@@sarminder4357 we pay 2000 a year in the netherlands and our frat bros are from high income families. It has literally nothing to do with what you just said.
Trust me as a highschooler about to be entering the college world in the US I don't plan to go to parties anytime soon I'm just there to get my teaching degree in english and also make sure I'm there for the sports as well. I really don't need a tier one college but instead a 4 year one within my state that has some good education and such
A fraternity, like any organization, is only as good as its members and its culture. Some "frats" are comprised of toxic men that binge drink and haze, others are comprised of student leaders. I had a really positive experience in my college fraternity, but I understand that's not the case for everyone. Like most issues, there is a lot of nuance that can't be covered in 10 minutes.
Absolutely correct! When I pledged, I made it clear that if there was any hazing at all, no matter how benign, I would walk. And I meant it. That was 40 years ago. My relationships with my brothers is very special. They have literally given their blood for me when I was sick and needed it. We did some partying and drinking, but we kept it under control. Self control and self responsibility is what’s missing today. And I’m not buying the idea that only fraternities behave badly, I saw lots of non-Greeks behaving horribly. And, what no one in college administration wants to acknowledge is that the freedom of association clause of the 1st Amendment protects membership.
Exactly! My friend always said “the proper word is fraternity because frat has a negative connotation.” All of the brothers I know are wonderful people. I have a handful of friends who are brothers that are some of my closest friends and have kept me afloat in some dark times.
Nick de windt masculinity is not bad inherently, it's like any behavior, and just like any behavior it can lead to destructive habits when it goes wrong
@MoeMuzik So you expect them to cater a perfect experience for each individual person in high school and for every high school to offer courses like university? Educating society isnt just about their field, its also about general knowledge. People knowing more about science generally = a more capable society. People knowing more about English and having the ability to speak properly and coherently = a more capable society. 4 years of high school can't give you a PhD level of knowledge.
shingshongshamalama bulllshit. It’s that kind of mentality that’s leading kids to crippling debt for a degree they don’t want, don’t need, and won’t use. The fact that we don’t emphasize trade schools just as highly as 4 year universities is a major problem. There are so many blue collar jobs that aren’t filled because kids are told there’s something wrong with them. And they end up with a worthless degree working as a bartender.
@@justinkassel4000 (well, debt in the US...) Globally speaking, higher education is not for everyone. Not by their wishes or by society's needs. There are plenty of people who should be encouraged to go study something after high-school, and there are also plenty of people who definitely would have better things to do than sit in mathematics lectures. Education system needs flexibility and free movement between areas, not forcing. Most necessary teaching for being a decent, productive human being can be given in primary education and high school; but in many places those curricula need fixing and refocus on what those important topics to cover are.
Frats can be vary quite a lot. In my town, there's this frat that helps in tree planting activities, cleaning up public parks, and they even do feeding programs for the homeless once or twice a month. But then there's this other one that hazed two kids to death... and another one that's basically just a group of drunkards. So yeah, frats can vary by a fuckton.
Yeah in my country about 5yrs ago 4 cases of hazing on fraternities occured so I asked why is there fraternity. I was surprised to know that some of them help in community cause I always heard Hazing and Death associated with them
Fraternities are the raw embodiment of tribalistic groupthink. If you prize your individuality and independence, then Greek life might as well be the fiery pits of collectivistic hell.
I am a bit confused here, what does "Greek life" here mean? , I dont see any similarities between Lifestyle practiced in Greece and Faternaties other than the random greek alphabets being used as name of Frats. Sorry I am not from America
I’m in a fraternity, but we’re one of the more diverse fraternities, and we don’t act like the typical movie frat boys. They definitely exist, don’t get me wrong, but there are some that aren’t like that. My fraternity is heavily involved in community service, and it has helped me network and get a high reward internship in the finance world
@@walterc5502 its not. You'd be surprised how different frats can be. One may haze you for 8 weeks just to party with them and other may be just getting to know the brothers, values of the fraternity and mandatory study hours and community service No 2 orgs are the same
As an actual Greek, like from the country Greece, this whole culture is so foreign to me and makes absolutely no sense. In my country we just go to university classes and that's it. Any parties are organized independently or by political youth parties.
I never did understand why people say “Greek life” apart from having Greek letters for names there not really anything uniquely Greek to the culture of a frat
@@colbyzur4642 It is because its just a extension of fraternal organizations more broadly which isn't just limited to college and universities. Social fraternities is said to have started in Greece at least, but I find it hard to believe organized groups of people is uniquely Greek anyways
Fraternities are Enlightenment-inspired creations that looked to the principles underlying what we now call "liberal democracy" -- those principles first found resonance and some degree of sustainable implementation in ancient Greece. The early founders of college Fraternities in North America were cognizant that democracy is something that required nurturing -- a pro-human institution focused on trust and common humanity that would form via intimate associations during early adulthood -- that is why they founded their orgs in and around higher education.
They just want to sound old, fancy and full of culture, that's just the best they came up with. No real understanding of Greece and no affiliation whatsoever
golatificon not weird at all. In my country we have Kings. And every five years one of the Kings will be elected as the King of Kings. And people get mad when I say Game of Thrones is basic.
We have a much better system in the netherlands with student associations. Yeah you have the elitist associations but there are also open and progressive student associations where you can develop your social skills, network and have fun
I was a president of a fraternity when I was in college. When I joined my fraternity, we only had 7 members. We were basically a group of guys that drank beer and played video games. I made it my mission to build our fraternity into an example for other fraternities. I was tired of the reputation that shitty fraternities were giving to the greek community as a whole. I was able to grow the fraternity to 44 men who were devoted to being philanthropic, gentlemen to people on campus, and treating women with respect. I would always ruffle feathers when attending greek presidents meetings with the other fraternities, but that was my goal. I want to see douchebag, sexual assault haven fraternities destroyed and respectable fraternities brought back. I never understood the desire to join a frat just to be a drunken ignorant buffoon for your college years. While we certainly had big parties, we made damn sure to have sober brothers watching out for everyone's safety and good time. I just hope that more fraternities learn from these bad examples that are being spotlighted.
I am happy to see your comment here. There are so many fraternities that are the stereotype from the movies and they give many other ones a bad rep. My fraternity was similar to the one you described that you were a member in. We raised money for charity, had great GPA's (as an organization we would suspend you from parties and social events if you had below a certain gpa) and tried to make our campus a better place. We for sure had our parties and not every brother was a perfect person but as whole we treated women and people in general well.
I live in a college town and I’m all for frats and the like as long as they keep to themselves but every start of the semester it’s like a war zone in town with the frats and sororities. Garbage, broken beer bottles strewn across the streets, hoards of ppl that just walk in the middle of a busy road because they can’t be bothered to wait for cars to pass or cross at at crosswalk, etc. You get the idea. Usually things calm down after a few weeks once classes get started but you can party and have fun w/o acting like a bunch of animals. Edit: because apparently some people can’t read and this needs clarification. I literally don’t care what you do on your own house/apartment/property. Go hog wild, I’m all for a good party. But I’ve never been to a party that was so wild that we’ve thrown the literal trash from our party, into the main road next to our house. That’s not ‘having a good time’ or ‘partying hard’, that’s you being a jackass. I’m pretty sure everyone at any party would agree. Welcome to reality. Facts don’t care about your ‘feelings’ and I was just pointing out the obvious. But by all means, brag about your self-aggrandize idiocy.
You mean acting like a bunch of humans. Animals don't go to colleges unless their going to be dissected for a course in a program or are a mascot of a team.
I think that's more a mob mentality than necessarily fraternities, I know a lot of house parties which were not organized through any fraternity or sorority which end up looking the same as you describe - or any major college drinking day like Homecoming, St. Patricks Day etc.. Not saying that it's an acceptable way to act but I don't think that's fair to blame it on "greek life" organizations
Why do these people like @Jim Morrison who apparently hate Vox with passion always show up to leave some troll comment? And a lot of times, they seem to be incapable of using correct spelling or grammar.
@@leedoyeon Excuse me! Hey I don't HATE Vox okay? I was just pointing out the small change in title meaning, even the team wasn't sure what to put there. And what grammar???
@@all_the_bad_news5614 um, I'm Asian, and half our members are minorities. Heck one of them is half plack half Polynesian. So uh, sorry bub, you are most definitely wrong.
Its not cultish at all. You believe that it's exclusive and the people you're allowed to hang out with are a circle, when instead it opens you up to hang out with them, or use your social skills to talk to anyone and everyone. Try not to be so closed minded Jamesthemaniac
No one ever told me once who my friends should be. There's no rule against being friends with people in other fraternities. I had plenty of friends in several different fraternities. In fact most fraternities get along well with each other, many times they host events together.
