Fraternities do a ton of good stuff for both their brothers & their community. They also do a lot of dumb stuff which often gives them a negative image. The following list are common things some fraternities do that if corrected will improve their chapter and themselves tenfold.
Stupid Things Fraternities Do
10 – Haze
Hazing is bad on a bunch of different levels and one of the most stupid things fraternities do. Besides being against university, fraternity and federal law – it also isn’t really that much fun. If your fraternity hazes, think about your last pledge period. Was is like pulling teeth to get brothers to come to pledge events? That is because hazing isn’t much fun for the brothers.
As a leader – you are better than that. Become creative and come up with pledge events that build and teach your class while providing a good time for both pledges and brothers. Participation will increase, and your brotherhood will become stronger as a result.
9 – Drive Drunk
I have buried a brother due to a drunk driving accident. This is an epidemic for all college students – not just guys in fraternities. If you need a ride, call the house and get someone to pick you up. The alternative just isn’t worth it.
8 – Feed the Trolls
Every Greek hates the ‘Why Buy Your Friends’ and ‘Greeks Just Party’ crowds. These people are either jealous of your organization or ignorant to all the good things you do. Don’t feed into their stereotype by doing something stupid in public. That type of news spreads 100x faster than the news of all the great things you do.
7 –Not provide good value to their brotherhood
College guys don’t have money. Unfortunately, being a brother in a fraternity isn’t cheap (even though it could be). The leadership team needs to be good stewards of the fraternity finances to ensure that every brother feels they are getting tremendous value for their dues.
6 – Under utilize their chapter website
Your chapter website is one of the most powerful tools your fraternity has to show how great your organization is. It can become a fantastic recruitment tool and can even earn you a few bucks. However, chances are your site is out of date and no one knows about it. The solution is simple – post tons of pictures and spread the word about your site. You can start by getting your site listed on our chapter roll.
5 – Have Messy Houses
Beer cans, dirty dishes, nasty bathrooms, dirty clothes, empty pizza boxes, beer cans, cigarette butts, over flowing trash cans, beer cans, and sticky floors are just a few of the nasty things you can find at a fraternity house. This isn’t the environment that anyone should live in, and is a poor reflection of our quality organizations.
4 – Try to do too much
Guys who join fraternities are scholars and leaders. Chances are, they have busy academic loads to go with a girlfriend, work, other organizations, family and fraternity. Sometimes, less is more. The fraternity should limit the mandatory functions and focus on quality instead of quantity out of respect to the brothers busy schedules.
3 – Allow brothers to become thousands of dollars delinquent
It always amazed me how fraternities allow some brothers to become thousand in debt to the fraternity. More times than not, the fraternity will never see this money. Don’t let deadbeat brothers take advantage of the chapter!
2 – Spend all their money on recruitment events
Fraternities spend gobs of money in forced-fun events at the beginning of every semester. The intent is to impress enough naïve freshman to join the fraternity. The reality is guys don’t join because of events, and the money could be better spent on the brotherhood later in the semester.
1 – Party too much, study too little
Some of the best fraternity brothers I know never made it to graduation. They were great brothers, but their time with the fraternity is too short. It was such a waste.
+ 1 – Let me know what I missed!