delta (http://www.kappadelta.org), and Sigma Pi (http://www.sigmapi.org) for example.

Are asking if we want to do it in the butt?

While there are some "international" organizations, the whole fraternity/sorority thing seems to almost exclusively be American. (I know I've heard of chapters started in Canada frequently, but outside of North America the only chapters of Greek letter organizations I know of are a few inactive chapters of my organization in Korea. Kinda random.)

It's pretty much a "secret society" sort of social organization. It is public knowledge who are members, but certain things (like the rituals to be initiated, among others) are secret and known only to members. Usually there are governing bodies over groups of fraternities (usually male-only) and/or sororities (usually female-only), three of the bigger ones are the National Panhellenic Councile, the Inter-Fraternity Council, and the National Pan Hellenic Council. Those are for groups that are purely social organizations. My organization, while still being social, is also a professional organization for women in music professions. There are a lot of groups like this- dedicated to certain professions or lines of study.

They're Greek organizations because we use Greek letters for our names- Sigma Alpha Iota (http://www.sai-national.org), Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia (http://www.sinfonia.org), Kappa Delta (http://www.kappadelta.org), and Sigma Pi (http://www.sigmapi.org) for example.


I know about fraternities/sororities through US film & literature, but the cultural context & nuances don't seem to translate well. Thanks for the explanation on NPC/IFC/NPHC.


What are "letters" & how/why do you earn them?


What's GDI & why/how would you be one?


Are you implying something with this sentence ;)

(Or so I ASSume.)



When I saw the thread title, I thought you were looking for someone who spoke Greek! :)

Are asking if we want to do it in the butt?

I thought everyone liked it in the butt. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbGkxcY7YFU)


What are "letters" & how/why do you earn them?

What's GDI & why/how would you be one?

"Letters" is usually meant as a synonym for membership- saying "I earned my letters" is pretty much saying you worked to become a member of the organization. (Stemming from you must be an initiated member to wear or display the Greek letters of your organization.) Letters are earned through a "pledge" process- basically a period where a person accepts an invitation to become a member of an organization, then learns the organization's history and goes through other required tests or tasks. In the case of Sigma Alpha Iota, all women who have accepted a bid for membership must, before becoming members, participate in a community service project, organize a fundraiser, take a test on fraternity (there can be women's fraternities... but that's more confusing) facts and history, and hold a recital featuring all Members In Training (what we call women seeking membership). Other organizations have similar processes (though the emphasis in music is only present in Sigma Alpha Iota, Phi Mu Alpha, and other music fraternities and sororities).

GDI (or, jokingly, Gamma Delta Iota) stands for God Damned Independent. At some universities, there are a large number of students who are members of Greek letter organizations. Those who don't join are called independents. People who call themselves GDI usually are pretty opposed to the whole idea of the organizations.

And that last line? See above. :P

I thought everyone liked it in the butt. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbGkxcY7YFU)


Before I clicked the link I intended to trump you with this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwTkwyBa__U)...then I clicked your link and realized that trumping was out of the question...

Before I clicked the link I intended to trump you with this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwTkwyBa__U)...then I clicked your link and realized that trumping was out of the question...

One of my teachers my second semester here actually opened a lecture with that song. Sadly, we didn't get to see that video.

If we're gonna try to trump with hilarious sex references... this wins (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGVnH39UzI8). What's better, I may re-record that song as a project for a class this semester. WIN!

GDI (or, jokingly, Gamma Delta Iota) stands for God Damned Independent. At some universities, there are a large number of students who are members of Greek letter organizations. Those who don't join are called independents. People who call themselves GDI usually are pretty opposed to the whole idea of the organizations.

I could have sworn that GDI was some sort of military organisation headed by James Earl Jones...

And most of your higher education system is lost on me, I mean a lot of you stay on campus, what's up with that? If we want to do that we have to sneak into CATS and pretend to work!

Also we let in the applicants with the best Year 12 results, what's up with the crazy convoluted system you guys have?

EDIT: I looked it up, there IS a Phi Alpha Tau, I laughed.

Crazy Yanks :rolleyes:

[/completely out-of-place spontaneous rant]

I could have sworn that GDI was some sort of military organisation headed by James Earl Jones...

And most of your higher education system is lost on me, I mean a lot of you stay on campus, what's up with that? If we want to do that we have to sneak into CATS and pretend to work!

Also we let in the applicants with the best Year 12 results, what's up with the crazy convoluted system you guys have?

And what's the deal with using pretentious Greek letters for no reason?

Crazy Yanks :rolleyes:

[/completely out-of-place spontaneous rant]

The Alabamian in me cringes at being called a Yank. :P

And staying in dormitories is weird? What? I thought that it was an option at most universities anywhere.

I have no clue why we let everyone in. :/ I have specific complaints about how lax admissions are at my university. It probably all boils down to a love of money. Everyone goes freakin' broke getting their higher education.

We use Greek letters for these organizations for a reason. The groups are supposed to be based on ancient Greek secret societies, and the letters usually stand for something (and that something is usually fraternity secret). Would it be better if we used ominous names like Skull & Bones?

edit: There's also a Phi Alpha Theta, which one of my best friends is in. It made me giggle. As did Sigma Tau Delta...

