Tag Archives: college

Folk Song

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Monterey, CA
Performance Date: March 2, 2008
Primary Language: English

Fraternity Fight Song entitled “Raiders” – Tyler did not want to reveal his fraternity in this project, so replaced the letters of the fraternity with “ABC”.

We’re ABC Raiders,

We’re Raiders of the night.

We’re crazy sons of bitches,

We’d rather fuck than fight.

Highty Highty, All so Mighty,

Who the fuck are we.

God damn sons of bitches,

We are ABC.

Who are we (song leader)

A (group)

Who are we (song leader)

B (group)

Who are we (song leader)

ABC (everyone)

Tyler, who just joined a fraternity to be unnamed this past semester, has great pride in his house and brothers.  “This isn’t our official fraternity song.  That is different and sung at different rituals.  This song is separate and unofficial.  I learned it through older brothers in the fraternity.  No one taught any of the new brothers this song, so at certain rituals when it was sung, I didn’t know the words.  I ended up learning from one of the seniors in the fraternity.”  I asked Tyler if he could tell me the rituals in which this song is sung at, he responded, “It is sung on our Bid Night, which is where we give rushees bids into our house.  It is also sung on Initiation Night, which is when the new guys or pledges are initiated into the fraternity.  So basically it is sung at the beginning and end of the Pledge Semester.  But sometimes it is sung on random occasions, such as bus rides to events.  When asked about how he feels about the song Tyler responded, “This is the one song that gets me so fired up and excited.  When we sing the song officially, everyone is in a circle with our arms around each other, and we just scream the song.  I feel so proud of being in this fraternity when I’m with all the other brothers singing it.” Tyler did not know where the song originated from, but felt it was just passed down.

Many teams, groups, or organizations have fight songs usually before events.  This fight song clearly marks the beginning and end of a vital semester in the fraternity system: the pledge semester.  The pledge semester is a rite of passage into the fraternity, and this song marks a celebration of this semester’s start and commencement.  Lyrically the song looks as if it could have originated long ago, rather than in the nineteenth and twentieth century, when fraternities were created.  The pride that Tyler feels runs parallel to the lyrics of the song specifically the part “Highty, Highty, all so Mighty”.  The song might serve a ritualistic purpose, but it also is a means to scream and shout pride of this fraternity.

Blason Populaire – University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California

Nationality: American
Occupation: Student
Residence: San Jose, CA
Performance Date: March 28, 2008
Primary Language: English

Fraternity Stereotypes:

Lambda Chi (LCA) – Rammed A Guy

Sigma Nu (SN) – Sigma Who?

Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) – (S)exual (A)ssaults (E)xpected

Zeta Beta Tau (ZBT) – (Z)ero (B)itches (T)here

Bobby, who this past year joined the fraternity ZBT at USC, discovered that there is a “Frat Row” lingo, which includes the above blason populaire.  He learned those jokes from several other students who are part of the Greek life here at USC, but are not in his fraternity.  Each of the above are stereotypes that are used to poke fun at the names of each fraternity.  For instance, the joke for Lamda Chi is claiming that the brothers in this fraternity are all homosexual, when in reality that is nowhere near true, that is why this is a stereotype.  Bobby was surprised when he first heard these jokes but learned that it is just part of the competitive fraternity mentality to put down other fraternities.  Being in Zeta Beta Tau and hearing that joke about his fraternity, Bobby was definitely disturbed at first but realized as the year went on that just like all stereotypes, some might believe them but they’re not always true.

Also being a member of ZBT at USC, I have heard this form of fraternity blason populaire but from older brothers in the fraternity.  It is in the nature of many Greek’s, specifically fraternity guys, to be competitive and talk down other fraternities.  All one needs to do is ask someone who is in a fraternity about another house, and most of the time these stereotypes will get brought up.  However, to build on Bobby’s analysis of these jokes, I believe they are not just spread by Greek male students, but also be females and non-Greek males.  Girls, whether they are in a sorority or not, tend to further support these stereotypes by using them when referring to houses they aren’t fond of.  Non-Greek males tend to do the same, however it as more of distaste for the Greek system in general rather than specific fraternities.

