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Were you in a college fraternity?


Antonio1981

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I joined a fraternity at my undergraduate university and at law school later. Both were international fraternities. That started 56 years ago and lasted till 1973 when I graduated from law.

The undergraduate fraternity was quite congenial and a great party house. The law fraternity was a bit more sober except for the annual meeting which was a complete booze event, black tie and all in a fancy hotel.

Today if a young lad I probably wouldn't join either. Times have changed.

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Yes, great experience- still in touch with several brothers; I was not out yet and it was a struggle, especially my senior year. I had a huge crush on my roommate but managed to suppress it. We were really focused on academics and not as much craziness as others. At our 20th reunion, I took my then-BF along and admittedly there were a few eyebrows raised - and one of our major-jock dudes showed up with his husband, so it didn’t really matter all that much. Do it again? Probably not - very expensive. 

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4 hours ago, Antonio1981 said:

With the school year underway for Fall 2021, I was just wondering if any members were in a college fraternity? For me, it was over 30 years ago but really enjoyed the experience. 

Yep. I enjoyed living with the bros throughout college, but I thought (and still think) that the initiation traditions were a load of crap. I know now that some of my fraternity brothers were (and still are 😀) gay, but I don’t think that 40 years ago they were having the fun that I now see in porn movies. How unfortunate!

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Yes I joined Sigma Chi during the second semester of my freshman year and moved into the house at the beginning of my sophomore year.  To this day I don't understand why I was invited to join.  It was one of the most prestigious fraternities at my school and I was not their usual type.  I had tons of fun and totally enjoyed the experience.  Unfortunately over the years I have lost track of all of my fraternity brothers.  My guess is that many of them are long dead. 

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Yes I was and have fond memories.  We bonded together quite well and looked out for each other.  We were very average guys,  no big jocks or BMOCS or the most popular with the girls.   I had not really come to terms with my sexuality at the time,  had a fascination of sex with men but only one  H S experience.  My school a "technology institute "  was  at least 90% male, science and engineering was not a big thing with women in those days, and the school was about 50% "Greek". (A funny aside, a woman who I knew later on is of Greek heritage.  A bit naïve about college life, when she got there she heard about "the Greeks" this and that and was surprised that there were so many of Greek descent like here there until she realized what was going on)   Women in the surrounding schools would generally not date "independents" because they were thought to be and generally were geeks, nerds and socially deficient.  Actually they were brilliant but socially awkward and many today would be considered "on the spectrum".    I don't even know if the public was aware of the term Autism then.  The school social scene totally resolved around the fraternities and membership was kind of necessary for a social life.  I am only in contact with 2 of the 14 guys in my class.   Of the 14,  at least 3 of us are bi or gay.  

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yes, and I too greatly enjoyed the experience of being a part of a fraternity in college; I have re-connected with a gay fraternity brother who moved here a few years ago and at our last get together, we discussed which of the brothers are now or may have been gay; I figured that if one and 10 of us are, there was surely more than us two!

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I was recruited by many fraternities after committing to attend university.  I assumed I wouldn't work out as a member of a frat because I was gay so I didn't pursue it.  I was a wee frightened gay boy.  Ultimately I learned there were a lot of gays in the Greek system.

Our campus frat hazing sounded mild compared to horror stories in the news.  But yeah, the hazing culture was a huge turn off for me.  Zero interest in that.

Life in the dorms was fun.  We were 40 guys on our floor and were like brothers.  There were a few sparks here and there.  Guys get horny.  😉

 

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The only times I was in fraternities was to fuck the men there (more often they came to my place, though). I was well into medical school by the time the first gay fraternity opened its doors. I could have joined, even as a graduate student, but it would have felt somewhat awkward. And I had a beautiful rent-controlled apartment in Santa Monica. I don't think I'd have felt comfortable in a straight fraternity. I was also worried about hazing. I'm wondering if any of you who were in fraternities could explain what went on with the hazing (you don't need to reveal which fraternity, of course). 

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I was a member of Kappa Sigma at a liberal arts college that had just recently gone coed after 181 years. Since the drinking age was 21 at the time, frats were the main outlets for drinking and partying in a competitive academic environment. I enjoyed it for a few years, but grew bored with it my junior year and went inactive. Unfortunately, the college’s census of hot boys was pretty limited, so my gay interactions were with the “townies” who found a preppy twink hot. We used to have bus loads of girls from private women’s colleges come up for parties. I was still into girls at the time and dated a few of them. I’d rate the whole experience as a “meh”. I can’t imagine any of the brothers were gay, but who knew at the time?

