FORUM COMMUNITY OMNIBUS AMA THREAD

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

How's the summer shaping up?

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Decently, I guess. You may be interested in the fact that I've been going through It's Always Sunny on Netflix over the past few days.

This is fantastic news, and I wish you well on your quest.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

What's the best pain remedy for someone who just got their wisdom teeth removed? Alcohol, cannabis, or other?

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Who would win in a fight? The Gamma-Alpha Chapter of Sigma Pi, or the Delta Chi chapter of Kappa Sigma?

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Taco:

A) Do you hold a position in your chapter?

II. Do you intend on being the first president who has ties to the atlas forum?

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Taco:

A) Do you hold a position in your chapter?

II. Do you intend on being the first president who has ties to the atlas forum?

I was formerly PCP and I'm now the corresponding secretary.

As far as electoral politics go, it's certainly something I'm giving serious consideration to and I think it would be a personally rewarding avenue for someone like myself.  However, I see myself being much more effective and satisfied in a legislative rather than executive role.

Ah. I myself was PCP after our first one either dropped or was dropped despite not holding any cabinet position. I'm currently our "4th Councillor" (Secretary) for the fall semester.

You mentioned you'd worked for Cochran (I recall). Would you like to one day have a similar career?

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Very nice.

I'd like to one day be chapter president, though that'll probably be in my fourth year. I'm currently wondering what space I'll have to advance in the winter semester. The other guy from my pledge class to be on our Executive Council for the fall will probably be shooting for Treasurer, which is a position I'm apathetic about, but is a step above Secretary. While it's possible I could move up to Vice President (I was nominated in the last election, though as the least qualified candidate in the field, it was obvious that wasn't happening), it looks like I may have to go two terms as Secretary until something opens up. One of the issues is that a position I'd like to move into called First Councillor is voted on after Secretary, despite being seen as an office requiring more experience, so trying to  move in that direction is an electoral gamble.

While other schools may have greater involvement in large fraternal organizations (IFC, Panhellenic, etc.), the only thing we're involved in (to my knowledge) is "Greek Council" which, at maximum, represents about six organizations due to the small size of UDM's Greek community. However, I was elected as our alternate delegate to that and, combined with my election to Student Government Association, I'll be involved more than a typical member would in interfraternal relations.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

I definitely would like to see a few more fraternities and sororities pop up. While that might mean that we'd be competing for the same amount of people, I think that greater diversity in social fraternities could have good results, as that would create opportunities for different types of people to be attracted to the system. However, given the size of our student body and that we're a commuter school, the Greek system is going to have its limits where too many would involve just cutting the same sample into smaller pieces.

At the end of my freshman year, a lot of our leaders were graduating and the class under them was being decimated (it was already a small class, but half of them had pledged their second year and were thus graduating, and the most "executive" of them, a 5-year MBA, has decided to become an alumnus next year despite a semester left of undergrad). Thus, the presidency was between a soon-to-be 5th year senior and a guy who would be a junior, and experience won out. While there were some obvious spaces for my pledge class, in attempts to move up in position, it looks like the class directly above me will pose the biggest "obstacle" (though my use of that word is obviously selfish, and I'm only cateogrizing them as that in very specific terms). In my eyes, there's a semi-obvious "line of succession", and if even one of the two likely future presidents gets a second term, that would have anyone in my class waiting until senior year to ascend to the presidency. I'm the "highest ranked" of my class in terms of the position I hold, and having been won "Pledge of the Year", though where I'm able to move will depend largely on others. Our system is pretty stratified in terms of older guys being president, though it's possible to become VP as soon as your second sophomore term (this has somehow failed to yield a president in his 3rd year over the past few cycles, though).

Living in the House for the summer has given me an undue amount of time to look at composite pictures on the wall and see how different people got to the "top". An unhealthy obsession, but I need something to think about.

Whereas you talk about advancing to a position above just your chapter, there's little place to go after a term or two as president. A typical career path in the past has been to have a fifth year who was president in his fourth year serve as the New Member Educator (which I of course would like to do), but that's about it.

And in terms of SEC vs. non-SEC, you already insulted me once by saying real fraternities don't exist north of the Mason-Dixon, so let's not go down that route again...

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

That's an interesting question. I'm not entirely sure how pronounced the Greek/Independent difference is based on appearances alone, since I didn't know anyone within the Fraternity until I rushed. In terms of the "types" of people, my chapter specifically, as small as it is, has a wide range of people when you talk about drinking habits, academic concentrations, and personalities. There are people within our Chapter that could easily be independents, but I wouldn't say that such works in the reverse. Obviously, there are independent friends of mine that I'd like to join, but on the whole, there are going to be very few unaffiliated students on campus that you'd mistake as a fraternity member. We don't necessarily look like stereotypes either, but if you're looking for the type of folks who wear boat shoes, non-cargo shorts, etc., you're much more likely to find it within Greek circles than outside.