Lmao people still believe you can only be friends with people in your fraternity? I have friends in different fraternities, co workers, etc I’m not even that good of friends with everyone in my own. But I still love and respect them like a brother
universities receiving money is good. There's a reason only a few universities offer financial aid to international students like me, its because they have money from alumni
My old babysitter's son was attacked in a hazing. He went from being on the soccer team, being a good student, and other things like that, to someone who has a harder time with most tasks, and faces some mental difficulties. The frat members weren't investigated by the police because his friend wanted to forget it all and an attacker's dad was a police officer.
@@mxsthxted From what I remember from my babysitter no, not a ton. There was one thing that was done, but I don't remember what she said it was. But she could be wrong.
@@bobbygronert5841tell her to go back as far as she can, find details, then post them on social media. PR damage and the truth getting out could honestly be worse than what any investigation could do
i asked a “frat bro” while i was in college about why he’s in a fraternity and if it’s only for partying and drinking. He said it’s for networking and introduces opportunities. He dropped out later that year, another drank too much and skipped class and fell behind. Moral of the story: you don’t need to be forced to drink a whole bottle of tequila(true story) in one night to have “opportunities”.
joowahn but you can also keep your head straight and get good grades while in a frat. It’s just not as common. Frats select for meatheads, they don’t turn smarties into meatheads.
If someone in a fraternity refers to themselves as a frat bro, then your experience is probably true lol. That stereotype was embarassing at my college
I own a business near the local university and the students in the fraternities are the worst customers. Unbelievably entitled and rude. I’ve actually seen the alumni come back to party with their toddlers in tow. What is scary is these are our future CEO’s and politicians.
"As former frat members aged into leadership roles, they realized that fraternities gave them somebody to yell at." This sounds like a self-sustaining structure of power tripping.
not all fraternities are rich though... I'd be honored if some retro music fans would check out my acoustic piano & vocal covers of 80s/90s classic songs on my channel. Covers include Sting, Prince, George Michael, Phil Collins, Tom Petty, the GooGoo Dolls, Sarah McClachlan, Billy Joel, Earth Wind & Fire, plus a couple of '010s classics from Bruno Mars and Coldplay. Live acoustic with no autotune. Thanks and peace.
actually i think you had those kind, only in uk it's probably more classy. in Indonesia we don't have frats, rather we have student executive organization at every level of uni, start from major, faculty all the way to higher level like institute level or uni level that collaborate with rector or head of department. anywhere there's a mob mentality, there's always a form of social order of sorts.
It's amazing how Vox continuously pushes out videos that aim to explain current issues to people, and I'm like "what, what's that?" and then I realise these are mostly US-only things and I've never seen similar systems elsewhere so I've also been spared from their problems. (Non-functional doors, fraternities/sororities in university, voter registration...) :S
@@rick88261 what is a real Greek lol of someone is born and raised in Greece they're Greek. Every country on this planet particularly first world countries have various people that migrated at some point.
One of the best decisions of my life to join, met so many more people than I ever could without it, still good friends to this day. It’s been 30 years since finishing school and watching this made me realize in the last 48 hours I’ve texted with 6 college friends and I’m skiing with 5 life long friends next month. Lots more to say but friends sums it up best
@@ShirleyTimple sorry but this is literally the dumbest reason to hate on frats ever. Like you do realize that everyone pays so you can have a place to host events, pay for food, support the national organization so they can organize philanthropy things right? If you and you friends are having a kickback and it’s byob are you “paying” for your friends then? It’s not paying for friends it’s more of a mandatory “Chipping in” so everyone can have fun together
Fraternities in history: use each other to influence politics and create revolutions under the false premise of freedom and equality Today: yeah dude beer
Fraternity/Sorority life depends on the university and what you make of it! You can spend 4+ years getting drunk or you can utilize greek life on campus to network with other people and surround yourself with potentially good people. There are tons of people i know that use fraternities/ sororities to help them get a fast track into a career/politics while there are others that use the orgs as a drinking club.
My fraternity helped open many job opportunities and has helped me in interviews. That being said many guys in my house treat it as a drinking club. These kids are gonna do it regardless if they’re in a house or not.
--video frat expectations vs reality Expectation: Hey guys lets drink 200 cans of beer and beat pledges Reality: heys guys who wants pizza (50 people on group chat) pizza!!!!!!!
in my frat it goes like this: “boys we’ve got a study sesh tonight with some alumni” *no one answers* “....there’s gonna be some pizza” *whole frat appears faster than the speed of light*
Here in the UK I had an American flatmate ask me to look at her CV and see why she wasn’t getting interviews. I noticed she had put down that she had been a secretary for a sorority. She was shocked when I told her to take it off - a leadership role in a good sorority? But all people here think of is hazing, bigotry and alcoholism. She took it out and got the jobs she’d been applying to.
I never really understood fraternities and sororities. It's really an american thing. I'm in college and people are just normal friends, like there are the closest friends, friends and colleagues. There's no institution or rules. You can befriend or unfriend whoever you want whenever you want. You can go out with everyone or anyone from college and people will treat you normally.
@@yomi001 Not every Canadian university has Greek life whether officially affiliated or not. UBC has the best fraternity or sorority system in Canada. I personally am a brother of a fraternity at a university in the city of Toronto. I don't know how it's like in Laval or the rest of Quebec though.
Nobody talks about fraternities being some of the first places that many guys are able to truly open themselves up to other guys, showing their vulnerabilities. And really having a group of guys that have your back and are there for you when you are down. Especially in a world where many see it as weak of a man to show emotions, that is the true meaning of brotherhood
If you weren't able to develop meaningful friendships like that in middle school or high school, I legitimately feel for you. I just don't understand why the organized structure of the fraternity enables certain people to finally feel like it's OK to make themselves emotionally vulnerable. It's sort of like the organized religion vs spirituality thing for me, I don't see why one should automatically be interlinked with the other.
Well that is because of the strict and conservative upbringing in the U.S. But you still do not need a fraternity, you only need the ONE actual friend who is properly wired for this, and you can find in anywhere in your class, not in your frathouse.
I think this video misses the entire point of fraternities and generalizes all fraternities by a classic stereotype. It's a great way to get involved in your school, volunteer, and meet people on campus. It isn't people telling you who your friends should be because you join a house that you fit in with and you can find a group of people within the fraternity that you hang out with more. A lot of the things they describe in this video are extremely old and archaic. Many hazing rituals have been phased out, and new member programs now involve learning the history of the fraternity as a national organization and chapter. Vox should definitely have done more research on the subject before putting together a video with extremely inaccurate footage from Animal House, an exaggerated comedy movie from 1978.
For the most part, you're right, and I think this video should have acknowledged that. But we still get news of people dying in really insane hazing rituals(Penn state I think) and even at my "nerd" college some frats occasionally have a reputation for things bordering on sexual assault and often get amnesty calls for alcohol poisioning, etc.(although that one isnt unique to frats) It still happens.
AmbientCreativity most fraternities nowadays highly denounce that kind of behavior. We don’t tolerate alcohol hazing if any kind, and if anyone disrespects a woman in any way, shape, or form, we drop the IMMEDIATELY. The ones they continue to do this are weeding themselves out and are quickly becoming a minority among fraternity life. Don’t let the news, or especially Vox, make you think that fraternities are only around for money. At my university, the Greek Life GPA is much higher than non Greek, and people who live in the fraternity houses have a high GPA than those who don’t. So if you can have the highest GPA at school by living in the middle of the fraternity life, then it’s obvious Greek life is much more good than bad.
Jonah Hughes Violence against women happens often because of them. There are terrible stories, and they’re not rare. It’s so incredibly saddening. I hope we can change that culture to a more accepting and compassionate one later on.
I was in a fraternity in school. Every frat has its bad eggs but there were so many guys in my house who took their studies very seriously and pursued leadership roles in our university. Most of these guys were upperclassmen so the fraternity was a great way to connect incoming freshmen with these upperclassmen who had their priorities straight and could mentor them. Also, my fraternity is a big national one. The national fraternity has a minimum gpa requirement but we had our own higher one in our chapter. We also had mandatory study halls for underclassmen. Believe or not, there are actually people out there who leverage the fraternity model and network in a positive way. The real challenge for fraternities is making sure they admit quality men into their organizations and not these bad eggs who contribute nothing.
There's something weird and desperate about a bunch of people wanting to be a part of an exclusive friendship club with no prior experience of your 'like mindedness' or whatever. How could you be so pumped to join a friend club with people you don't even know? It just sounds creepy and desperate...
well i mean it's like going to a school where you don't know anyone you have to make friends somehow and sometimes the best way to make a lot friends fast is by joining these groups.