We just join clubs... with fairly straightforward names. Even though I never went to a meeting I was a member of EVAC (<Insert Adjective Here> Videogame and Anime Club) and I regularly hung out at the Godless society's Barbecues, especially the week that they had them every day to compete with the EU's (Evangelical Union) "Has God Failed" week.

Good times...

And dorms are from what I can tell weird everywhere except here, and while I guess they'd be a good thing. Well the university has accommodation but it's about half a kilometre away and a few streets over near Chinatown. At least I think that's where it is I've never been able to find it except for the one time that I saw it on a bus when I wasn't looking for it. Everything else makes little to no sense to be, it all seems unnecessarily and unproductively complicated.

EDIT: My mistake it's actually almost two and a half kilometres away. (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=&saddr=210+Grote+St,+Adelaide,+SA+5000,+Australia&daddr=234+North+Terrace,+Adelaide,+SA+5000,+Australia+(The+University+of+Adelaide)&sll=-34.925701,138.603816&sspn=0.020302,0.047035&ie=UTF8&ll=-34.925648,138.600168&spn=0.010151,0.023518&z=16) My bus-stop is 0.5km away though, so really the UoA Village is just for international or interstate students.

We just join clubs... with fairly straightforward names. Even though I never went to a meeting I was a member of EVAC (<Insert Adjective Here> Videogame and Anime Club) and I regularly hung out at the Godless society's Barbecues, especially the week that they had them every day to compete with the EU's (Evangelical Union) "Has God Failed" week.

Good times...

And dorms are from what I can tell weird everywhere except here, and while I guess they'd be a good thing. Well the university has accommodation but it's about half a kilometre away and a few streets over near Chinatown. At least I think that's where it is I've never been able to find it except for the one time that I saw it on a bus when I wasn't looking for it. Everything else makes little to no sense to be, it all seems unnecessarily and unproductively complicated.

Clubs are different in that it usually only takes showing up at meetings and occasionally paying dues to be members. From someone who is proudly a member of a women's music fraternity... the Greek system is hella more complicated. :/ But you end up with a tighter-knit group of people with similar values, and the organizations generally support some philanthropy. (In our case, we support a lot of music charity work. Some groups support Autism Awareness, some domestic violence prevention, differs from group to group.)

Dorms make life easy but are also a great way to slack off. It's pretty much housing a bunch of immature teenagers who have never been away from home for any length of time together.

All the frat members I've ever met have conformed to the stereotype, I'm afraid.

Dorms make life easy but are also a great way to slack off. It's pretty much housing a bunch of immature teenagers who have never been away from home for any length of time together.

We use the cafés for that... slacking off, playing cards, sticking posters up telling passers-by to do barrel rolls, drawing monocles and top hats on Basset Hounds.

I miss university so much right now :(

Greeks (fraternity members, not the nationality) ate a 15 year old coy fish at my school while being followed by an MTV camera crew. It has, understandably, soured my opinion of them.

(I loved that fish, the pond was right outside the offices of the department I was in and it was the friendliest. If you tapped the water it would come to the surface and let you pet its head, which is probably how it was the one he caught...bastard)

Greeks (fraternity members, not the nationality) ate a 15 year old coy fish at my school while being followed by an MTV camera crew. It has, understandably, soured my opinion of them.

Better than what some Greeks at a certain Kentucky university did to a goat (yes, there was documented evidence of it), though in that case I can't see what motivated them to eat a poor fish. :/ That's what the caf is for, dammit.

Kinda wish the Greek system didn't have such a negative image. Much like Captain Planet, if we all combined our powers and used them for Good it'd be awesome. But, then again, I'm not in the typical white/black Greek system. Music fraternities are a bit different.. and we actually care about how people conduct themselves.

I am at a school with a very weak greek life...I might have pledged had I chosen a different school, but there really just wasn't a point.

I'm a GDI from a university populated with GDI's. That doesn't mean we have a small Greek population, because we don't, it's larger than the total population of many other schools. 10% of Ohio State students go Greek, amounting to roughly 5,000 people. On the other hand, I've been inducted into a pair of academic honorary societies that have Greek letters in their names.

And here I thought this was going to be a thread about actual Greek. The language, the food, the patriarchal weaseliness.

Μαλακοτρενο!

So much of that OP means absolutely nothing to me. :confused:

Yep. We certainly have three letter organisations here, but its not the explosive fun it used to be...

What the hell are you on about?

What the hell are you on about?

Was all the English being used in the thread too much for you? Read a bit. The answer's in there.

Are asking if we want to do it in the butt?

That was my first thought, but then it would be - me being gay and all that.

Was all the English being used in the thread too much for you? Read a bit. The answer's in there.

Just because English is my first language doesn't mean i'm good at it.

Something about forming 'special' groups of people with greek wording thrown in for fun. i was wondering what the point was, because in about 20 years time they'd all forget each others first names anyway.

We don't have Greek societies here. We have 'corporations' though (which is probably the most similar, because they have entrance rituals as well). Oh, and tons of student organisations :)