Tag Archives: fraternity

Fraternity Handshake

Nationality: American
Age: 24
Occupation: Entrepreneur
Residence: Pasadena, CA
Performance Date: 2/12/12
Primary Language: English

In college, the informant was a member of the Delta Upsilon Fraternity at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania. He joined in his sophomore year (2007-2008).

I first learned about this secret fraternity handshake on my brother’s birthday (Feb. 12). We were at our house in Pasadena for a quiet dinner celebration and I happened to mention that I was collecting folklore for a class project. I asked him if he had any special rituals or ceremonies from his fraternity and he said that they had a secret handshake. He didn’t seem too worried about letting me in on the secret so I asked him more about it. He described the handshake to me, but I really couldn’t picture it. Then, he told me to shake hands with him. I reached my hand out, and he shook it, but left his pinky finger out of the grip, folded under the clasped hands. I followed his example, shaking his hand without using my pinky. This is the Delta Upsilon secret handshake. I then proceeded to ask him some questions regarding the use of the handshake, which I recorded in short hand below:

Me: When would you use the handshake?

Informant: Um, well we first had to learn it during out pledge semester. Any time we came to the house for an event, we would have to shake hands like this with the active members.

Me: So the handshake is passed down from active members to new pledges?

Informant: Yeah.

Me: What about after pledging? Do you use the handshake at all?

Informant: Sometimes we’d use it as official frat events, but pretty much during rush week and stuff.

Me: Does it have any special significance for the fraternity members?

Informant: Not really, except for the fact that it shows you’re part of the frat.

Me: So it separates members from non-members?

Informant: Yeah pretty much.

Me: And it’s unique to Delta Upsilon?

Informant: Yeah, or at least I assume it is. Since I’m not a part of another frat, I don’t know what their handshakes are, or even if they have them.

Me: Are there any other reasons the frat has a secret handshake?

Informant: Uhhnn…not that I can think of.

From this brief conversation, I saw that the main function of having a secret handshake is to distinguish fraternity members from outsiders. In this way, the handshake creates a binary of insider versus outsider. Only a member of Delta Upsilon knows the handshake and those outside the fraternity are left out. The handshake works to bind people together through common fraternity knowledge. Also, although the informant did not mention this, it seems to me that the handshake could also possibly be used outside of the fraternity setting, in the real world, to recognize brothers from other chapters of Delta Upsilon.

Mindfuck

Nationality: Korean-American
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, USC
Performance Date: April 2012
Primary Language: English

This initiation ritual is actually not a true one. It was told by a participating pledge to my informant and explained that at the time of their initiation they were not aware that the ritual described here was untrue and in fact were expecting to have to go through it :

“They tell them that at some point they’re all gonna have to get into a room and in the center of the room is a goat.

And no one can leave the room until someone fucks the goat.

But whoever fucks the goat…is automatically out.”

The ultimate goal of initiation is to prove yourself worthy of joining the organization which is testing you. You undergo horribly straining situations most often physical or moral to prove your worth, but most importantly, your willingness to be a loyal member of this organization. This particular supposed initiation used for fraternities plays on fears of transgression and exclusion. It also acts as a riddle and in this sense tests not just the physical endurance and integrity of the pledges as most initiations do – but also tests their mind.

Since pledges are alerted about this upcoming initiation beforehand by their older “brothers”, they would certainly begin discussing methods of facing this challenge. Some would hope to simply sit out the challenge in solidarity with their pledge brothers, but older brothers would complicate this by saying if no one has sex with the goat then no one passes. The fear instigated by this initiation’s seeming impossible nature and certain shame and failure to the pledge who sacrifices for his fellow brothers creates a conundrum initiation for all the pledges.

The Elephant Walk

Nationality: Korean-American
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, USC
Performance Date: April 2012
Primary Language: English

So this is an initiation ascribed to no fraternity in particular retold by a informant who neither experienced it as a pledge nor heard it from a direct participant.

“Everyone gets in a circle

And then you have to put your thumb up the guy in front of you’s ass. And it’s like…brotherhood.