I joined Pi Kap my first semester on an actual college campus. Arguably the best decision of my life; we have an actual philanthropy that we cater to, have had the highest GPA on campus at 3.1 (2.7 is the minimum for PKP), and I was never hazed going through the initiation process. Don’t hate something you don’t understand.
yeah i’m nearing the end of pinning and the “hazing” process has been charity work and craftsmanship as well as hanging with the boys, nothing about fraternities is displayed correctly by the media
I like how these videos are set up like an academic journal; intro, method, results, conclusion and discussion leading to new research questions. What they sometimes are missing, however, is critiquing their source, which of course makes for less fun but more accurate essays.
I transferred after freshmen year from a college with greek life to a college that was vehemently anti greek life , frats and sororities were strictly forbidden. I honestly really appreciated it, there was still a party vibe and culture but the relationships I formed felt much more organic across the board with classmates
Love the DU chapter at my school tbh, great guys. I also honestly love frats in general but like someone said in this section which rings very true: its only as good as its members.
Scholarly Cat “Frat” holds a negative connotation whereas fraternity is a more respected term for addressing the such Greek organizations, and fraternity brothers aren’t oblivious to that disrespect
@@lmaoevan I see. Didn't know such details mattered so much. I'm sure most people who use the shortened term don't mean to offend anyone. Just seems like another aspect of Greek life exclusivity people outside of it generally won't be aware of.
Scholarly Cat I agree, which is unfortunately the issue I have with this video to begin with. Anyone with a fundamental knowledge on the subject should know how to address fraternities (obviously not expected of everyone, but when you make a video about them, the standards are different); so either he came to his conclusion without significant research or is apathetic in how he presents his findings. Neither of which are respectable to me
I see lots of comments claiming it to be such an american thing. But here in Germany the history, the tradition and the ascpect and overall unity of fraternities (Studentenverbindung) are much bigger but interestingly lesser known for the normal German citizens.
+AudreyburntheHep German fraternities work different and have completely different traditions. They originated as political clubs of students in the 1800s and played a role in the development of the idea of a unified Germany and the 1848 revolution. They are still a lot more traditional than the American version of the fraternities.
+Jonathan Tan That's true, it's called Mensur. It is more symbolic than an actual duel like in the olympics, however also controversial since there often are small injuries in the face, and it was banned for a while as well. Now many made it voluntarily or completely abandoned it, a big part still requires the duel for a new member though.
I was in a sorority at a small college. No hazing whatsoever. In fact, it was vital to my development in college. Required study time with sisters helped me maintain a good GPA. In fact, all of Greek life kept a higher GPA than that of the general student population. Greeks are still leaders on my campus to this day.
As someone that's not from the US fraternities kinda sound like an absolute nightmare. Also why do students would need to be disciplined? This is college, not high school, you don't need people enforcing rules to take care of yourself.
Started with "not all fraternities are the same." Then ends it with "do fraternities solve problems, or create them?" The last words are the ones that stick around the longest.
In my junior year, I remember a drunken freshman kid died or killed during a frat party ... remember seeing police helicopters hovering above the campus trying to find him when he was reported missing.
Fraternities are a brotherhood just like sororities are a sisterhood. Both are organizations of a pseudo-sibling relationship aimed to raise money for: social events, long term members etc
Lade that’s a huge cash cow and title card for fraternities but after all said and done some guys stay strong with it, others don’t > not in a fraternity but I’ve spoken to some dudes about it
Jack Carlson I wish it was that simple. The (verifies) stories I’ve heard from fraternities here and the sometimes hideous violence they are responsible for is horrible. Hopefully this is something that can change with time and education.
Mozart It depends on the Fraternity from both a national and local level. Some fraternities nationals don’t allow it, but I believe most do. It would mostly depend on the local chapters you are wanting to join, and if the brothers would have any issue with it
I'm currently attending the college from animal house that's depicted in a lot of this video. I feel like they could have discussed a lot more of the unfortunate effects of fraternities and the weight of the post college money power of fraternity alumni. We see not only elevated occurrences of rape and sexual assault in these organizations but also rampant somewhat unapologetic homophobia and misogyny, STI transmission, upholding of class divisions, drug use, etc. The racism, sexism, and homophobia isn't just happening in the fraternities the rest of the campus feels it when frats engage in this behavior and receive little or no backlash from administrators and their own institutions. A student dies almost every other year when they go on their trips to Lake Shasta, and cultural centers have trouble booking houses for retreats because fraternities regularly rent homes to have raucous parties in that cause a lot of damage and noise complaints so racial justice organizations have difficulty doing their work preparing for the next year. There's also the regulation of gender norms and expression, dress codes, makeup standards, shaming members for having sex with (particularly female) partners their peers have deemed unattractive or unworthy of sexual attention or even not having enough sex with the implication being that they're gay. It would be really interesting to explore the lasting affects of these behaviors on individuals and the way other institutions function. I like that theirs some focus on this subject but I feel like there's still more to be said.
I don't get how Americans are able to drink and party so much, yet keep up with their college work and pass the course. Is American college easier to where they are able to frequently be drunk instead of studying and still pass?
Mentioning multicultural and ehtnic fraternities and sororities is very important. For students of color at traditionally white institutions, Greek life is often very intimidating or outright unwelcoming. And this extends to the university as a whole. But these specific fraternities offer students of color the opportunity to find their own group on campus, network, and gives them a reason to stay. Which the administrations like because it makes them seem more diverse and keeps money on campus.
This video didn't explicitly mention that frats and sororities are clubs for the wealthy and connected. Essentially, the reason why they are able to donate so much while creating a lot of problems for the school. Wealthy connected kids usually know that if they do anything wrong they will have safety nets of protection and are usually not disciplined because they are raised by nannies and maids.
I went to a school where a sizable percentage of the students were in a fraternity or sorority. I honestly felt like their only purpose was to enhance the college experience for a select few, while the students who didn't want to join or couldn't afford to join were completely left behind. The frat parties were the stereotypical binge-drinking, throwing stuff into the lake, destroying property fests. I found the fact that we needed a special separate fraternity/sorority just for people of color to be included to be completely disheartening, and as someone who couldn't afford to pay the membership fees, I felt like it was just one more way for people with money to have an advantage at getting ahead in school and the job market (and it was). The school also built some really nice sorority party houses (literally all they were going to be used for) while I was there. I'm not sure if the sororities funded them or if the school did, but again, as someone who was just barely getting by financially, I was frustrated that the school put so much effort into supporting Greek life while I had to practically beg to be included in ANY opportunities for networking and to have access to more than the basic resources; and this was from a private school that continuously advertised that they had more opportunities for students than a public college. It was a complete joke.
I was so unsure before rushing. I was scared of being hazed or forced to drink but honestly it’s been great. I’ve met so many great people and have participated in so many cool activities. You really just have to do your research on whatever fraternity you’re rushing
@@ShirleyTimple who said I bought my friends? I had friends before I joined and I’m still friends with them. I joined because I wanted a place where I could get some experience taking responsibilities before I have to go to the real world
At the uni campus I grew up on there was a very problematic fraternity. People were severely injured because of their party antics and one woman fell out of a second story window and broke lots of bones and was nearly paralyzed. I know lots of people with positive frat experiences but they've always had a bad rep to me...
I was in a Fraternity for a little bit and there was no hazing at all and everything we stood for was positive. I do see the negative sides to them but they do a lot for the traditions of the colleges that doesn’t even include money when it comes to experience. There is also a way to make fraternities positive, like the one I was in.
The one frat party I went to made you learn about the pillars of consent before they let you go in, but they left out the one that neither party can be intoxicated for the consent to be legit. Hmmm frat bois...hmmm.
Well in my country fraternities are about rich kids/former nobility cutting each other with sabers and far-right networking. Can't decide which type of fraternity is worse
Generally the public is only interested in those party and bro culture stories. There is much more happening what the public doesnt see and also frats can be vastly different from each other.
I think the main thing that keeps frats on campus beside donations is they can make them go to their university events. These university events make the school look good the more participation there is.
Just wanted to let y’all know that there’s frats and sororities in Canada too. From the frat parties I’ve been to tho everyone’s really nice. No hazing from what I’ve heard too
Many fraternities in my school aren't like the ones in movies. Sure we have the usual party goers and undeclared beer-pongers, but many of our frats are generally diverse, inclusive, and beneficial. Business frats are known to host parties for the sake of networking, such as connecting students to Big 4 companies, internships, etc. Others are heavily involved in community service, philanthrophy, and genuinely care about their community. I would say the beneficial fraternities are the major-themed ones. But the greek-themed ones, well I guess they have their place in school. Just not in academics.