That said, I'd say that my own Fraternity and Phi Kappa Theta are more segregated from the campus community as a whole, though that's an observation based purely on what I'm thinking of right now. Kappa Delta Rho, my next-door-neighbors, is probably the organization that looks most like the student body and is the last "frat". As such (combined with their lack of an actual pledging process), they tend to be larger than the other two fraternities. I'd say KDR's are the most likely to blend in. There are certain folks that lived in my building that I had no idea were in KDR until they randomly appeared at one Greek Week event to spectate, and I feel like they're the most likely overall for that to happen to, even though Phi Kapp can't wear their letters right now. KDR's definitely the most likely to have "randos" you've never associated with Greek life, and the least likely (in my knowledge) to cultivate any image of being particularly alcoholic or prone to vice. They're probably also the most liberal politically, I'll also throw in.

It seems like Greeks have little interest in student government, and I'm probably a good example, as when I'd come to college, I entertained a notion that I should get involved in campus politics. As pledging began and I found myself in a miniature political system, I decided "screw that!". I think that most people who'd have that kind of political ambition and are in a fraternity/sorority would be more likely to satiate it at the Chapter level. While I'm not really interested at all in campus affairs, I chose to have my name written in during an SGA election partly as a joke and partly as a chance to further satisfy my ambitions. I figure at the very least it's something on a resume and a good example of leadership when real elections roll around again in the winter. Given how messed up and utterly devastated the SGA is right now, there'll probably be a vacuum and a good chance to reorganize. It wouldn't be very hard for me to bet that I'd be the only Greek involved.

I'm not sure how well this answers your question. In short, while there is definite "cliquieness", it's far from an overriding feature. Even in cases where some Greek circles have little association with geeds, they don't attempt to take over campus institutions as a means of advancing their interests, and instead keep to themselves.


That's quite the optimistic scenario you've got going. For us, it'll be the fourth year seniors who leave without having had a president. There'll only be two left active out of what was already a small class of six. Though the size might surprise you, the largest the Fraternity was at during my time here was 31. My class crossed with ten, and that's probably the largest class crossing size since "the Baker's Dozen", which will be entering its third year of post-graduate life in the fall.

You're going to have a little already? Did you have a winter pledge class or does the chapter allow you to have one without having had a class below you cross? My chapter requires that you see one class cross below you before having a little brother. My big brother was a senior at the time and had already had a little who was a year above me. As a (somewhat, to me) amusing sidenote, My big, grand-big, and great-grand-big have all been president, and my twin is Vice President and was also Pledge of the Year and got elected to EC his first chance. Hopefully both of our branches can prosper, though we'll see.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Ah. At UDM, at least for Phi Kappa Theta and Sigma Pi, one has to wait until a pledge class below them has crossed in order to get a little. I'm not sure on KDR's setup as, despite being next-door neighbors, we're not very close at all. They do have a weird habit, however, of having their friends that are the same age as them rush and then choosing them as littles, thus meaning you could have a junior with two littles that are juniors as well, and the like. I know that both Sigma Sigma Sigma and Gamma Phi Beta sororities allow you a little your first semester active (or the first semester that there's a pledge class beneath you), though I think Kappa Beta Gamma uses a similar rule as us and Phi Kapp.

In regards to family trees, politics, and the pledge class below: The Rush Chair is part of my pledge class and himself, me, and at least one other in my year plan on working hard to get a (relatively) large group. We have no guarantees on this, but we'd like to think that if we work hard and are outgoing, we can pull off an above average sized pledge class. While I won't have a little, I will have a "nephew" who I hope can live up to the hopes and dreams of his tree. Given that my own twin was present a lot more than my big during the fall, I plan on returning the favor in this guy's case should it be an issue. The term in Sigma Pi for president is "Sage", and my great-grand-big, the first one to be Sage (within memory) referred to us as "the Sage family tree".

 Both myself and the Rush Chair, both being ambitious, would like to see a pledge class that would vote for us, and that's one of our goals in wanting to be active both in recruitment and education for next year. However, they will be of little use in winter elections--I myself didn't have the ability to vote my own big into office as president. This is due to a flaw in our system that I'd rather not get into, but it prevents taking office your first semester active.

In regards to your "winners and losers" phenomenon, it seems like my tree is the only one with any "dynastic" attachments. Our incoming/current president's big was also president, and while his remaining little may be ambitious, I'm not placing any bets just yet. Some of the more revered recent presidents that were alumni when I met them had littles who went on to do almost nothing, while some of the hardest workers come from family trees of little notability. That doesn't change the fact that three out of four of the most ambitious members have/had bigs as president. However, that issue isn't as present.

My Chapter is probably too small to have the "network inside the network" in terms of cultivating leaders in only a few family trees. Given that there are the "careerists" as opposed to those that'll be in for a term or two and then out, there should be good rotation of people through EC to ensure a lack of some sort of stratification.

Small note: I was kind of amused to find out that my great-grand big, who was a two-term chapter president who still lives in the area had also been a PCP who was Pledge of the Year.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Del Tachi what frat are you in

I've already established this.  I'm a Kappa Sig. 

cool, my younger brother is a Kappa Sig; he just got back from national's in New Orleans.

I'm a Sigma Chi and this was several years ago but the Sigs I met from your school were awesome


and while we're talking about electoral frat accomplishments and frat lineage, I was Treasurer, my big was VP, his big was Prez, his big was Prez before him

Are you disappointed your brother didn't follow in your footsteps?

And were you ever in the running for the top spot?