I did some further research on these Fraternity/Sorority fake names, and there is a website (http://thespinzone.com/greek.php) dedicated toward listing out all of the fake stereotypical names for fraternities and sororities.  The information is gathered from people across the country, proving that different universities have similar and diverse “spin names” (as the website calls them) for each fraternity and sorority.

Hand Signal

Nationality: Black
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Las Vegas, NV
Performance Date: April 28, 2008
Primary Language: English

“There’s a hand signal that we do. Basically, it’s an Alpha sign. Your thumb and pinky finger are extended, the others are curled in.”

Subject’s Analysis:

“It has a secret meaning that is undisclosed to the public. The meaning is only disclosed to the members of the frat. Minority college students can readily identify the sign with the Alpha Phi Alpha Organization. I learned it from older frat members. It’s a nationwide signal. It’s usually readily identifiable by black Greeks (black frat and sorority members). When posing for pictures, or trying to flag someone down on a college campus, we do it. It’s also meant to identify yourself as Alpha, it’s a privilege that you earn through pledging. I was happy to finally be able to do it.”

Collector’s Analysis:

The hand signals that African-American fraternities, and sororities do are very special to them. Each of the Divine Nine (the 9 major African-American fraternities/sororities) has their own hand signal. These are displayed mostly when they get together, and on a regular basis as a greeting. I agree with Jeremiah that the sign is easily identifiable, as are those of the other groups. I think that it’s good that they have something that identifies them as part of an organization that they worked very hard to be a part of. It should be noted as well that anyone who is not a member of the black Greek community, and mimics their hand signals, is asking for trouble. That is horribly taboo in the black Greek community.

Folk Dance

Nationality: Black
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Las Vegas, NV
Performance Date: April 28, 2008
Primary Language: English

Stepping

Subject’s Analysis:

“It has origins of West African traditions. It’s very popular in the black Greek community. You create rhythms and beats with stomping and clapping combinations, with dancing too. Different organizations have different styles, there’s energetic, precision, acrobatic, everything is synchronized. You have props that you use. Synchronization. There’s competitions, and you do it to represent your organization. It’s entertainment, as well as something done at gatherings. These include trains as well, these are like line dancing, some [trains] are complicated, and you perform them at competition. I love it, its fun. There’s some people that may not like it because they’re not good at it. I learned it after crossing, it’s not necessary to become an Alpha.”

Collector’s Analysis:

Stepping is a very exciting, unique, and fun part of the Black Greek community. The steps do actually originate from West African origins. The step competitions or “Stepshows” are highly entertaining and could be considered to be festivals. The “trains” are really fun to watch. The frat/sorority lines up, and then go into a routine that goes with the music that’s currently playing (it is considered a huge insult to join in on the end of a train if you do not belong to the organization dancing). Several of the props that are used in the stepshows are really interactive such as canes that are whirled around and tossed between each member. Sometimes the fraternities will even have themes to supplement their routines.

Ghost Story

Nationality: Panamanian
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Denver, CO
Performance Date: April 25, 2008
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

Folk Belief- Ghosts: Penelope

Penelope is the resident ghost at the University Apartments in apartments 3a and 4a. Warnings of encountering this ghost are passed down from apartment to apartment every year. Murphy’s story goes as stated:

“On the first week of school, I went into the bathroom and I proceeded to put my boxers and clothes on top of the toilet. I got out of the shower and found my clothes on the floor with the bathroom toilet seat up. Take in mind that none of my roommates were here and the bathroom door is locked. So then I went to wash my clothes and I put my clothes into the washer. When my clothes were done I started to put them in the dryer and I noticed there was a lacey blue pair of panties in my laundry. Disturbed, I put them in the trash can. When I got my clothes out the dryer, I folded them and noticed another pair of lacey blue panties in my laundry. So I shut the dryer and left my clothes and ran upstairs. That was Penelope.”

I found Murphy’s interpretation of Penelope to be full of comedic relief from a type of folk belief that is usually deemed as scary. I believe this ghost story can be used as a marker of identification. Students on Xavier’s campus may start to know Murphy as “the person who has encountered a ghost or the person who can tell good ghost stories.”  This ghost story can also be used as a right of passage for new roommates who will move into apartments 3a and 4a. Former residents will determine whether the new residence of 3a and 4a can become a part of the Penelope group, by testing to see if they have come in contact with Penelope.