I don't know if this is true for US fraternities, but here in Europe fraternities have an important role during college. You get the possibility to assume leadership-roles in an environment where making a mistake isn't detrimental for your future career. Every board-member is a student with little to none leadership experience, so when a mistake is made it isn't that bad. The positive side of this, is that the board-members won't make those mistakes anymore when they start working. This makes those people more effective in the rest of their lives. Even when you don't participate in a function where you have to lead, it is a valuable experience to get to know how hierarchy works. Almost all companies depend on some form of hierarchy, so coming prepared isn't a bad way of entering the working-pool. At the moment a study is being done on the impact of fraternities on the forming of friendships and the quality of that friendship. This study has been going on for more than 5 years now, monitoring new groups of students every year in three different countries. Besides the new students, a lot of old fraternity-members are also participating in these studies, thanks to the fact that fraternities have active contact with old-members. Some publications related to this study are found here: theffs.nl/publicaties-eng/ I know Vox isn't a objective source of news, and maybe the situation is totally different in the US, but calling fraternities "overrated" on the basis of a couple of negative publications is just unfounded and based on the idea a lot of people probably prefer to hear they are "overrated" instead of facing the possibility that their lingering opinion on fraternities may be wrong. It's also very easy to just insinuate that the situations you see in movies like "Animal House" are just the more acceptable examples of real fraternity-life. It may be that worse things have happened at real fraternities, that is just fueling hysteria on an unfounded claim. I know Vox is only talking about US fraternities, but I see a lot of comments applying their logic to student organizations around the world. My request for the viewers is, don't condemn every organization that bears resemblance in the way it operates to US fraternities.
There's nothing inherently wrong with social organizations aiming to organize fun, social, and memorable events. The problem has to do with frat culture as it has developed over the years. At a time when boys are transitioning into manhood, masculinity is fraught with confusion and is highly susceptible to societal expectations. The biggest issue with frats is that they teach a performative and ultimately violent form of manhood that includes substance abuse, destruction of property, sexual assault, and complete disregard for self-development and emotional growth. At the tender age of 18, most boys just want to have a sense of belonging and to have fun; they are perfect victims for the tornadoes of destructive attitudes and behaviors offered as gospel by frats.
Watching this from the living room of my fraternity house seemed pretty ironic.
That's some meta stuff bro. It'd only be more meta if your name was chad lol
@@williamkrause5831 his name is a T2 Frat name so he's equivalent to Brad
Same lol
Can someone tell me what a Fraternity is?
What fraternity are you in?
Watching this as a College student in Europe is so weird...Why do your college students need discipline?! They’re adults!?!
Thank you for bringing common sense here! The campus culture in the US is unhealthy IMO.
We literally have frats that are 10 times worse in the netherlands. Please don’t throw all of europe in one box.
@@sarminder4357 we pay 2000 a year in the netherlands and our frat bros are from high income families. It has literally nothing to do with what you just said.
Jesus Christ nope?
Trust me as a highschooler about to be entering the college world in the US I don't plan to go to parties anytime soon I'm just there to get my teaching degree in english and also make sure I'm there for the sports as well. I really don't need a tier one college but instead a 4 year one within my state that has some good education and such
The perfect distraction from the crippling debt you've got yourself into by going to College/University.
you chose to get into.
@@babylonian5 and choose to distract myself from.
@@babylonian5 In today's day and age, a college education is pretty expected to get into most professions.
you choose to do both 😅
no one forces you to do either one
Except you also pay thousands to be in a frat
Literally no college student cares that much about "nerds"
Jack Wilson fr that’s middle school stuff
@@arlyntobadynot even
We’re legit all nerds.
Nowadays anyway...
To be fair, that movie was from the 60s or 70s, when that was actually a thing that would happen
He calls it binge drinking but I call it networking
mood
Facts tho.
yeah sure networking, i wish can also meet ppl thats got to be hard
Mans def a business student or is in sales😂
Composite picture for profile pictures. Classic Frat move
5:00 the answer to the video. You're welcome.
Thank you! Lol
It's not the only reason tho
Gym's Server kinda is actually...
Good bot
Thanks
A fraternity, like any organization, is only as good as its members and its culture. Some "frats" are comprised of toxic men that binge drink and haze, others are comprised of student leaders. I had a really positive experience in my college fraternity, but I understand that's not the case for everyone. Like most issues, there is a lot of nuance that can't be covered in 10 minutes.
Absolutely correct! When I pledged, I made it clear that if there was any hazing at all, no matter how benign, I would walk. And I meant it. That was 40 years ago. My relationships with my brothers is very special. They have literally given their blood for me when I was sick and needed it. We did some partying and drinking, but we kept it under control. Self control and self responsibility is what’s missing today. And I’m not buying the idea that only fraternities behave badly, I saw lots of non-Greeks behaving horribly. And, what no one in college administration wants to acknowledge is that the freedom of association clause of the 1st Amendment protects membership.
Exactly! My friend always said “the proper word is fraternity because frat has a negative connotation.” All of the brothers I know are wonderful people. I have a handful of friends who are brothers that are some of my closest friends and have kept me afloat in some dark times.
@Bobby Fisher people who can't engage in conversation such as by just asking the dude, "define toxic men", don't have an opinion, literally.
Michael Jones this^^^
Nick de windt masculinity is not bad inherently, it's like any behavior, and just like any behavior it can lead to destructive habits when it goes wrong
The better question is - Why do football players go to college.
Oh right, colleges need money from games that have nothing to do with education.
Everyone should go to college. Higher education is good. Everyone getting higher education is good for society.
Wouldn't have to in civilized countries where society acknowledges the importance of funding education.
@MoeMuzik So you expect them to cater a perfect experience for each individual person in high school and for every high school to offer courses like university? Educating society isnt just about their field, its also about general knowledge. People knowing more about science generally = a more capable society. People knowing more about English and having the ability to speak properly and coherently = a more capable society. 4 years of high school can't give you a PhD level of knowledge.
shingshongshamalama bulllshit. It’s that kind of mentality that’s leading kids to crippling debt for a degree they don’t want, don’t need, and won’t use. The fact that we don’t emphasize trade schools just as highly as 4 year universities is a major problem. There are so many blue collar jobs that aren’t filled because kids are told there’s something wrong with them. And they end up with a worthless degree working as a bartender.
@@justinkassel4000 (well, debt in the US...) Globally speaking, higher education is not for everyone. Not by their wishes or by society's needs. There are plenty of people who should be encouraged to go study something after high-school, and there are also plenty of people who definitely would have better things to do than sit in mathematics lectures. Education system needs flexibility and free movement between areas, not forcing. Most necessary teaching for being a decent, productive human being can be given in primary education and high school; but in many places those curricula need fixing and refocus on what those important topics to cover are.
Frats can be vary quite a lot. In my town, there's this frat that helps in tree planting activities, cleaning up public parks, and they even do feeding programs for the homeless once or twice a month.
But then there's this other one that hazed two kids to death... and another one that's basically just a group of drunkards.
So yeah, frats can vary by a fuckton.
What happened to the two kids who died during hazing?
@@Hazza4257 Well... they died
Yeah in my country about 5yrs ago 4 cases of hazing on fraternities occured so I asked why is there fraternity. I was surprised to know that some of them help in community cause I always heard Hazing and Death associated with them
Omg is your town in Amsterdam?
Mines all of the above minus the killing
I think Greek life exploits the human desire to belong and feel wanted.
Exactly. They are almost like socially acceptable gangs
And make money off of it. Frats are companies
Just like cult's.
Fraternities are the raw embodiment of tribalistic groupthink. If you prize your individuality and independence, then Greek life might as well be the fiery pits of collectivistic hell.
I am a bit confused here, what does "Greek life" here mean? , I dont see any similarities between Lifestyle practiced in Greece and Faternaties other than the random greek alphabets being used as name of Frats. Sorry I am not from America
I’m in a fraternity, but we’re one of the more diverse fraternities, and we don’t act like the typical movie frat boys. They definitely exist, don’t get me wrong, but there are some that aren’t like that. My fraternity is heavily involved in community service, and it has helped me network and get a high reward internship in the finance world
Sounds like nearly every other frat.
@@walterc5502 its not. You'd be surprised how different frats can be. One may haze you for 8 weeks just to party with them and other may be just getting to know the brothers, values of the fraternity and mandatory study hours and community service
No 2 orgs are the same
@@ElHabsburgHechizado I hear ya. What I meant was the community service, networking and internship are very common in frats.
