College fraternities/sororities

Use this forum to discuss the April 2020 Book of the month, "Project Tau" by Jude Austin
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gayscott
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Re: College fraternities/sororities

Post by gayscott »

I did not have any experience with this but my daughter did. She decided against joining because of the partying and the fact certain people weren't included.
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Post by Ngozi Onyibor »

I didn't study in a conventional university so I have no knowledge of fraternities. But I saw similar situations when I was in high school. I learned of a student that poisoned a classmate's water flask because she was more popular. So I don't doubt that a person can be extremely desperate to be like someone else.
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Post by Pstodumeje »

Fraternities. To my knowledge fraternity is not a good society or group of people. People join such groups to prove a point or get extra power. Project Tau is a fast-paced science fiction thriller that proved a point using the life of Kalin Tayfor, in his new college and how he was eager to join the fraternity. The author gives us a masterpiece.
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Post by Wordlessly »

I've never had any personal experience with fraternities/sororities so I cannot much comment on the realistic portrayal of the Greek life. But in most books I've read that included them, it's always been lots of parties, drinking and bullying.
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Post by sarahmarlowe »

Barbara6886 wrote: 16 Apr 2020, 17:22 I think this scenario is not just a fraternity issue. Look at the bullying that takes place in American schools. Phillip giving Kalin an unachievable task to exclude him from being able to join the group is played out daily on every playground in this country.
Philip’s reaction when he finds out what happened to Kalin because of it is also the classic response of bullies. They don’t think about others. They don’t think about the consequences of their actions. For the most part kids like Phillip have been sheltered from having to deal with consequences.
I think the author did a great job of telling that part of this story.
You make an excellent point! And, unfortunately, there are exclusive circles in the workforce, as well. I realize that all places don't have a mindset made for separation of social groups, but you will find them in most places there are humans.
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Post by ZettieOby »

I have never been part of any sorority but if this is what goes on within these fraternities, they i wonder the good they do to college kids.
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Post by ArriettyClock »

I think those types of people do exist. But I've got no experience of fraternities or sorieties as we don't have those in the UK.
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Post by ciecheesemeister »

Like most any organization, fraternities and sororities can be either good or bad. I wasn't in a sorority. My brother was in a fraternity. They partied a lot, but they were decent guys. The one frat party I went to, I was treated with respect by the frat brothers and I didn't see them treating anyone disrespectfully. However, there was one frat on campus when my brother was there that he and his brothers would warn the girls away from because the guys in that particular frat had a reputation for slipping drugs into girls' drinks and molesting them.
I never saw or heard of it happening while I was in college but I have read about hazing that gets out of hand. It seems mostly to be daring someone to keep drinking to the point of alcohol poisoning. People have died from this sort of thing.
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Post by jhunt »

I am going based off the perception of movies, tv shows, and friend's experiences with fraternities and sororities and I have found their portrayal to be pretty accurate in this book.
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Post by Chelsy Scherba »

I definitely think Kalin is intimidated by Philip. Philip is Kalin’s idea of a perfect man with all the qualities that Kalin believes makes himself inadequate because he lacks them. I don’t know if desperate is the right word, but longing to be like Philip? Sure. Who wouldn’t want to be “perfect” instead of flawed?
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Post by Mrunalpatki »

Yeah having studied in India the fraternity concept was novel to me. But I do understand the attraction to fit into a group or get accepted by a popular one. Makes college life so much easier.
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Post by Adedayo+23 »

leximutia wrote: 10 Apr 2020, 12:09 I studied in South Korea and never had any experiences regarding sororities, so my opinion of the whole fraternity/sorority Greek life has never been established. I can't ever imagine desperately wanting to enter one...
I studied in Nigeria and had no such experience either, but I share your sentiments about not desperately wanting to enter one. Not if how books and tv portray the dark side of fraternities/sororities happen to be the slightest bit accurate.
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Post by ReyvrexQuestor Reyes »

I had never experienced being a neophyte of a fraternity. All the degrading tasks being demanded of them, and the cruelty in the hazing night. I became involved in fraternities, however, when I established one Greek-lettered fraternity, directly formulating the by-laws and directing the activities. The circumstances in the novel are really true and possible.
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Post by Coud »

B Creech wrote: 08 Apr 2020, 18:32 I don't have a personal experience with any sororities now that you can get a Bachelors's Degree through community colleges. I opted to save money and just worry about getting my degree. That being said, I have nieces and nephews who are currently doing the on-campus college life and I would say the book had the situation pretty close to right. I am not saying all fraternities and sororities go as far, but some still do. It is a whole new world to college freshmen and they do feel inferior to the upperclassmen and just want to fit in. Not all are as insecure as Kalin, but there are some who fit that bill!
Sadly I can relate sometimes sororities and fraternities take things to far and people can get hurt by their actions. luckily I only have brief experience with fraternities.
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Post by Marion Jepkosgei »

I am African and sororities and fraternities are best known to me from novels and movies. What I can say though is, the author was trying to portray the impacts of such frats and how deep bullying is in schools. Acceptance is one thing everyone craves. No one would like to sit at the "best mates" table and be virgin for the entire school life.

Philip really enraged me. It made me think of how some people have fashioned a callous demeanour in themselves, something that has clouded empathy and other admirable aspects of humanity. Bullying really needs to stop. People should be able to pass Science or Math without being teased or made fun of to the extent where they want to bury their true selves to prove points. Kalin didn't deserve what he went through in search for a place to belong.
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