I just pledged!

[x86isslow]

I'm a sophomore at UMass/Amherst. I never thought I'd join a fraternity, mostly because the existing ones here all suck. But then, a few guys thought it was high time that UMass got a new fraternity. So they're trying to start a chapter of Pi Kappa Phi.

Earlier this week, I went to the information session, and decided I liked it, and so yesterday, I pledged!

Any Pi Kapps here? How did you like your experience?

 

[jelloshotsrule]

founding brother of alpha sigma sigma here!!!! congrats, bro!

 

[clayj]

founding brother of alpha sigma sigma here!!!! congrats, bro!

ASS?

 

[feakbeak]

ASS?

LOL... nice.

I never understood the point of fraternities. What's wrong with just having friends? You know ones you don't have to pay for.

 

[x86isslow]

LOL... nice.

I never understood the point fraternities. What's wrong with just having friends? You know ones you don't have to pay for.

haha, i suppose that's one way of looking at it . i just want to be able to change the image of umass a bit. and i figure a fraternity that's different from the crap frats we have here is a good way of doing that.

all i know is i'm never ever ever wearing two polo shirts at the same time.
and Definitely never a pink and green polo <--- hopefully that redeems me a bit

 

[skunk]

I'm a long-time member of Mu-Upsilon-Gamma (Richmond Chapter).

 

[feakbeak]

haha, i suppose that's one way of looking at it . i just want to be able to change the image of umass a bit. and i figure a fraternity that's different from the crap frats we have here is a good way of doing that.

all i know is i'm never ever ever wearing two polo shirts at the same time.
and Definitely never a pink and green polo <--- hopefully that redeems me a bit

Meh, don't mind me. I've never been one for formal social groups. Fraternities are widely varied from service/volunteer frats, to social (i.e. drinking/partying) frats to academic frats - many of these are helpful for a university's culture.

I would stay away from the green and pink polo though.

 

[Stampyhead]

That's cool, congratulations.
You're lucky. I went to Oberlin College and they don't allow fraternities there. They say that they're too exclusive or some crap like that. Can you believe that? I thought that was the whole point of fraternities...

 

[jelloshotsrule]

ASS?

bingo

anyways, good luck. remember that two tablets of roofies is much more guaranteed than one!!

 

[iJon]

LOL... nice.

I never understood the point of fraternities. What's wrong with just having friends? You know ones you don't have to pay for.

Such a flawed argument. You have to live somewhere. I could either live in the dorms and have all kinds of restrictions, have RA's and more rules than I can count.

or I can pay to live in a fraternity, I am great friends with everyone, I have a badass house to party at, there is always someone cleaning my house (pledges), I can drink liquor, bring girls back, smoke, play loud music and just have some good ol' fun without worrying about getting in trouble.

Fraternities are much more than just getting some friends. That's the basis of it but it doesn't end there. Now most people on this board I wouldn't expect to be interested in fraternities, espeically a bunch of computer geeks

Also, member of Pi Kappa Alpha right here.

jon

 

[zelmo]

bingo

anyways, good luck. remember that two tablets of roofies is much more guaranteed than one!!

Hey, there's nothing like one of those sweet ASS parties. I remember how hard I worked to make a complete ASS of myself.

 

[Blue Velvet]

Any humiliating and hazardous initiation ceremonies involved? ...or are they secret?

 

[tpjunkie]

Fraternities are much more than just getting some friends. That's the basis of it but it doesn't end there.
jon

Right on, man. It's not what most people think it's about.

 

[iJon]

Right on, man. It's not what most people think it's about.

Yeah and it's usually not worth fighting. My co-workers here hate the thought of one. If you don't like one then nothing is going to change your mind. People who don't know much about them can be swayed either way.

All I know is that I have met way to many cool people and had way to much damn fun the past 3 semester being in one. I never thought I would be so socially involved in and off campus, it's been a great experience. But I do stand by one thing, it isn't for everyone, simple as that.

jon

 

[Josh]

Point taken: Being in a frat is not just paying for friends.

It's paying for friends, and being labeled as womanizing and obnoxious

Sure, dorms have restrictions, but so do frats. They all have certain "rules" and "orders".

If you want to have fun and be able to party, get an apartment or small house - it will be way cheaper than a frat, and it's YOUR place. You can do whatever you want there.

 

[jelloshotsrule]

it's harder to get ladies to come to your house than to a "mixer" with their sorority.

2x the roofies. problem solved!

 

[MongoTheGeek]

My father and brother were both Theta Xi at MIT.