Thats why he said theyre leaving those academic or ethnic fraternities out.
Nerd
As an actual Greek, like from the country Greece, this whole culture is so foreign to me and makes absolutely no sense. In my country we just go to university classes and that's it. Any parties are organized independently or by political youth parties.
I never did understand why people say “Greek life” apart from having Greek letters for names there not really anything uniquely Greek to the culture of a frat
@@colbyzur4642 It is because its just a extension of fraternal organizations more broadly which isn't just limited to college and universities. Social fraternities is said to have started in Greece at least, but I find it hard to believe organized groups of people is uniquely Greek anyways
@@colbyzur4642 It is called Greek life precisely because of the Greek letters of the names.
Fraternities are Enlightenment-inspired creations that looked to the principles underlying what we now call "liberal democracy" -- those principles first found resonance and some degree of sustainable implementation in ancient Greece. The early founders of college Fraternities in North America were cognizant that democracy is something that required nurturing -- a pro-human institution focused on trust and common humanity that would form via intimate associations during early adulthood -- that is why they founded their orgs in and around higher education.
They just want to sound old, fancy and full of culture, that's just the best they came up with. No real understanding of Greece and no affiliation whatsoever
I'm from the UK so fraternity's just seem like the weirdest thing
Fraser Watson it’s basically the same as the Rugby, rowing etc... societies and dining clubs over here that we are part of at uni
Fraternity is weird but having Queen as head of state in 21. century is not.
golatificon not weird at all. In my country we have Kings. And every five years one of the Kings will be elected as the King of Kings.
And people get mad when I say Game of Thrones is basic.
@@boosay568 Malaysia?
We have a much better system in the netherlands with student associations. Yeah you have the elitist associations but there are also open and progressive student associations where you can develop your social skills, network and have fun
I was a president of a fraternity when I was in college. When I joined my fraternity, we only had 7 members. We were basically a group of guys that drank beer and played video games. I made it my mission to build our fraternity into an example for other fraternities. I was tired of the reputation that shitty fraternities were giving to the greek community as a whole. I was able to grow the fraternity to 44 men who were devoted to being philanthropic, gentlemen to people on campus, and treating women with respect. I would always ruffle feathers when attending greek presidents meetings with the other fraternities, but that was my goal. I want to see douchebag, sexual assault haven fraternities destroyed and respectable fraternities brought back. I never understood the desire to join a frat just to be a drunken ignorant buffoon for your college years. While we certainly had big parties, we made damn sure to have sober brothers watching out for everyone's safety and good time. I just hope that more fraternities learn from these bad examples that are being spotlighted.
Mad respect friend
this is how fraternities should be
Matt Cussen which college
I am happy to see your comment here. There are so many fraternities that are the stereotype from the movies and they give many other ones a bad rep. My fraternity was similar to the one you described that you were a member in. We raised money for charity, had great GPA's (as an organization we would suspend you from parties and social events if you had below a certain gpa) and tried to make our campus a better place. We for sure had our parties and not every brother was a perfect person but as whole we treated women and people in general well.
@@solrac4512 Purdue University
I live in a college town and I’m all for frats and the like as long as they keep to themselves but every start of the semester it’s like a war zone in town with the frats and sororities.
Garbage, broken beer bottles strewn across the streets, hoards of ppl that just walk in the middle of a busy road because they can’t be bothered to wait for cars to pass or cross at at crosswalk, etc.
You get the idea. Usually things calm down after a few weeks once classes get started but you can party and have fun w/o acting like a bunch of animals.
Edit: because apparently some people can’t read and this needs clarification. I literally don’t care what you do on your own house/apartment/property. Go hog wild, I’m all for a good party. But I’ve never been to a party that was so wild that we’ve thrown the literal trash from our party, into the main road next to our house.
That’s not ‘having a good time’ or ‘partying hard’, that’s you being a jackass. I’m pretty sure everyone at any party would agree. Welcome to reality. Facts don’t care about your ‘feelings’ and I was just pointing out the obvious. But by all means, brag about your self-aggrandize idiocy.
You mean acting like a bunch of humans. Animals don't go to colleges unless their going to be dissected for a course in a program or are a mascot of a team.
@@guardianoffire8814 get deleted kid
Which college
I think that's more a mob mentality than necessarily fraternities, I know a lot of house parties which were not organized through any fraternity or sorority which end up looking the same as you describe - or any major college drinking day like Homecoming, St. Patricks Day etc.. Not saying that it's an acceptable way to act but I don't think that's fair to blame it on "greek life" organizations
Key phrase being "frats and sororities."
me before watching: money
me after watching: still money
Pretty much. Everything is about money, literally everything. I hate it.
Lol, same. I find a lot of videos on RUclips are like this
This video was definitely made by a Geed
Max Mills what’s a Geed?
LOL. I thought that too.
What's good Max
Sandooo
What a strange world you people live in
Sounds like someone at vox didn’t get a bid :(
Gregory Gwynn beat me to the comment
😂😂😂
Sounds like frats are toxic and this is an important topic to talk about
@@SammyBirdTheGreat important for who? doesn't really affect anyone other than people affiliated with greek life
Ucantseemeverywell important for people who actually care about the wellbeings of other humans
"How fraternities got so overrated" *changed* to "Why colleges tolerate fraternities." 😂
Yeah, it did seem pretty unfocused.
@Jim Morrison dude
Why do these people like @Jim Morrison who apparently hate Vox with passion always show up to leave some troll comment? And a lot of times, they seem to be incapable of using correct spelling or grammar.
@@leedoyeon Excuse me! Hey I don't HATE Vox okay? I was just pointing out the small change in title meaning, even the team wasn't sure what to put there.
And what grammar???
@Abhilash Nair Sorry I should've clarified. I was referring to Jim Morrison.
This video described the lowest contributing members of a chapter lol.
A Turtle doesn't approve of frats
I'm sure they keep them around because it helps white men get better jobs so they can give money back to the college
@@all_the_bad_news5614 ???
@@all_the_bad_news5614 um, I'm Asian, and half our members are minorities. Heck one of them is half plack half Polynesian. So uh, sorry bub, you are most definitely wrong.
@@wartornforester1868 -👱♂️
Still Seem cultish to me. I dont want anyone telling who my friends should be.
Thats not how it works
I think that kinda depends on what group ur apart of i mean if you want that its up to you
Its not cultish at all. You believe that it's exclusive and the people you're allowed to hang out with are a circle, when instead it opens you up to hang out with them, or use your social skills to talk to anyone and everyone. Try not to be so closed minded Jamesthemaniac
No one ever told me once who my friends should be. There's no rule against being friends with people in other fraternities. I had plenty of friends in several different fraternities. In fact most fraternities get along well with each other, many times they host events together.
Lmao people still believe you can only be friends with people in your fraternity? I have friends in different fraternities, co workers, etc I’m not even that good of friends with everyone in my own. But I still love and respect them like a brother
Q: why college tolerate frats?
A: to yell at them, money, and to keep students in check
Sounds counter productive
To be less responsible of the crimes perpetrated on its campus
universities receiving money is good. There's a reason only a few universities offer financial aid to international students like me, its because they have money from alumni
My old babysitter's son was attacked in a hazing. He went from being on the soccer team, being a good student, and other things like that, to someone who has a harder time with most tasks, and faces some mental difficulties. The frat members weren't investigated by the police because his friend wanted to forget it all and an attacker's dad was a police officer.
What was his name?
@@mxsthxted josh
@@bobbygronert5841 Thanks. Is there any news articles or something about him?
@@mxsthxted From what I remember from my babysitter no, not a ton. There was one thing that was done, but I don't remember what she said it was. But she could be wrong.
@@bobbygronert5841tell her to go back as far as she can, find details, then post them on social media. PR damage and the truth getting out could honestly be worse than what any investigation could do
i asked a “frat bro” while i was in college about why he’s in a fraternity and if it’s only for partying and drinking. He said it’s for networking and introduces opportunities. He dropped out later that year, another drank too much and skipped class and fell behind.
Moral of the story: you don’t need to be forced to drink a whole bottle of tequila(true story) in one night to have “opportunities”.
joowahn but you can also keep your head straight and get good grades while in a frat. It’s just not as common. Frats select for meatheads, they don’t turn smarties into meatheads.
sounds like a nerd, you're a nerd
Nerd
Speaking of networking, as far as I know Mark Zuckerberg stayed in his dorm for as much as possible, and Bill Gates was in his garage.
