10 Reasons Why I Hate Fraternities
Fraternities and sororities are synonyms with the college lifestyle. While I don’t personally have an issue with anyone who’s proud to be a member, I personally feel that they are detrimental in more ways than one way. Here are 10 reasons why I hate fraternities.
Identity.
I must preface the following by saying that this doesn’t apply to every member. But in my entire college career, I began to notice how members of these organizations would undergo a metamorphosis. Whether this change of identity was for the better or worse is highly debatable but it always disturbed me to see it happen.
Gang Mentality.
Of course, this loss of identity was always replaced with a gang mentality. While I understand that you probably should agree with the code of whatever organization you join, members that were free thinkers were often ostracized. You had to dress, talk, and think like everyone else in your gang. Maybe the word gang is a bit extreme but the frat mentality wasn’t too far from the gang mentality.
Money.
On top of paying for the overly priced tuition, the fact that you also have to pay fees to have “brothers” and “sisters” always seemed shady. I’ve literally seen plenty of people unable to flip the bill that because invisible to their siblings once they couldn’t pay their overpriced memberships.
Appearances.
While I’m sure that there are plenty of organizations that positively contribute to their communities, that wasn’t exactly the case at my school. It seemed that the organizations at my school were more concerned with their dance moves than actually attributing to society. Everything seemed completely disingenuous in my eyes.
Your Colors.
Things started getting even stranger when I overheard members referring to other students by whatever organization they were associated with. Again, the gang comparison seems necessary because they would assume their persona by whatever frat they belonged to. This loss of identity was something that repulsed me from even considering any of the organizations at my school.
Connections?
Many people would tell me that by joining one of these groups it would help their job hunts after school. Whenever I would hear this I would think, “Is selling your humanity for a possible job opportunity really worth it?” I guess that rationality makes sense but I’d still be disgusted due to the entire falseness of the situation.
Familiar Feeling.
The entire, “My clique is cooler than yours!” vibe that I would get was another aspect that turned me off frats. I felt like I was still in high school because people actually judged one another based on their group of friends. It was very idiotic and superficial, to say the least, but some people need to be a part of something to have self-value.
Horror Stories.
I’m sure you’ve heard plenty of horror stories that have happened at frat parties in general. No, I didn’t witness anything during my college career but countless rumors were spread about multiple frats on campus. Not all frats are filled with scumbags but you gotta admit that the atmosphere seems to be one that many douchebags thrive within.
Classism/Racism?
This may be something that only applies to my previous college which was located in the south, but there were some frats that were very racist. Maybe…that’s a strong word but I couldn’t help but noticed that the fraternities were pretty segregated. Yes, some were diverse but many only allowed in a member with a certain class and ethnic background. Of course, this wasn’t an official rule but more of an unspoken one that all students knew about. This could just be a product of living in the south but regardless, it was severely messed up and another turn-off.
Why Does This Matter Again?
Ultimately, whatever decisions that someone makes is entirely irrelevant to me. I’m simply making observations over made over my personal college career and relying on them back towards you wonderful readers out there. My reasoning for feeling strongly against fraternities, in general, is that I think feel that college should be a time of self-discovery. You should be pushing outside of your comfort zones by your own free will and learning how to be more comfortable with yourself. Some people go through this process by joining organizations but I’ve personally seen the opposite take place amongst my peers.
