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Economic and Academic Consequences of Fraternity Membership

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Re: Economic and Academic Consequences of Fraternity Membership

#61

Dear Silicon Valley, Please start something (company or otherwise) that will make it easy for adults (young and old) to become part of a large, real world social network. One which will help them form good career connections, as well as platonic and romantic relationships. Fraternities create their own unique culture (traditions, handshakes, songs, idioms, etc) to tie people together, so keep that in mind. Please lea…

In all seriousness, that's called "church."

Re: Economic and Academic Consequences of Fraternity Membership

#62
post #38

Kevin Drum notes it's a weak result but if true, wonders if the authors draw the right conclusions: suppose it’s true. Here’s what the authors say: Our results indicate that college administrators face an important trade-off when they consider policies designed to limit fraternity life on campus: while such policies may significantly raise academic performance, these gains may come at a significant cost in terms of e…

Or, maybe, there's a difference between getting a good grade in the class, inside strictly controlled academic environment shaped by the college administration, and the real world where one has to deal with chaotic conditions of real life and social environments rarely covered by academic curriculum. And fraternity life improves social skills, and gives people tools that can make them successful outside of the strict conformance to the rules prescribed by the academy. And limiting access to those tools would only make future graduates less fit to meet the challenges of the open market.

Re: Economic and Academic Consequences of Fraternity Membership

#63
I would have failed out of college if it wasn't for people in my fraternity pushing me to get my grade straightened out. Joining one was one of the best decisions I ever made. I was shy and really wasn't very good at socializing before I joined.

For people saying all the fraternity members being from well to do families, I disagree. It was about the same price as staying in the dorms. We had a professional cook, on site laundry, live in advisor (house mom), and a large yard. I think I paid $600/month for all food, board and utilities.

Re: Economic and Academic Consequences of Fraternity Membership

#64

Dear Silicon Valley, Please start something (company or otherwise) that will make it easy for adults (young and old) to become part of a large, real world social network. One which will help them form good career connections, as well as platonic and romantic relationships. Fraternities create their own unique culture (traditions, handshakes, songs, idioms, etc) to tie people together, so keep that in mind. Please lea…

It should be hard. That's why networks are valuable.

Re: Economic and Academic Consequences of Fraternity Membership

#65
post #38

Kevin Drum notes it's a weak result but if true, wonders if the authors draw the right conclusions: suppose it’s true. Here’s what the authors say: Our results indicate that college administrators face an important trade-off when they consider policies designed to limit fraternity life on campus: while such policies may significantly raise academic performance, these gains may come at a significant cost in terms of e…

Just an anecdote, but joining a fraternity drastically improved my social skills...and I personally believe these skills are fundamental when it comes to being successful in the work force. Not because being in a fraternity made me a member of a elite alumni group that excludes others, but because it allows me to be a more effective team member. I have not doubt that I would be far less successful if I was as sociall…

I'm pretty sure most people develop social skills in university regardless of whether they join a fraternity. Having a group of adult friends, freedom, roommates, etc, all prepare you for the real world.

Fraternities also prepare you for the ugly parts of the real world, though. The real world is full of elite clubs without meritocratic entrance criteria, and learning how to join one and function within one is certainly an advantage.

I would argue that removing this advantage from as many people as possible would make the system of society as a whole run better, though.

Re: Economic and Academic Consequences of Fraternity Membership

#66
post #55

Dear Silicon Valley, Please start something (company or otherwise) that will make it easy for adults (young and old) to become part of a large, real world social network. One which will help them form good career connections, as well as platonic and romantic relationships. Fraternities create their own unique culture (traditions, handshakes, songs, idioms, etc) to tie people together, so keep that in mind. Please lea…

Hey Baron, I think Vive Church [1] offers exactly what you're looking for! [1] https://vivechurch.org/ -David

[deleted]

Re: Economic and Academic Consequences of Fraternity Membership

#67
post #26

All the frat guys I ever knew had well off parents. They were going to make more than everyone else due to that alone. Of course, being surrounded by privilege, parties, and sorority girls eager to score a rich boy hurt their grades. That doesn't really matter though. They graduated. Some even took an extra year or two to do that. It didn't matter. They did fine. Being a prince has advantages.

Joining a fraternity was one of the most meaningful and impactful experiences of my life. I come from humble means - my parents couldnt and didnt pay for any of the (expensive) school I ended up attending. I ended up joining one of only two "wet" fraternities on campus (meaning we were allowed to have booze in our house), and the one considered the most social. I was (am) an introvert and didn't drink in high school…

By joining a fraternity despite being from humble means I'm almost certain you're someone who would have sought social connections even without. And you'd likely end up into an academic or an athletic or an interest based group where you'd build similar connections. The difference would be that the arbiters of who joined your club would base their decisions on your skills/interests/passions as opposed to your drinking skills during rush.

Would that be a better situation? I don't know but I personally doubt you would not have had the same meaningful growth if you lived in a hypothetical world where the social Greek system did not exist.

Re: Economic and Academic Consequences of Fraternity Membership

#68
post #26

All the frat guys I ever knew had well off parents. They were going to make more than everyone else due to that alone. Of course, being surrounded by privilege, parties, and sorority girls eager to score a rich boy hurt their grades. That doesn't really matter though. They graduated. Some even took an extra year or two to do that. It didn't matter. They did fine. Being a prince has advantages.

> They were going to make more than everyone else due to that alone.

Good research controls for stuff like that.

Re: Economic and Academic Consequences of Fraternity Membership

#69

Dear Silicon Valley, Please start something (company or otherwise) that will make it easy for adults (young and old) to become part of a large, real world social network. One which will help them form good career connections, as well as platonic and romantic relationships. Fraternities create their own unique culture (traditions, handshakes, songs, idioms, etc) to tie people together, so keep that in mind. Please lea…

> Please start something (company or otherwise) that will make it easy for adults (young and old) to become part of a large, real world social network. Churches are real-world social networks that are generally easy to join (the degree to which they provide large or strong networls vary considerably, of course.) There are lots of other examples. I'm not sure what the opportunity for Silicon Valley is here.

"Silicon Valley disrupts religion" sounds like a gold mine for parodies.

Re: Economic and Academic Consequences of Fraternity Membership

#70

Dear Silicon Valley, Please start something (company or otherwise) that will make it easy for adults (young and old) to become part of a large, real world social network. One which will help them form good career connections, as well as platonic and romantic relationships. Fraternities create their own unique culture (traditions, handshakes, songs, idioms, etc) to tie people together, so keep that in mind. Please lea…

I actually have a rather good idea on how to do this. I was looking to solve the problem of religion, not frats, but in many ways frats and religions are very similar problems.

While I don’t want to go into details, the basic idea is to use technology to track and bank reciprocation as well as the problem of in-group identification. I thought it was clever, but it just got added to my ever expanding good idea list :)

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