If someone in a fraternity refers to themselves as a frat bro, then your experience is probably true lol. That stereotype was embarassing at my college
This week on frat house drama
bruh bruh OMF
I own a business near the local university and the students in the fraternities are the worst customers. Unbelievably entitled and rude. I’ve actually seen the alumni come back to party with their toddlers in tow. What is scary is these are our future CEO’s and politicians.
Probably a bad fraternity than
Do you that fiction as if it isnt?
Don't forget how the student body is literally just frat kids running for office.
basically just a popularity contest
"As former frat members aged into leadership roles, they realized that fraternities gave them somebody to yell at."
This sounds like a self-sustaining structure of power tripping.
So once again, turns out money ruins everything. Good to know.
Hello Joey Badass
Pls give me all your money.
+NoiseFeedMusic It takes one to know one.
not all fraternities are rich though... I'd be honored if some retro music fans would check out my acoustic piano & vocal covers of 80s/90s classic songs on my channel. Covers include Sting, Prince, George Michael, Phil Collins, Tom Petty, the GooGoo Dolls, Sarah McClachlan, Billy Joel, Earth Wind & Fire, plus a couple of '010s classics from Bruno Mars and Coldplay. Live acoustic with no autotune. Thanks and peace.
The love of money is the root of all evil
We don't have these in the UK. It's weird and kind of terrifying from our perspective.
Not too different from Rugby, Lacrosse and those kind of societies at British unis tbh.
actually i think you had those kind, only in uk it's probably more classy. in Indonesia we don't have frats, rather we have student executive organization at every level of uni, start from major, faculty all the way to higher level like institute level or uni level that collaborate with rector or head of department. anywhere there's a mob mentality, there's always a form of social order of sorts.
Mehoo,
Except for communal living, internal hierarchies, inter-fraternity rivalries and a sense of identity. So yeah totally the same.
I don't think frat boys are rebels. They're usually the monied white male elite.
Dude; they're americans; where all the sjw and feminism and internet censorship and internet package all started;
Here in weird Europe, in schools we just kinda study and it works out well
There are student organisations though, which is kinda similar to frats.
@@semicollonn at least in my experience, not even remotely. The ones i witnessed essentially only had networking as purpose
we have fraternities in the Netherlands. I'm in one of them, so its not this way for the entirety of Europe
Lost a good friend to hazing they had him strapped to a forest tree for 24hrs I would practice caution joining a frat man
@@Johnny-Lawn 3 comments? tarnishing the memory of a dead person? please be a troll
I’m sorry about that.
It's amazing how Vox continuously pushes out videos that aim to explain current issues to people, and I'm like "what, what's that?" and then I realise these are mostly US-only things and I've never seen similar systems elsewhere so I've also been spared from their problems. (Non-functional doors, fraternities/sororities in university, voter registration...) :S
I can 100% assure you your country also has bizarre and bad things going on.
@@casperaaron5530 def
@@casperaaron5530 well, duh every country has.
exactly!! so american-centric its like watching a different planet
woah wait, bad doors are everywhere
When you are Greek and all this Greek life is Greek to you ... 🤔🤔🤔🤔
they mean Ancient Greek I think. not totally sure
+get paid 01
You are a real racist!
There are no real [add any construct one can be a member of]
I'm Greek and it's totally not Greek to me.
Lol
@@rick88261 what is a real Greek lol of someone is born and raised in Greece they're Greek. Every country on this planet particularly first world countries have various people that migrated at some point.
One of the best decisions of my life to join, met so many more people than I ever could without it, still good friends to this day. It’s been 30 years since finishing school and watching this made me realize in the last 48 hours I’ve texted with 6 college friends and I’m skiing with 5 life long friends next month. Lots more to say but friends sums it up best
I mean, i have life long friends as well, and they didn't cost me a monthly fee. I guess people will justify anything
@@ShirleyTimple sorry but this is literally the dumbest reason to hate on frats ever. Like you do realize that everyone pays so you can have a place to host events, pay for food, support the national organization so they can organize philanthropy things right? If you and you friends are having a kickback and it’s byob are you “paying” for your friends then? It’s not paying for friends it’s more of a mandatory “Chipping in” so everyone can have fun together
You couldn't do that without your dues?
Weakness.
@@anannoyedpanda5:26 5:35
@@hailtothevicHow about 5:43
Fraternities in history: use each other to influence politics and create revolutions under the false premise of freedom and equality
Today: yeah dude beer
I can’t breath 💀
Fraternity/Sorority life depends on the university and what you make of it! You can spend 4+ years getting drunk or you can utilize greek life on campus to network with other people and surround yourself with potentially good people. There are tons of people i know that use fraternities/ sororities to help them get a fast track into a career/politics while there are others that use the orgs as a drinking club.
My fraternity helped open many job opportunities and has helped me in interviews. That being said many guys in my house treat it as a drinking club. These kids are gonna do it regardless if they’re in a house or not.
All of the Greek life “people” on my campus are not good people to surround yourself with.
@@charliemoll5435 seems like you don’t actually know them
I spent four years getting drunk, but it did open up a lot of opportunities, career wise for me
@TheFinalBoss25 it doesn't always need to be a means to an end aswell. It can just be for fun.
This is such an alien concept in UK+Ireland
@JB and Abbey I live in the UK and wtf are Islamic grooming gangs
@JB and Abbey nice try 😂 A for effort
Cats cats islamic grooming?? Ignorant...
Not really. We have sporting social societies at university that in some aspects behave in a very similar way to fraternities.
JB and Abbey LMFAO 😂
I read the thumbnail as “why farts” and instantly clicked.
This guy definitely didn’t get a bid
how fortnite got so overrated
Fratnight
Forknife
FiteNite
Fraternite
FoogleNert
--video frat expectations vs reality
Expectation: Hey guys lets drink 200 cans of beer and beat pledges
Reality: heys guys who wants pizza (50 people on group chat) pizza!!!!!!!
in my frat it goes like this:
“boys we’ve got a study sesh tonight with some alumni”
*no one answers*
“....there’s gonna be some pizza”
*whole frat appears faster than the speed of light*
Frizzle So true
pizza sounds fun lol
When I was in college, I was too busy studying to even think about fraternities.
Dude you sounds pretty sick
Here's a cookie. It's not much, but it's worth more than some diplomas.
Sounds like someone had a boring youth
@@Jalerbo somebody that knew how to be a responsible human being, university is not cheap
Too bad your grades weren't good enough to make it into university
Here in the UK I had an American flatmate ask me to look at her CV and see why she wasn’t getting interviews. I noticed she had put down that she had been a secretary for a sorority. She was shocked when I told her to take it off - a leadership role in a good sorority? But all people here think of is hazing, bigotry and alcoholism. She took it out and got the jobs she’d been applying to.
I never really understood fraternities and sororities. It's really an american thing. I'm in college and people are just normal friends, like there are the closest friends, friends and colleagues. There's no institution or rules. You can befriend or unfriend whoever you want whenever you want. You can go out with everyone or anyone from college and people will treat you normally.
Australia doesn’t have fraternities. Is it just a US thing?
surfie007 Yes, just a U.S. thing.
@@danielaayers3449 * They also have them in Canada
There are also some in Germany
Davae Adams Really? I'm studying at Laval University in Canada and I've never heard of any fraternities.
@@yomi001 Not every Canadian university has Greek life whether officially affiliated or not. UBC has the best fraternity or sorority system in Canada. I personally am a brother of a fraternity at a university in the city of Toronto. I don't know how it's like in Laval or the rest of Quebec though.
My dad was in a fraternity and he loved it he made life long friends there
Nobody talks about fraternities being some of the first places that many guys are able to truly open themselves up to other guys, showing their vulnerabilities. And really having a group of guys that have your back and are there for you when you are down. Especially in a world where many see it as weak of a man to show emotions, that is the true meaning of brotherhood
couldnt have said it better myself
If you weren't able to develop meaningful friendships like that in middle school or high school, I legitimately feel for you. I just don't understand why the organized structure of the fraternity enables certain people to finally feel like it's OK to make themselves emotionally vulnerable. It's sort of like the organized religion vs spirituality thing for me, I don't see why one should automatically be interlinked with the other.
imagine friendship
too bad they have to ruin it by doing "pranks" "haze'
Well that is because of the strict and conservative upbringing in the U.S. But you still do not need a fraternity, you only need the ONE actual friend who is properly wired for this, and you can find in anywhere in your class, not in your frathouse.
