Greek life in the new millenium
NOLA-disu's post on the behavior of the criminal organization known as Tulane's chapter of Pi Kappa Alpha brought me back to memories of being in a fraternity at University of New Orleans.
I'm a member of Lambda Chi Alpha, initiated in December of 1976 at UNO. We were (and still are) the only fraternity to own a house. Since it was off-campus, we didn't have any sort of obligations to the university or monitoring from them. It was up to us to maintain standards of proper behavior at social functions and in daily life around the house. Sometimes we succeeded, sometimes we failed. Still, we never crossed the line to criminal. Of course, most of us were local boys, not out of town kids with no ties/roots in the city.
The pikes are one of the reasons we rarely went to uptown bars back in the day. We'd go to Bruno's on Thursday nights because one of our fraternity brothers had a gig spinning oldies there, but that was about it. I never set foot in "The Boot" until I was something like 26 years old, mainly because it would be like going into a pub near White Hart Lane in London with an Arsenal shirt on. What scares me is that the current crop of pikes aren't just guilty of "high spirits" as they call it in English public schools, they appear to be pathologically violent:
In terms of the current hazing incidents, we see a clear example of why stupid white boys from the Middle Colonies shouldn't be allowed near Creole cuisine:
Crab boil? These boys are idiots. That stuff is so concentrated that it stings when it comes into contact with the skin. And it got in the eyes and on the genitals of those pledges? Incredible.
Still, I'm guilty of the one thing that the rest of the fraternities and sororities bemoan when incidents like this happen, focusing on the negative. I like this quote from a guy in ZBT:
So true. I enjoyed my fraternity experience and am proud to be a Lambda Chi. My first born (a sophomore at the Georgia Institute of Technology) isn't a fraternity kid, but that's OK. The oldest kiddo of one of my best friends is a Theta Xi at UL and is loving it. We have to chalk up the pikes in the "shit happens" category. Hopefully Tulane will flush this shit down the toilet and pipe it back to New Jersey.
I'm a member of Lambda Chi Alpha, initiated in December of 1976 at UNO. We were (and still are) the only fraternity to own a house. Since it was off-campus, we didn't have any sort of obligations to the university or monitoring from them. It was up to us to maintain standards of proper behavior at social functions and in daily life around the house. Sometimes we succeeded, sometimes we failed. Still, we never crossed the line to criminal. Of course, most of us were local boys, not out of town kids with no ties/roots in the city.
The pikes are one of the reasons we rarely went to uptown bars back in the day. We'd go to Bruno's on Thursday nights because one of our fraternity brothers had a gig spinning oldies there, but that was about it. I never set foot in "The Boot" until I was something like 26 years old, mainly because it would be like going into a pub near White Hart Lane in London with an Arsenal shirt on. What scares me is that the current crop of pikes aren't just guilty of "high spirits" as they call it in English public schools, they appear to be pathologically violent:
One of the alleged assailants in the hazing incident, Kevin Dunn, has a previous battery conviction. Dunn and another man were booked on charges of second-degree battery and negligent injuring in March 2006 after kicking and punching another student after they got into an argument, according to court records.
In terms of the current hazing incidents, we see a clear example of why stupid white boys from the Middle Colonies shouldn't be allowed near Creole cuisine:
The fraternity, commonly called PIKE, now faces allegations that members poured boiling water on the bodies of pledges and caked them with flour, crab boil, vinegar, cayenne peppers and wasabi sauce. The victims were treated at a local hospital with second- and third-degree burns, according to New Orleans police.
Crab boil? These boys are idiots. That stuff is so concentrated that it stings when it comes into contact with the skin. And it got in the eyes and on the genitals of those pledges? Incredible.
Still, I'm guilty of the one thing that the rest of the fraternities and sororities bemoan when incidents like this happen, focusing on the negative. I like this quote from a guy in ZBT:
Gibson, sitting on his fraternity house's stoop Wednesday afternoon, likened fraternity life to an airport. "Planes land and take off all the time, but only the crashes get magnified," he said.
So true. I enjoyed my fraternity experience and am proud to be a Lambda Chi. My first born (a sophomore at the Georgia Institute of Technology) isn't a fraternity kid, but that's OK. The oldest kiddo of one of my best friends is a Theta Xi at UL and is loving it. We have to chalk up the pikes in the "shit happens" category. Hopefully Tulane will flush this shit down the toilet and pipe it back to New Jersey.
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