# Greek societies, Are they cults? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 15, 2003, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greek-societies-are-they-cults/168947 "2003-04-15T21:21:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![SuaSponte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@SuaSponte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuaSponte)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greek-societies-are-they-cults/168947/21 "2003-04-17T15:31:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TheMemeWarrior \* > \*\*I dunno about cults. elitist sexist and racist sure, but a cult? A cult isnt anything that makes you act differently, there has to be a religious overtone, not just ceremony. \*\* Gosh, the members of my co-ed community service fraternity would have been appalled to learn this. Thanks for the education. Sua ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greek-societies-are-they-cults/168947/22 "2003-04-17T15:41:53Z")
As would the Black, Latino, and Asian members of mine. Oh, and the gay guys/gals. ---
**Author:** ![SisterCoyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@SisterCoyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SisterCoyote)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greek-societies-are-they-cults/168947/23 "2003-04-17T15:59:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jr8 \* > \*\*Heh. When I mentioned the fraternities that made Animal House look like a sewing circle, **gobear** , guess which fraternity in particular I was thinking of? \*\* I dunno about you, but I automatically thought Tri-Delt. What I want to know is how societies like Sigma Tau Delta (the English Honor Society) which really is neither a sorority nor a fraternity fit into this little scheme. ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greek-societies-are-they-cults/168947/24 "2003-04-17T16:21:19Z")
I will say that when I worked on the Cornell campus, I came across a couple of student organizations (I don’t know if they used Greek letter identifications) that struck me as being very dangerous. These organizations would require their neophytes to wear uniforms at all times (unlike ROTC, which does not) and would have them do rituals like going everywhere in a group of at least five, always walking in old-fashioned lock-step. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greek-societies-are-they-cults/168947/25 "2003-04-17T16:28:50Z")
> [@](#): > > Well the way i interpret fraternities and sororities is that the people that join do so b/c they need to pay for friends. Another one goes along similar lines with it actually getting a guy laid. Often the people who are rushed are already friends with people in the Greek organization so that isn’t it. I was in a sorority because I liked the people there and wanted an affirmation of the special bond between us. (I think it had to do with my self-esteem – but that’s not true of everyone.) And I swear it never entered my mind to join a sorority to get laid! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greek-societies-are-they-cults/168947/26 "2003-04-17T16:43:40Z")
you know, the one that runs the world & that Glenn Ford fought against in a movie I saw late one night on TV? _G_ ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greek-societies-are-they-cults/168947/27 "2003-04-17T16:45:57Z")
thus ruining a lame joke about the 1970s movie THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE BELL ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greek-societies-are-they-cults/168947/28 "2003-04-17T16:50:56Z")
They don’t have fraternies at Canadian universities, so far as I know. Trust me, we didn’t miss them. Any “Bonding” experiences you get, you’d get anyway, by virtue of moving away from your parents and living with your peers for the first time. Calling yourself by some Greek letters doesn’t add anything to the mix. Cult? No. Silly? Absolutely. A subject for a great debate? Not really. ---
**Author:** ![Trom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@Trom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trom)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greek-societies-are-they-cults/168947/29 "2003-04-17T21:29:47Z")
I didn’t join a frat to get friends. I joined the house because I already liked and knew quite a few of the guys in it. Also, the friends I had from my floor joined with me. The money doesn’t go towards buying friends, but to unlimited food at anytime, dinner every night from a culinary school, social events nearly every night of the week (available, not required by any means), formals, sorority exchanges, etc. If one were to go to every event offered by the frat they would get more than their money’s worth. Also, at my campus being in and living in a frat is actually cheaper than living in a dorm and being on a the school’s meal plan. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greek-societies-are-they-cults/168947/30 "2003-04-17T22:56:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SisterCoyote \* > **I dunno about you, but I automatically thought Tri-Delt.** Heh. There’s just something charmingly idiotic about an organization that answers the telephone “Delta Delta Delta, can I helpya helpya helpya?” 😃 \*\* > [@](#): > > What I want to know is how societies like Sigma Tau Delta (the English Honor Society) which really is neither a sorority nor a fraternity fit into this little scheme. \*\* There are three kinds of fraternity/sorority: social, professional, and honorary. The social fraternities are the ones most people are familiar with; the common bond between the members is generally social in nature (although some chapters tend to attract new members from specific majors for various reasons. Professional ones are generally based around specific academic/professional disciplines. Phi Mu Alpha, a music fraternity (to which I belonged), was unusual amongst professional fraternities in that most chapters tended to act like social fraternities, and many owned a frat house; more typically, professional fraternities are more like advanced version of high school clubs, concentrating on professional development activities and/or promoting the interests of the profession. Honorary fraternities, like other honor societies, are usually the least social of the three. New members are typically nominated by current members on the basis of something they’ve done in a specific field or just general academic excellence. I belong to two of these, and I can’t say that I’ve ever heard a peep out of either of them after the induction ceremony. I’m assuming that Sigma Tau Delta is one of these. I’d like to say membership in an honorary organization looks good on a resume’, but I’d be lying. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greek-societies-are-they-cults/168947.md?page=1)