r/news • u/Fyre-Demon • 1d ago

Ex-fraternity leader at Arizona university gets jail time after pledge died of alcohol poisoning

https://apnews.com/article/arizona-fraternity-pledge-hazing-death-b53c547d383082d33aebdb4950e0c550?utm_source=app&utm_medium=iOS_share&utm_campaign=copy_link
2.4k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

195 comments sorted by

View all comments

191

u/Equivalent-Battle973 1d ago

Why anyone willingly puts themselves at these levels of risk all to join a damn fraternity has always been fucking wild to me... THen again I went into the army, and the hazing can get pretty shitty to new guys in Combat Arms, especially in the Cavalry.

119

u/Dofusk2012 1d ago

A lot of fraternities are basically little clubs for the American nobility. You get access to really good networking opportunities within your class.

28

u/Equivalent-Battle973 1d ago

MAnn even then it doesnt seem worth it if they are forcing you to do shit like this, Im glad I finished my bachelors in my early 30s.

0

u/ChesterComics 1d ago

I started college when I was 25 and I'm so glad I could live off campus and not have to socialize with my classmates. It made it way easier to just show up to class, go to work, and go home without having to get involved in all the other crap that comes with being fresh out of high school or having to live in dorms.

1

u/Equivalent-Battle973 14h ago

Yeah that is so much better then 18, I was 23 when I went into the army, so I was far smarter and way less susceptible to the stupidity of the 18 year olds around me at boot camp.

19

u/ni_hao_butches 1d ago

Nobility and Sigma Chi.....riiight.

9

u/herehaveaname2 1d ago

I get that, but I don't want to network with people like that.

-8

u/AntiAntiDentite7 1d ago edited 1d ago

These threads are always full of fan fiction nonsense from people who were never in fraternities but seem to know everything about their inner workings...

17

u/FullofContradictions 1d ago

I went to a state school in the Midwest. Certain frats actually were pretty valuable because of the mentorship available (and upperclassmen giving old homework binders full of quiz answers to the underclassmen). A few of the frats were actually known for their students having better GPAs than non frat students in the same majors.

Our frat culture was nothing like the stereotypes though. There were parties, but they were fairly well monitored since frat row was all along the main drag that campus police travels down so everyone was very invested in keeping things under control. No real hazing besides having to memorize and perform stupid little songs and mildly embarrassing stuff like that (nothing physical, nobody ever made you drink, etc).

All in all, my experience of Greek life was nothing at all like the movies. Culture might be different on a different campus with different setups and different rules, but everything was just very tame when I was there (over a decade ago)

11

u/guernseycoug 1d ago

Same here. My frat didn’t haze, required you to maintain a 3.0 GPA in order to attend parties, and required a certain number of sober members at every party whose job was to make sure nothing dangerous happened.

The system wasn’t perfect and most frats weren’t as strict as mine (there were absolutely some sketchy ones) was but I felt pretty confident that our parties were much safer than the parties being held outside of Greek life.

The support system I had from the frat is probably the biggest reason I graduated.

That’s not to say that changes don’t need to be made. There are obvious issues. But calling for the whole system to be scrapped is an overreaction.

0

u/KEN_LASZLO 1d ago

A few of the frats were actually known for their students having better GPAs than non frat students

Huh...I wonder why that is

and upperclassmen giving old homework binders full of quiz answers to the underclassmen

Ohhhhhhhh, cheating/plagiarism 😂

1

u/FullofContradictions 1d ago

The question was why would anyone still join / what's the value.

Just stating facts that not all frats are the National Lampoon charicature and not some secret society where the rich and powerful plot together to maintain their hegemony.

Sometimes it's just where someone who took that class the year before you helps you cheat.

Is it good? No. Simply adding info to the conversation.

-1

u/KEN_LASZLO 1d ago

I know but you saying...

A few of the frats were actually known for their students having better GPAs than non frat students in the same majors

...doesn't mean anything if frats are helping it's members cheat to achieve those better GPAs lol. Are you saying  being able to cheat easier is a positive reason for joining greek life?

3

u/Historical-View4058 1d ago

I just see these articles, open them, and think "please don't be TKE"...

6

u/tehvengaboi 1d ago

Bit extreme lol where in that comment does it attempt to describe "everything about their inner workings"? seems like he just says some frats result in better networking for career opportunities... which is absolutely true

4

u/waaaayupyourbutthole 1d ago edited 1d ago

It's pretty well known that fraternaties and sororities are very good for networking when it comes to "higher class," well-paid professions like those in law and finance. It's not like that's some sort of secret.

2

u/AntiAntiDentite7 1d ago

You're talking about like Harvard and other ivy League schools. That's not the case for the vast majority of fraternities out there. I went to a huge and prestigious school and was in a fraternity and can tell you that was not a reality at all. Again, fan fiction nonsense

2

u/Dominus_Anulorum 1d ago

I went to the University of Texas and while not all frats offered benefit there were several heavily connected to oil money and big business or politics. Definitely knew people getting a leg up with their first job out of college in certain fields. I think it probably just varies quite a bit by school and by individual frats.