I think this video misses the entire point of fraternities and generalizes all fraternities by a classic stereotype. It's a great way to get involved in your school, volunteer, and meet people on campus. It isn't people telling you who your friends should be because you join a house that you fit in with and you can find a group of people within the fraternity that you hang out with more. A lot of the things they describe in this video are extremely old and archaic. Many hazing rituals have been phased out, and new member programs now involve learning the history of the fraternity as a national organization and chapter. Vox should definitely have done more research on the subject before putting together a video with extremely inaccurate footage from Animal House, an exaggerated comedy movie from 1978.
For the most part, you're right, and I think this video should have acknowledged that. But we still get news of people dying in really insane hazing rituals(Penn state I think) and even at my "nerd" college some frats occasionally have a reputation for things bordering on sexual assault and often get amnesty calls for alcohol poisioning, etc.(although that one isnt unique to frats) It still happens.
AmbientCreativity most fraternities nowadays highly denounce that kind of behavior. We don’t tolerate alcohol hazing if any kind, and if anyone disrespects a woman in any way, shape, or form, we drop the IMMEDIATELY. The ones they continue to do this are weeding themselves out and are quickly becoming a minority among fraternity life. Don’t let the news, or especially Vox, make you think that fraternities are only around for money. At my university, the Greek Life GPA is much higher than non Greek, and people who live in the fraternity houses have a high GPA than those who don’t. So if you can have the highest GPA at school by living in the middle of the fraternity life, then it’s obvious Greek life is much more good than bad.
Well what do you expect from a media outlet that believes the perfect fraternities are grown-up day cares. Also known as "safe-spaces".
Jonah Hughes
Violence against women happens often because of them. There are terrible stories, and they’re not rare. It’s so incredibly saddening. I hope we can change that culture to a more accepting and compassionate one later on.
I think you missed the part at 0:14 . Literally he says they are not talking about all fraternities, just the stereotypical majority lol
I was in a fraternity in school. Every frat has its bad eggs but there were so many guys in my house who took their studies very seriously and pursued leadership roles in our university. Most of these guys were upperclassmen so the fraternity was a great way to connect incoming freshmen with these upperclassmen who had their priorities straight and could mentor them.
Also, my fraternity is a big national one. The national fraternity has a minimum gpa requirement but we had our own higher one in our chapter. We also had mandatory study halls for underclassmen. Believe or not, there are actually people out there who leverage the fraternity model and network in a positive way. The real challenge for fraternities is making sure they admit quality men into their organizations and not these bad eggs who contribute nothing.
There's something weird and desperate about a bunch of people wanting to be a part of an exclusive friendship club with no prior experience of your 'like mindedness' or whatever. How could you be so pumped to join a friend club with people you don't even know? It just sounds creepy and desperate...
well i mean it's like going to a school where you don't know anyone you have to make friends somehow and sometimes the best way to make a lot friends fast is by joining these groups.
You wouldn’t understand unless you through it
Insecurities! Look among your friends to find your enemies!
After having my first year of college ruined by 2020, I AM desperate for friends. That’s the entire reason I’m looking to join one.
U meet them pre rush and during rush. You visit all the houses ur interested in and see which ones u like
I joined Pi Kap my first semester on an actual college campus. Arguably the best decision of my life; we have an actual philanthropy that we cater to, have had the highest GPA on campus at 3.1 (2.7 is the minimum for PKP), and I was never hazed going through the initiation process.
Don’t hate something you don’t understand.
Zach Hill Do you think a 3.1 GPA is good?
Mittens bruh in college it is, especially because it is way harder to maintain a higher gpa in college than in high school
yeah i’m nearing the end of pinning and the “hazing” process has been charity work and craftsmanship as well as hanging with the boys, nothing about fraternities is displayed correctly by the media
ODH brother
I like how these videos are set up like an academic journal; intro, method, results, conclusion and discussion leading to new research questions. What they sometimes are missing, however, is critiquing their source, which of course makes for less fun but more accurate essays.
He really didn’t focus on the fact that fraternities start their relationship with you by abusing you.
Not all but in some cases
That's never ever a good sign.
I transferred after freshmen year from a college with greek life to a college that was vehemently anti greek life , frats and sororities were strictly forbidden.
I honestly really appreciated it, there was still a party vibe and culture but the relationships I formed felt much more organic across the board with classmates
Love the DU chapter at my school tbh, great guys. I also honestly love frats in general but like someone said in this section which rings very true: its only as good as its members.
Sarah DU is the best frat there is
I'm not sure what school you go to, but they were the best at my school as well. They had high academic standards and no drinking in the house.
My skin crawls every time I hear him say “frat”
and...?
What’s wrong with shortening the terminology? It saves time.
Scholarly Cat “Frat” holds a negative connotation whereas fraternity is a more respected term for addressing the such Greek organizations, and fraternity brothers aren’t oblivious to that disrespect
@@lmaoevan I see. Didn't know such details mattered so much. I'm sure most people who use the shortened term don't mean to offend anyone. Just seems like another aspect of Greek life exclusivity people outside of it generally won't be aware of.
Scholarly Cat I agree, which is unfortunately the issue I have with this video to begin with. Anyone with a fundamental knowledge on the subject should know how to address fraternities (obviously not expected of everyone, but when you make a video about them, the standards are different); so either he came to his conclusion without significant research or is apathetic in how he presents his findings. Neither of which are respectable to me
Am I the only one who thought that thumbnail said Why *Farts?*
Damn dyslexia.
Dyslexics Untie!
R Garcia We live in a fraternity...
I see lots of comments claiming it to be such an american thing. But here in Germany the history, the tradition and the ascpect and overall unity of fraternities (Studentenverbindung) are much bigger but interestingly lesser known for the normal German citizens.
I feel like it's a completely different thing though. Except for the disgusting amounts of drinking, that's the same.
I once had a housemate from Germany. He told me the German frats have sword duels as a tradition.
+AudreyburntheHep
German fraternities work different and have completely different traditions. They originated as political clubs of students in the 1800s and played a role in the development of the idea of a unified Germany and the 1848 revolution.
They are still a lot more traditional than the American version of the fraternities.
+keeponrockin
That really depends on the fraternity, and the drinking as well happens in a different "setting".
+Jonathan Tan
That's true, it's called Mensur. It is more symbolic than an actual duel like in the olympics, however also controversial since there often are small injuries in the face, and it was banned for a while as well.
Now many made it voluntarily or completely abandoned it, a big part still requires the duel for a new member though.
Fraternities: We are not as bad as people say we are
COVID-19: I am about to end this man's whole career right now
I was in a sorority at a small college. No hazing whatsoever. In fact, it was vital to my development in college. Required study time with sisters helped me maintain a good GPA. In fact, all of Greek life kept a higher GPA than that of the general student population. Greeks are still leaders on my campus to this day.
As someone that's not from the US fraternities kinda sound like an absolute nightmare. Also why do students would need to be disciplined? This is college, not high school, you don't need people enforcing rules to take care of yourself.
Not mentioned : Frat Houses are the nastiest places on any college campus.
The frats in my town just damage property, throw up in the streets, and make excessive noise. Frats really just bring out the absolute worst in guys.
NYEEEERRRRDD
@@hastalasopasequemo3645 worse, a geed
Started with "not all fraternities are the same."
Then ends it with "do fraternities solve problems, or create them?"
The last words are the ones that stick around the longest.
In my junior year, I remember a drunken freshman kid died or killed during a frat party ... remember seeing police helicopters hovering above the campus trying to find him when he was reported missing.
Fraternities are a brotherhood just like sororities are a sisterhood. Both are organizations of a pseudo-sibling relationship aimed to raise money for: social events, long term members etc
Jack Carlson
I didn’t know that, from what I see on Snapchat I thought it was a club to be invited to every college party
Lade that’s a huge cash cow and title card for fraternities but after all said and done some guys stay strong with it, others don’t > not in a fraternity but I’ve spoken to some dudes about it
So, can a trans man join a fraternity or would it be too awkward?
Jack Carlson
I wish it was that simple. The (verifies) stories I’ve heard from fraternities here and the sometimes hideous violence they are responsible for is horrible. Hopefully this is something that can change with time and education.
