When joining a fraternity or sorority, you make a promise to stay with that group till death, while also paying a lot of money and dues. So it may seem like buying your friends. Its nice to have such a group of friends that you can call your sisters, but its kind of sad way to make friends. Don't get me wrong, however, i appreciate and accept frat life, one of my best friends is in one, but, can't people make friends the old-fashioned way? And on the other hand, when someone says they're in a frat, some people automatically think of parting and drinking, but actually, they do community services and do help out the school. At my school, there is a no hazing policy for frats and also no frat row, which is a safer approach to the traditional frats. I guess, since people are different, you can do what you want.
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I go to a small liberal arts college and we have 3 social frats and 3 social sororities (one of the sororities is technically a fraternity). I'm not really friends with a whole lot of sorority sisters, but I love my frat boys. There's no hazing or whatnot here either, and I don't consider it buying your friends because the dues don't go to the school chapter as a "fee." Its a due for the national chapter in order for the school chapter to remain recognized as part of the organization.
I'm a co-ed service fraternity, Alpha Phi Omega. My brothers (including girls) were my best friends before I even joined. Its also nice to be able to wear letters at another college and see who else is in it.
The social frats throw parties here, of course, but like you said, they do have a philantrophy.
we didn't have frats at the college that was my college, we liked it that way. The school I'm at now had one, but since I'm an adult student with my own life, it doesn't seem to affect me.
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It's sad that Greeks have a bad name. The spirit of the Greek system is honorable though. It's nice to have friends so close that you can call sisters. For the older sororities, you also get inducted into the entire network of sisters. It is quite different from regular friendship. I don't know about fees and dues very much but if they are what Meg said, then it's just like paying the dues to be part of a union or a professional organization. It's not about buying friendship at all.
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