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It’s funny how I was 100% involved with my fraternity for 4 years and had the best experience. I thought I would be connected to my friends for a lifetime, but once I graduated, my social group changed and I haven’t been in contact with anyone. I had a desire to reconnect with a few, especially those from my pledge class so I did some searches on LinkedIn, social media and thru other search engines. I found quite a few, but haven’t pursued much since. Not sure why I haven’t followed thru. Seems kind of awkward to reappear after 30+ years? I wish I would have stayed connected to those I was close to 

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43 minutes ago, Pensant said:

I was a member of Kappa Sigma at a liberal arts college that had just recently gone coed after 181 years. Since the drinking age was 21 at the time, frats were the main outlets for drinking and partying in a competitive academic environment. I enjoyed it for a few years, but grew bored with it my junior year and went inactive. Unfortunately, the college’s census of hot boys was pretty limited, so my gay interactions were with the “townies” who found a preppy twink hot. We used to have bus loads of girls from private women’s colleges come up for parties. I was still into girls at the time and dated a few of them. I’d rate the whole experience as a “meh”. I can’t imagine any of the brothers were gay, but who knew at the time?

What school did you attend?

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2 hours ago, Unicorn said:

The only times I was in fraternities was to fuck the men there (more often they came to my place, though). I was well into medical school by the time the first gay fraternity opened its doors. I could have joined, even as a graduate student, but it would have felt somewhat awkward. And I had a beautiful rent-controlled apartment in Santa Monica. I don't think I'd have felt comfortable in a straight fraternity. I was also worried about hazing. I'm wondering if any of you who were in fraternities could explain what went on with the hazing (you don't need to reveal which fraternity, of course). 

Our hazing rituals lasted over a weekend before formal induction into membership. That happened on Sunday night if we lasted. A couple dropped out each year because of the hazing. Generally a lot of exercises between dumb tasks around the house to get us tired out. Very little sleep. Then on Saturday night we were bundled into cars blindfolded and driven somewhere. One year we had to climb a mountain side on our hands and knees blindfolded. Another, the pledges(what they were called) were dropped off in small groups of 3 or 4 50 miles out of town and had to get back by Sunday with no money (no cell phones in 1965).

The induction ceremony was very impressive. Sort of reminded me of a meeting of the KKK with all the brothers wearing gowns with hoods. We had an organ in our chapter room which supplied a Count Dracula type atmosphere. And only candles. The climax was each pledge got branded on his arm with the fraternity symbol in Greek letters. That was a shock. We then learned the fraternity hand shake. Then the blindfolds were taken off.

We each got a nice scroll suitable for framing. I still have mine. The fraternity chapter at my university closed in the 1990s.

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15 hours ago, Epigonos said:

Yes I joined Sigma Chi during the second semester of my freshman year and moved into the house at the beginning of my sophomore year.  To this day I don't understand why I was invited to join.  It was one of the most prestigious fraternities at my school and I was not their usual type.  I had tons of fun and totally enjoyed the experience.  Unfortunately over the years I have lost track of all of my fraternity brothers.  My guess is that many of them are long dead. 

In Hoc Signo Vinces...........Brother

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1 hour ago, Antonio1981 said:

It’s funny how I was 100% involved with my fraternity for 4 years and had the best experience. I thought I would be connected to my friends for a lifetime, but once I graduated, my social group changed and I haven’t been in contact with anyone. I had a desire to reconnect with a few, especially those from my pledge class so I did some searches on LinkedIn, social media and thru other search engines. I found quite a few, but haven’t pursued much since. Not sure why I haven’t followed thru. Seems kind of awkward to reappear after 30+ years? I wish I would have stayed connected to those I was close to 

It's never too late

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The college I graduated from had a large Greek fraternity & sorority system and still does. I enjoyed being a brother, met and made good friends for life. Even though we all graduated in the 1980's Facebook has been good to facilitate our connections and brought a lot of us back together and I still go to the house when I am there (rarely) for football games or for a major anniversary banquet celebration. Actually I was at a brother's home for Labor Day that lives about 15 miles from my house. I have met brothers throughout my life from chapters from all over America and most of them had impressive careers, it was a pleasure to meet them and have our fraternity bond. The chapter at my college is still large and the most prestigious fraternity chapter on campus, I look at current chapter and realize, I could never survive the current GPA requirements, regardless, they recently posted the current Fall Pledge class has something like 45 pledges. It means a lot to me that my chapter is strong and thriving and still very well respected by all faculty and students. I have included my chapter in my Will.

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