Are you an EPFL student looking for a semester project?
Work with us on data science and visualisation projects, and deploy your project as an app on top of Graph Search.
Concept
Fraternities and sororities
Summary
Fraternities and sororities are social organizations at North American colleges and universities. Generally, membership in a fraternity or sorority is obtained as an undergraduate student, but continues thereafter for life. Some accept graduate students as well. Individual fraternities and sororities vary in organization and purpose, but most share five common elements:
Secrecy
Single-sex membership
Selection of new members on the basis of a two-part vetting and probationary process known as rushing and pledging
Ownership and occupancy of a residential property where undergraduate members live
A set of complex identification symbols that may include Greek letters, armorial achievements, ciphers, badges, grips, hand signs, passwords, flowers, and colors
Fraternities and sororities engage in philanthropic activities, host parties, provide "finishing" training for new members such as instruction on etiquette, dress and manners, and create networking opportunities for their newly graduated members.
Fraternities and sororities can be tax-exempt 501(c)(7) organizations in the United States.
Fraternities and sororities have been criticized for practicing elitism and favoritism, discriminating against non-white students and other marginalized groups, conducting dangerous hazing rituals, and facilitating alcohol abuse. Many colleges and universities have sought to reform or eliminate them due to these concerns, but these efforts have typically been met with intense controversy.
The first fraternity in North America to incorporate most of the elements of modern fraternities was Phi Beta Kappa, founded at the College of William and Mary in 1775. The founding of Phi Beta Kappa followed the earlier establishment of two other secret student societies that had existed at that campus as early as 1750. In 1779 Phi Beta Kappa expanded to include chapters at Harvard and Yale. By the early 19th century, the organization transformed itself into a scholastic honor society and abandoned secrecy.
Official source
About this result
This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.