I didn't pledge to a frat. One of the reasons was that my dorm freshman year had better parties than the frats did. People left frat parties to hang out with us. 'Schalg was a lot of fun.

 

[iJon]

Point taken: Being in a frat is not just paying for friends.

It's paying for friends, and being labeled as womanizing and obnoxious

Sure, dorms have restrictions, but so do frats. They all have certain "rules" and "orders".

If you want to have fun and be able to party, get an apartment or small house - it will be way cheaper than a frat, and it's YOUR place. You can do whatever you want there.

Labeled by who? People who aren't in fraternities, no surprise there. Same reason Mac users are labeled as elitist stuck up artsy people who live in their own world with a cult leader. Is it true, to an extent but not everyone.

Of course we have our rules, not as many as any dorm though. Probably not to many dorms out there that you can either drink, light up a cig or joint, or do all sorts of things that would usually get you reported to judicial board at your local school.

Now I realize that I'm probably pissing in the wind here with these arguments. Your going to argue whichever side you were on when you walked in this thread. I'm just trying to have a reasonable discussion.

As for the apartment, true to an extent. I have my whole life to go live in an apartment and "do what I want." I only have 4 years at this college of my choice. I'm experiencing something that I will never forget and something I won't experience ever again. Sure I'm living in a small cubicle and sharing a bathroom with some guys when my parents could easily go out and scoop me up a nice bachelor pad. But for this year, I'm having the time of my life and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

jon

 

[gwuMACaddict]

it's harder to get ladies to come to your house than to a "mixer" with their sorority.

2x the roofies. problem solved!

definitely not a funny joke to make with the prevelance of date rape on college campuses...

 

[XNine]

I'd join a rat for one reason, and one reason only. 4 women at a time. Bring em on.
Other than that, I'm pretty anti-social in real life as I hate people, I hate college-aged people (my age) because most of them listen to ****** music, talk about stupid things, circle jerk around kegs, etc.

I'd rather stick to my own group of friends. It's just me, I'm sure not all frats and college people are like that, but for me, paying to belong somewhere... Just ain't my style.

 

[tpjunkie]

One of the most frustrating things on my campus, the "Mother of Fraternities" (All you other frat guys know where I go to school now) where the first modern greek letter fraternity(ies) were started, six of them to be precise; is that the administration despite its claims is actively trying to eliminate greek life on campus. 10 years ago, there were nearly 20 fraternities on campus, now there are 7, one of which is down to seven brothers i think, with no pledges. Even my own house came close to dying out, my freshman year there were only 16 brothers, which was dangerously close to having our housing revoked by the school. However, as they merrily work to eliminate the greek system here they always mention on the tour guide how the system started here.

Gah, I'm so riled.

 

[iJon]

One of the most frustrating things on my campus, the "Mother of Fraternities" (All you other frat guys know where I go to school now) where the first modern greek letter fraternity(ies) were started, six of them to be precise; is that the administration despite its claims is actively trying to eliminate greek life on campus. 10 years ago, there were nearly 20 fraternities on campus, now there are 7, one of which is down to seven brothers i think, with no pledges. Even my own house came close to dying out, my freshman year there were only 16 brothers, which was dangerously close to having our housing revoked by the school. However, as they merrily work to eliminate the greek system here they always mention on the tour guide how the system started here.

Gah, I'm so riled.

Our campus hates fraternities as well. They would love to turn our house in a parking lot of some sort. We just keep coming back after everything they throw at us. We probably won't go anywhere though, we are considered to be one of the top 5 Pike chapters in the North America and it shows on campus.

jon

 

[bursty]

One thing that pisses me off more then anything are people who have prejudices against fraternities, but have little or no experience in dealing with them. There will always be the wild and crazy frat boys who just bang chics and get wasted. That is a frat.

I was in a fraternity. I joined the fraternity because it was actually cheaper then the dorms. Best decision of my life. My pledgeclass was awesome and we had a lot of fun, but also worked our asses off for the house.

PC2k4 Beta Alpha of Kappa Alpha

 

[jelloshotsrule]

definitely not a funny joke to make with the prevelance of date rape on college campuses...

sorry if it offended you. possibly it rings too true?

 

[x86isslow]

what's funny is i'm an RA in the dorms right now. i get free housing, and get paid.

our fraternity probably wouldn't be able to get a house any time before I graduate. so I can stay where I am, and maintain my perfect image as the straight-edge RA, and then go hang out with the guys and chill on the weekends.

seriously, though. not all fraternities are about drinking or date rape. a lot of the ones here at umass are. hopefully, we'll change that image here.