Lee Yates

Mr. Borrero

English 1101

11-25-12

Discourse Community Project

When you think of a college fraternity, what is the first thing that comes to your

mind? Is it “binge drinking”, partying all night, and always with sorority girls? This was

the first thought that came to my mind when I would think of fraternities. I mean that is

how Hollywood displays them, always throwing crazy parties. But as I have looked into

it more, being in a fraternity has much more meaning to it than just to party all the time.

Fraternities are supposed to build life long friendships and bonds with other members. I

have chosen to research fraternities for my Discourse Community Project.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how college fraternities engage with

literacy and help build life long bonds. This paper will contain the process of joining a

fraternity, pieces of literature that are traditions of the fraternity, and how being in a

fraternity means so much more than to just have a good time. My target audience is

students that are in college and are interested in joining a fraternity. I hope to educate

them with all of my information and research, and maybe remind current fraternity

members the true meaning of being Greek.

Joining a fraternity is not a overnight process, it takes months of time full of a lot

of dedication. All of my information and research is based on Sigma Alpha Epsilon,

which is the largest fraternity in America. Every college campus has a week called

“Rush Week”. Rush Week is simply just a week that all of the fraternities on campus

host events every night and meet all of the students who are interested in joining. Events

consist cook-outs, a day at the driving range, or even just hanging out at one of the

houses. The only purpose for “Rush Week” is to meet all of the fraternities so the

potential member can get a idea of which one he thinks he would fit in best with.

The next step of joining a fraternity is pledging. Once rush week is over, the

fraternity members will vote on which potential members they were most impressed with

and will offer them a bid. When you are presented a bid, this means that this fraternity

wants you to become a part of them and become a brother. You can only accept one bid.

Once you have chosen a fraternity and accepted a bid, you begin the pledging process.

This is the part that takes up the most time because pledging is basically doing whatever

the brothers say to show how dedicated you are and how much you want to become a part

of their fraternity. This is where the rumor of “hazing” comes into play. Hazing is when

brothers will tell their pledges to do harmful, dangerous, and stupid events just to get a

laugh out of it. Hazing is very illegal and fraternities can be terminated if caught doing

so. Now SAE is a hazing free fraternity, so I did not experience any of it, but I did do

some research on it. I read an article called “Inside Dartmouth’s Hazing”, this is about a

pledge who attends Dartmouth University and was hazed. He talks about how during his

pledging, the brothers made him do dangerous activities or things that just made him feel

uncomfortable. Hazing is a serious crime and pledges die every semester because of it.

Even though it is illegal, it is something that is always going to be around in some

fraternities. During your pledging, pledges are required to go to “Pledge Education”

every Sunday night. At Pledge Education, you are taught about the history of the

fraternity, such as the founder, where the fraternity was founded, important dates. You

are required to know all of this information before you officially become a brother.

After a pledge completes the pledging process, you officially become a brother.

The pledges were presented with a book called “The Phoenix” before they became

initiated. This book includes all the background history of Sigma Alpha Epsilon. One of

the sections in The Phoenix contains traditional songs that are only to be sung on certain

occasions. For example, The “Violet Song” (page 156), is a song that all the pledges will

sing to a “violet” that they pick of their choice. A violet is a sorority girl who the pledges

basically treat as their little sister, they look out for her and she is always there for them.

The pledges had to learn the song, then perform it in front of the selected girl at her

Chapter meeting. This is a great example how a fraternity can relate to literature. The

Phoenix always contains a document called “The True Gentlemen” (page 25). The True

Gentlemen is basically a poem that will guide you through life, every brother that I have

spoken to tells me that he tries to live by The True Gentlemen every day. This is also

another great example connecting literacy and a fraternity.

After the pledges become initiated, they begin the journey of being a brother and

an official member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon. When I was doing research on fraternities, I

would always read about how being in a fraternity will build a life long bond. I read an

article called “The Teaching of Fellowship”, which explained this concept of being in a

fraternity. The author of this article, Janet Reitman, explained how when you go through

the experiences that the fraternity men do together, there is no question that you will

become close. College is a huge part of somebody’s life, and when you see the same

people every day, you will always have a special connection to them. I had an interview

with one of my pledge brother’s dad who is a Alumni of Sigma Alpha Epsilon. I thought

that it would be great to interview an Alumni to really see if the “brotherhood” was true

since he graduated college a while ago. During this interview, he told me that he is still

in every day contact with his fraternity brothers. He told me that one of his fraternity

brothers is his son’s Godfather. This man trusts one of his fraternity brothers with his

own son if something were to happen to him, that is true brotherhood to me.

I thought that it would be a good idea to visit one of the fraternity homes and see

how brothers interact with each other in their every day life. When I got to the house, I

noticed that all of the brothers will do activities together. I asked a brother named

Michael Mendoza how being in a fraternity affected his college life. He told me that he

certainly makes it a lot more fun, he loves his fraternity brothers and is always with them

every day. I read parts of a book called “The American College Town”, which basically

describes the every day life of being in a fraternity. The author describes being a

fraternity as a lot of fun, and a crazy lifestyle. Being in a fraternity does have its hook ups

to parties, but that is really not the meaning of being in a fraternity. All the brothers that I

have spoken to have told me that they have meet friends that they will always keep in

contact with and that they feel as if they can go to them for anything.

Being in a fraternity can also help you in the job market when you are searching

for a job. I spoke to a brother named John Daley, and he is going into the Army. An

officer in the position that he is going into was actually a member of Sigma Alpha

Epsilon. This really helped him secure a spot and gave him great connections with the

field that he wanted to go into. I read an article on the internet about networking called

“How to level you Fraternity or Sorority in Networking for a Job”. This article is

basically about how searching for a job can be easier if there are members of the same

fraternity or sorority you were in already hold a position in the job that you want. The

whole point of being Greek is bonding like a family, and even though you might not

know the person, if you are a part of the same fraternity or sorority, you are still family,

and family will take care of family. This was very interesting to me knowing how much

of an advantage you can have by just being in a fraternity.

My opinion of the fraternity lifestyle has changed so much. From my first

opinion to just being party boys, to a brotherhood that will last a lifetime. If you are a

college student or going to college in the near future and are interested in joining a

fraternity, I hope my paper has helped you learn a lot. There is a fraternity that is right

for everyone, you just need to participate and figure out which fraternity is right for you.

I also found it very interesting how fraternities can relate to literacy so much through

their songs, books, and traditions. To anyone who is already in a fraternity, I hope that I

have reminded you the true meaning of being in a fraternity and how it is a brotherhood,

not a ticket to party.

Works Cited

Gumprecht, Blake. The American College Town. Amherst: University of Massachusetts, 2008. Print.

Reitman, Janet. "Confessions of an Ivy League Frat Boy: Inside Dartmouth's Hazing Abuses." Rollingstone.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Nov. 2012. <http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/confessions-of-an-ivy-league-frat-boy-inside-dartmouths-hazing-abuses-20120328>.

Spoul, R.C. "Ligonier Ministries: The Teaching Fellowship of R.C. Sproul." Ligonier.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Nov. 2012. <http://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/bonds-brotherhood/>.

SAE. The Phoenix. 11th ed. Vol. 1. N.p.: Fraternity Service Center, 2008. Print. Sigma Alpha Epsilon.

Klamm, Dan. "How to Leverage Your Fraternity or Sorority Network in the Job Search."Articles, Advice & Jobs. Experience, n.d. Web. 05 Nov. 2012. <http://www.experience.com/alumnus/article?channel_id=Networking>.