Tag Archives: fraternity

Joke – University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California

Age: 53
Occupation: Real Estate Investor
Residence: Laguna Hills, CA
Performance Date: March 2007
Primary Language: English

Two fraternity brothers decide to go sailing one afternoon and become lost. After twenty hours with nothing to eat or drink, one of them spots a lamp floating by. He picks it up and a genie pops out. The genie notices the poor condition of the brothers and grants them one wish between the two of them.
After a lot of arguing over who gets the wish, one of them blurts out, “I wish the ocean was made of beer.”
Magically, the ocean turns to beer.
Infuriated, the other guy yells, “You idiot! Now we have to piss in the boat!”

Barry said he learned this joke when he was in a fraternity at the University of Southern California.  He was a member of Kappa Alpha Order.  He told me that one of his fellow fraternity brothers taught him this joke circa age twenty one.  Barry explained that the background for the joke is that fraternity members are notorious for drinking large amounts of alcohol, specifically beer, at a time.  The joke pokes fun at the fraternity life, suggesting that all fraternity members hold their alcohol (beer in this case) in higher regard than hygiene and sanitation.  The fraternity brothers would rather urinate in their boat where they have to live for days on end than in the beer they are floating in.

I believe the meaning of this Barry gave to me is completely correct.  Fraternities are known for binge drinking and this joke capitalizes on that idea.  Also, some might argue that the mild profanity used in this joke (“piss”) could be used to show fraternity members’ tendencies to use profanity at will.

Tradition

Nationality: Irish
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Scottsdale, AZ
Performance Date: April 13, 2008
Primary Language: English

In the Greek system when a sorority and a fraternity member are in a serious romantic relationship the fraternity guy can “pin” his girlfriend. Every system has different variations of the same basic tradition. Basically, when the guy wants to pin his girl friend he tells the president of his house who tells the president of the sorority that the girlfriend is in. They keep it a secret from the girlfriend while planning the pinning. Then one night after the chapter meeting, when the entire house is present the president will announce to the sorority to head downstairs to the dining room for a special ceremony. Right away everyone knows that it’s a pinning. All the girls make a large circle in the dining room and turn the lights down low. The president lights a candle and it is passed around the room and passed past the girl getting pinned, once it passes her the candle switches direction and moves back towards the girl to be pinned. Once the girl has it in her hand her sisters to her left and right blow the candle out, the house claps.

Once this happens the president opens the door and members of the boyfriend’s fraternity come in one by one usually dressed in suits, each with a single rose in their hand. Each brother hands the rose to the girlfriend and gives her a smile and a hug. Lastly the boyfriend comes usually with a bouquet of roses and kisses his girlfriend. Next the two closest friends of the boyfriend and the girlfriend tell stories about the relationship between them, funny, serious, anecdotal etc. Lastly the boyfriend tells his girlfriend how much he loves her and gives her his fraternity pin as a symbol of his commitment to her and her official invitation into the fraternity’s family. This is the end of the ceremony, however each fraternity has a different variation of this basic ceremony.

I have witnessed 3 girls get pinned from my sorority in this past year. The particular pinning described above was the most formal and respectful. The other pinnings were less formal and frankly, more embarrassing for the girl. Because each house cultivates its own traditions each pinning will differ depending on the house. To pin your girlfriend was once synonymous with proposing; however with time it has lost a lot of that connotation.

Currently, when a girl is pinned it means that her boyfriend is putting her first in his life. He is putting her before the brotherhood, which is a very big step for any fraternity brother. When initiated brothers take a vow of allegiance to the fraternity and pinning is one of the ways to respectfully break the vow. Also, symbolized by the rose received by each brother, when a girl is pinned she is welcomed into the house, into the family of that particular fraternity. Usually only juniors or seniors are pinned. The couple has usually been dating for more than a year as well. Pinnings don’t happen unless the relationship is very serious and long term.

Pinning is a public display of affection and commitment accepted in the Greek community and an active tradition. For sororities pinning usually embodies the girlish fantasy of a wonderful boyfriend who isn’t afraid to show how he feels, and secretly, every girl wants to be pinned at some point.

Rite of Passage – University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California

Nationality: Brittish
Age: 19
Occupation: Tau Kappa Epsilon Pledge Educator
Residence: London, UK
Performance Date: Spring semester 2008
Primary Language: English

Rites of Passage: Being a Pledge and Performing a “Think About It.”

During the spring semester of my first year at the University of Southern California, I decided to become a part of the large Greek community on campus. After debating about where to pledge, I finally decided on the fraternity Tau Kappa Epsilon, also abbreviated as TKE or Teke. Known for being rowdy and loyal to their brothers, I knew joining the house would be no easy task. Before one can cross into the bond and gain the loyalty of those in the house, one must go through a pledge semester. Pledging, at least for Teke, involves physical workouts and many chores around the house, all delegated by a person known as the Hegemon, or pledge educator. My Hegemon’s name was Aaron Pattison and he loved a type of customary lore performed by pretty much every pledge to pass through Teke’s door.

Think about it. Normally those words make you sit back and ponder a statement or consider a proposition, but in Teke, those words invoke an almost instinctive reaction. When a frater (active Teke member) asks a pledge to “think about it,” the pledge must immediately get down into three points of contact no matter where he stands. “Thinking about it” means pledges must position their bodies parallel to the ground, keeping the back straight as they put one elbow on the ground with a hand under the chin, while the other arm rests behind the back. The three points of contact that must be maintained mean the elbow and feet should be the only things touching the ground in such a way that done properly, should allow a frater to balance a cup or bottle on the pledges’ backs.

“Think about its” are extremely difficult and tiresome, often resulting in very sore elbows. Normally, a pledge meeting on Monday night is the only time “think about its” are performed but as mentioned before, a frater can ask a pledge to demonstrate the proper technique. Pledge meetings and “think about its” are simply physical tasks designed to test the pledges strength of body, mind, and will to persevere. Whether or not the pledge does the physical tests well does not matter, as long as he shows the determination and heart to try until he can no longer continue. Hegemon leads the meetings and “think about its,” for his job is to lead pledges through such rites of passage into the fraternity. Not only do pledges learn from Hegemon about the house, but also they build a closer relationship with their pledge brothers and Hegemon himself as they struggle and toil together.

After completing my pledge semester, I feel that “think about its” did their purpose. Not only did I become stronger both physically and mentally, but also I respect and love those around me who stuck through the pain as we helped each other get through pledge meetings. Also, not only do “think about its” help pledges grow as a person, they earn them a rightful spot in the house. Pledging is not easy and sometimes quitting seems like a good idea, but knowing you did not quit engenders feelings of pride for outlasting countless “think about its.”

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.