Mozart It depends on the Fraternity from both a national and local level. Some fraternities nationals don’t allow it, but I believe most do. It would mostly depend on the local chapters you are wanting to join, and if the brothers would have any issue with it
Watching this from the frat living room
There are good frats and bad frats no matter what you think. A fraternity is what you make it to be
Anyone else read “why farts” 😂
YEP
I'm currently attending the college from animal house that's depicted in a lot of this video. I feel like they could have discussed a lot more of the unfortunate effects of fraternities and the weight of the post college money power of fraternity alumni. We see not only elevated occurrences of rape and sexual assault in these organizations but also rampant somewhat unapologetic homophobia and misogyny, STI transmission, upholding of class divisions, drug use, etc. The racism, sexism, and homophobia isn't just happening in the fraternities the rest of the campus feels it when frats engage in this behavior and receive little or no backlash from administrators and their own institutions. A student dies almost every other year when they go on their trips to Lake Shasta, and cultural centers have trouble booking houses for retreats because fraternities regularly rent homes to have raucous parties in that cause a lot of damage and noise complaints so racial justice organizations have difficulty doing their work preparing for the next year. There's also the regulation of gender norms and expression, dress codes, makeup standards, shaming members for having sex with (particularly female) partners their peers have deemed unattractive or unworthy of sexual attention or even not having enough sex with the implication being that they're gay. It would be really interesting to explore the lasting affects of these behaviors on individuals and the way other institutions function. I like that theirs some focus on this subject but I feel like there's still more to be said.
thats a deep view into this culture woah
I don't get how Americans are able to drink and party so much, yet keep up with their college work and pass the course. Is American college easier to where they are able to frequently be drunk instead of studying and still pass?
Depends on the major bu a lot of majors are jokes
A lot of these people fail out or have to take an extra year of courses
Usually STEM students are the ones who study hard
Fraternities to me feel like cults
Mentioning multicultural and ehtnic fraternities and sororities is very important. For students of color at traditionally white institutions, Greek life is often very intimidating or outright unwelcoming. And this extends to the university as a whole. But these specific fraternities offer students of color the opportunity to find their own group on campus, network, and gives them a reason to stay. Which the administrations like because it makes them seem more diverse and keeps money on campus.
I just wasted 7 minutes of my life
This video didn't explicitly mention that frats and sororities are clubs for the wealthy and connected. Essentially, the reason why they are able to donate so much while creating a lot of problems for the school. Wealthy connected kids usually know that if they do anything wrong they will have safety nets of protection and are usually not disciplined because they are raised by nannies and maids.
I went to a school where a sizable percentage of the students were in a fraternity or sorority. I honestly felt like their only purpose was to enhance the college experience for a select few, while the students who didn't want to join or couldn't afford to join were completely left behind. The frat parties were the stereotypical binge-drinking, throwing stuff into the lake, destroying property fests. I found the fact that we needed a special separate fraternity/sorority just for people of color to be included to be completely disheartening, and as someone who couldn't afford to pay the membership fees, I felt like it was just one more way for people with money to have an advantage at getting ahead in school and the job market (and it was). The school also built some really nice sorority party houses (literally all they were going to be used for) while I was there. I'm not sure if the sororities funded them or if the school did, but again, as someone who was just barely getting by financially, I was frustrated that the school put so much effort into supporting Greek life while I had to practically beg to be included in ANY opportunities for networking and to have access to more than the basic resources; and this was from a private school that continuously advertised that they had more opportunities for students than a public college. It was a complete joke.
I was so unsure before rushing. I was scared of being hazed or forced to drink but honestly it’s been great. I’ve met so many great people and have participated in so many cool activities. You really just have to do your research on whatever fraternity you’re rushing
Nah, friendship is something you buy. The fact that you need to buy your friends is sad.
@@ShirleyTimple who said I bought my friends? I had friends before I joined and I’m still friends with them. I joined because I wanted a place where I could get some experience taking responsibilities before I have to go to the real world
@@guap3228 oh yeah? What were your "dues". You know, the fee required for membership in your exclusive little club.
At the uni campus I grew up on there was a very problematic fraternity. People were severely injured because of their party antics and one woman fell out of a second story window and broke lots of bones and was nearly paralyzed. I know lots of people with positive frat experiences but they've always had a bad rep to me...
They're not just annoying they're dangerous...
I was in a Fraternity for a little bit and there was no hazing at all and everything we stood for was positive. I do see the negative sides to them but they do a lot for the traditions of the colleges that doesn’t even include money when it comes to experience. There is also a way to make fraternities positive, like the one I was in.
Sounds like you’re soft
@@turgatur4283 ah yes because hazing is cool
@@turgatur4283Sounds like you’re toxic
This guy def didn’t get a bid.
The one frat party I went to made you learn about the pillars of consent before they let you go in, but they left out the one that neither party can be intoxicated for the consent to be legit. Hmmm frat bois...hmmm.
Well in my country fraternities are about rich kids/former nobility cutting each other with sabers and far-right networking. Can't decide which type of fraternity is worse
Afford college? Hell.. I can pay frat dues on top of that! It's turning into a rich kid social club.
The phenomenon of fraternity is analysed in the bestseller "Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion", chapter 2: Commitment & Consistency.
Generally the public is only interested in those party and bro culture stories. There is much more happening what the public doesnt see and also frats can be vastly different from each other.
You realize frats are not like animal house right?
I think the main thing that keeps frats on campus beside donations is they can make them go to their university events. These university events make the school look good the more participation there is.
Bruh im going to college because i want to be someone in life but i also want to party who doesn't?
rae just need to find the right people to party with, don’t need to be drunk just need to have fun
Frizzle Being drunk makes things way more fun
Ethan Hamilton, sounds like you have an alcohol problem. Needing alcohol to have a good time because you don’t do other stuff.
Anonymous Who said I need alcohol to have a good time? I said it makes things more fun, which is a very common sentiment.
Ethan Hamilton I swear everyone my age couldn’t go 2 weeks without alcohol which is sad.
Just wanted to let y’all know that there’s frats and sororities in Canada too. From the frat parties I’ve been to tho everyone’s really nice. No hazing from what I’ve heard too
Definitely got no bids during rush
the people who make videos like this didn't get asked to join a fraternity and it still bothers them...
Many fraternities in my school aren't like the ones in movies. Sure we have the usual party goers and undeclared beer-pongers, but many of our frats are generally diverse, inclusive, and beneficial. Business frats are known to host parties for the sake of networking, such as connecting students to Big 4 companies, internships, etc. Others are heavily involved in community service, philanthrophy, and genuinely care about their community. I would say the beneficial fraternities are the major-themed ones. But the greek-themed ones, well I guess they have their place in school. Just not in academics.
Not like it was posted 8 seconds ago and i watched the video 100%
I dig you screen name~!
Captain Beefhart~!
Lol for me it was posted tomorrow and I already saw it 10 times.
Vox - One of the best channels on YT
This dude was definitely a GDI.
People who don’t watch the whole video 🤦🏾♀️
I don't know if this is true for US fraternities, but here in Europe fraternities have an important role during college.
You get the possibility to assume leadership-roles in an environment where making a mistake isn't detrimental for your future career. Every board-member is a student with little to none leadership experience, so when a mistake is made it isn't that bad. The positive side of this, is that the board-members won't make those mistakes anymore when they start working. This makes those people more effective in the rest of their lives. Even when you don't participate in a function where you have to lead, it is a valuable experience to get to know how hierarchy works. Almost all companies depend on some form of hierarchy, so coming prepared isn't a bad way of entering the working-pool.
At the moment a study is being done on the impact of fraternities on the forming of friendships and the quality of that friendship. This study has been going on for more than 5 years now, monitoring new groups of students every year in three different countries. Besides the new students, a lot of old fraternity-members are also participating in these studies, thanks to the fact that fraternities have active contact with old-members.
Some publications related to this study are found here:
theffs.nl/publicaties-eng/
I know Vox isn't a objective source of news, and maybe the situation is totally different in the US, but calling fraternities "overrated" on the basis of a couple of negative publications is just unfounded and based on the idea a lot of people probably prefer to hear they are "overrated" instead of facing the possibility that their lingering opinion on fraternities may be wrong. It's also very easy to just insinuate that the situations you see in movies like "Animal House" are just the more acceptable examples of real fraternity-life. It may be that worse things have happened at real fraternities, that is just fueling hysteria on an unfounded claim.
I know Vox is only talking about US fraternities, but I see a lot of comments applying their logic to student organizations around the world.
My request for the viewers is, don't condemn every organization that bears resemblance in the way it operates to US fraternities.
dralenvan this is everything I wanted to comment but couldn’t put into words.
There's nothing inherently wrong with social organizations aiming to organize fun, social, and memorable events. The problem has to do with frat culture as it has developed over the years. At a time when boys are transitioning into manhood, masculinity is fraught with confusion and is highly susceptible to societal expectations.
The biggest issue with frats is that they teach a performative and ultimately violent form of manhood that includes substance abuse, destruction of property, sexual assault, and complete disregard for self-development and emotional growth. At the tender age of 18, most boys just want to have a sense of belonging and to have fun; they are perfect victims for the tornadoes of destructive attitudes and behaviors offered as gospel by frats.