Sigma Chi was dumb enough to get their charter suspended for a good 5 years
Ooh, that's gotta hurt. The Sigma Chi at my school's pretty uh...active that way too :p but no one's dumb enough to cross the line far enough to get shut down or suspended since Gamma Phi Beta got shut down here two years ago. But that's all pre-me, because I'm in first year.
The Greek system at my school's pretty small too, considering our size (Western's considered a big school, I think). We have 12 frats and 5 sororites, but the frats are typically smaller than the sororities.
What did they do? Have a toga party?
We have toga parties!
And tie parties and 70s/80s parties and James Bond parties and Playboy parties (unforunately) and regular costume parties and uniform parties and potlucks, the whole nine yards!
Lots of fun. They're not so bad, unless if some dumb people make bad decisions and do stupid things, but then your sisterhood/brotherhood's reputation is on the line. Of course, some people are selfish enough not to care, but that's another story.
But I go to a party school and I live in an infamous party res (it made #3 or something on David Letterman's list of places to...well, get laid in North America, and now the Saugeen Stripper is making international news, unfortunately), so even if I didn't join a sorority, I'd have plenty of opportunites to party. It's a part of university life, I guess, because I think that if someone *wants* to party, they'll be able to do it anywhere, at any school.
That said, we round it all out with lots of charity work. In fact, every year we have a quota to fill for how much money we are expected to raise and donate to our main philanthropic organizations. Charity work's lots of fun, too.
I've often wondered what those Greek names signify.
Oh, you're not alone! My mom never even heard of Greek systems until I told her I wanted to join one, and she went to university in Canada (probably because she was a Visa student, though). It was so nice, because since she didn't know about them, she didn't have all those negative stereotypes clouding her judgement, and I could really explain to her and have her accept what they really are. Now she's as enthusiastic about my sorority as I am!
However, even if you were to attend university here, you still may not have heard of Greek systems. Western's Greek system is a bit obscure and lacks exposure because we are not recognized by the school, and we're not under the University Student Council, the reason being the fact that we're not "equal opportunity organizations". During formal recruitment, or rush, as it's more commonly known, you end up getting a bid (invitation to join) based on who chooses you, if you get chosen. An equal opportunity organization, of course, has to let anybody who wants to join, join. Also, frats and sororities aren't equal opportunity because member dues (fees) can be up there, so some people can't afford to even if they are interested in joining. So, we have our own governing councils.
So yes, that's about it in a larger nutshell.
Chriscy
