I participated in the Interfraternity Council’s fall 2010 recruitment this past week. Now, as much as I’d love to say I entered into the process like Hunter S. Thompson did in “Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ‘72,” — a journalist looking for the scoop on a mystical and oft-misinterpreted process — that wasn’t the case. I was genuinely interested in finding a fraternity that would suit my needs.
Is that cliché? Perhaps. I’m not a typical “frat boy” by any means — well, I do like Sperrys and I do wear collared shirts more often than not, but the image of fraternity life at UF and frankly, at colleges and universities across the English-speaking world have been a bit skewed.
Now, who’s to blame for that? Partial blame goes to “National Lampoon’s Animal House,” which, for nearly four decades, has made parents, prospective students and concerned adults worldwide think every gentleman who joins a fraternity is a carbon copy of Bluto.
But to be fair, part of the blame goes to the fraternities as well. As I participated in recruitment, I heard stories from multiple houses I visited about “returning to campus.” Granted, the current brothers had nothing to do with this — but irresponsible and reckless fraternity brothers tarnished the name of their fraternity, their fraternity’s reputation on the UF campus, and the idea of fraternity life worldwide.
I could not have asked for a better recruitment process. I’m below-average height for a college guy and above-average weight (let’s not even mention BMI), so I felt I was going to be a sitting duck at what I presumed to be one of the most subjective processes since I applied at Hollister. How wrong was I.
I visited four houses in total after planning on visiting six, but I was able to tell just from the environment and atmosphere of two of the houses that they weren’t for me. I could tell they cared more about appearance than potential, and that wasn’t the group of guys I wanted to associate myself with.
One of the most appealing things about fraternity life at UF is the inherent diversity that comes with each group of guys. Some sported the typical “frat star” look — the long Oxford shirts, khaki Dockers shorts, a brown belt and Sperrys.
Others were less concerned with their members’ appearance, but cared more about the appearance of their houses — whether there was a cannon, a lion or gigantic lettering out front.
Members of the UF Greek office encouraged potential brothers that there was a fraternity for each of them.
That’s not so true. Fraternity life, be it with the IFC or Multicultural or National Pan-Hellenic, is not a universally accepted lifestyle. Each frat has its own quirks, but there are some universal truths.
Fraternity life is not all about alcohol, but if you are heavily against imbibing in certain substances, Greek life cannot only be intimidating, it could be downright frightening. Recruitment is a “dry” procedure, but to presume the process afterward would remain dry requires astronomical naïveté.
So, after a long week, I narrowed it down to two houses, and decided to pledge for one of them. In the long run, I believe fraternity life will be a net gain. I can’t bench more than 150, and I’m just an average athlete, but the networking opportunities and brotherhood Greek life provides exceeds its otherwise steep price tag.
I’m pretty sure I made the right choice. I hope.
Sean Quinn is a first-year political science student. His column appears every Wednesday.