I heard this from a friend. He was like, ‘Don’t do a frat man, they’ll make you do the elephant walk.’ ”

Although my informant maintained that this story “had been well documented” I suggest that even if it is true its indiscriminate spread is more than anything an attempted deterrent for joining fraternities.  Despite the fact that they are supposed to be secret, many stories circulate about initiations and other greek system rituals. Some of these contribute to a greater sense of mystery and lore that attracts many people to the system. There are also definitely dedicated to warning about ever joining. Stories of initiation such as this one are great at revealing what people may have to endure during hazing, whether or not it is true. However, the most important reason for telling it is not a truthful depiction but voicing a disapproval of joining to others.

Monday Night Dinner

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Ohio/California
Performance Date: April 18, 2012
Primary Language: English
Language: French

My informant told me about the tradition of “Monday Night Dinner” at sororities at USC

“Every Monday all the girls come to the sorority house for dinner. They all dress in fancy attire and arrive at the houses around 4:45pm. The new members make “deliveries”, which is when before dinner they bring gifts and notes to the different frats that are having Monday Night Dinner too. After they finish they come in and sit down to dinner. As they eat, boys from different frats come in and make deliveries to the house. The girls clap as they come in and each gift is delivered to the specific girl. They can be anything from a romantic bouquet to a funny card from a friend. It is also a way for frats and sororities to strengthen their relationships with each other by sending deliveries to certain houses.”

My informant told me that she enjoys the tradition, and she likes to take advantage of it for flirting with boys. If you like someone, you can send them a delivery.

I am in a sorority on campus and I enjoy the tradition of Monday Night Dinner as well. I have utilized it to ask certain boys to our House Invites and also to send funny notes to friends. I’ve also noticed that boys who are usually very shy will use this as a way to communicate with girls that they like. I’ve also noticed that if girls “hook up” with boys over the weekend it is often customary for the boy to send the girl a delivery on monday, such as chocolates or flowers, as (although it seems ridiculous) a “thank you, I’d like to kiss you again some time” kind of delivery.

I also talked to my friends who are in sororities in other schools and none of them were familiar with the tradition of “Monday Night Dinner”. It seems to be a unique tradition to the Greek System at USC. It has been happening for as long as many of my friends can remember, so I assume that it is something that the Greek life likes to keep alive to pride itself on its heritage.

Joke – University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California

Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: March 1, 2007

Lawyer joke

My friend Samantha Telly is a member of the pre law fraternity of the University of Southern California chapter.  One night we got in to a discussion about how she wants to be a lawyer when she is older.  I asked her why she would want to be a lawyer, they have such bad reputations.  Lawyers are known to be stubborn, mean, and aggressive people.  After I told her this, she laughed, saying that her pledge class had, the day before, been discussing lawyer jokes they had heard.  Samantha told me, what she thought was the funniest joke told.

Samantha:   “What is the difference between lawyers and terrorists?”

Me:      “What”

Samantha:      “You can negotiate with terrorists”

I found this joke to be very interesting.  Like most jokes, this particular one, is about a specific group of people.  There are Hispanic jokes, Jewish jokes, and even lawyer jokes.  Also, ironically these types of jokes are always told by the group that they are about.  Blonds, tend to get the biggest laugh when they are together telling blond jokes.  Moreover, Samantha heard this lawyer joke when she was amongst people who potentially want to be lawyers.  The reason why the blonds, the Hispanics, or the lawyers make jokes about themselves, and then tell those jokes to other people in their same group, or folk, is because it is a safe environment.  It is a safe environment to make fun of the stereotypes that have been created about them.

To be more focused on this specific lawyer joke, which compares lawyers and terrorists, is even more interesting, and gives us a unique insight not only into the lawyer folk group but also the “American people folk group”.  After September 11 the United States has become very interested by terrorists, there is always a lot of talk about them; therefore, jokes have developed.  Again, because terrorism is such a frightening idea, Americans have created jokes about terrorism to lighten the mood, and maybe make terrorism seem like less of a reality.  This joke implies that in fact, lawyers are worse then terrorists because you can at least negotiate with terrorists, but lawyers are much more difficult to deal with.

In conclusion, this lawyer joke is a prime example of why jokes are created, and it also give us a unique insight into our beliefs and our culture.