Pledged


Book Description

Alexandra Robbins wanted to find out if the stereotypes about sorority girls were actually true, so she spent a year with a group of girls in a typical sorority. The sordid behavior of sorority girls exceeded her worst expectations -- drugs, psychological abuse, extreme promiscuity, racism, violence, and rampant eating disorders are just a few of the problems. But even more surprising was the fact that these abuses were inflicted and endured by intelligent, successful, and attractive women. Why is the desire to belong to a sorority so powerful that women are willing to engage in this type of behavior -- especially when the women involved are supposed to be considered 'sisters'? What definition of sisterhood do many women embrace? Pledged combines a sharp-eyed narrative with extensive reporting and the fly-on-the-wall voyeurism of reality shows to provide the answer.




Inside Greek U.


Book Description

Popular culture portrays college Greek organizations as a training ground for malevolent young aristocrats. Films such as Animal House, Revenge of the Nerds, Old School, and Legally Blonde reinforce this stereotype, but they fail to depict the enduring influence of these organizations on their members. Inside Greek U. provides an in-depth investigation of how fraternities and sororities bolster traditional, and potentially damaging, definitions of gender and sexuality. Using evidence gathered in hundreds of focus group sessions and personal interviews, as well as his years of experience as a faculty advisor to Greek organizations, Alan D. DeSantis offers unprecedented access to the world of fraternities and sororities. DeSantis, himself once a member of a fraternity, shows the profoundly limited gender roles available to Greeks: "real men" are taught to be unemotional, sexually promiscuous, and violent; "nice girls," to be nurturing, domestic, and pure. These rigid formulations often lead to destructive attitudes and behaviors, such as eating disorders, date rape, sexual misconduct, and homophobia. Inside Greek U. shows that the Greek experience does not end on graduation day, but that these narrow definitions of gender and sexuality impede students' intellectual and emotional development and limit their range of choices long after graduation. Ten percent of all college students join a Greek organization, and many of the nation's business and political leaders are former members. DeSantis acknowledges that thousands of students join Greek organizations each year in search of meaning, acceptance, friendship, and engagement, and he illuminates the pressures and challenges that contemporary college students face. Inside Greek U. demonstrates how deeply Greek organizations influence their members and suggests how, with reform the worst excesses of the system, fraternities and sororities could serve as a positive influence on individuals and campus life.







Fraternity


Book Description

* A Real Simple Best Book of 2019: "An essential read for parents and students." * The New York Times bestselling author of Pledged is back with an unprecedented fly-on-the-wall look inside fraternity houses from current brothers’ perspectives—and a fresh, riveting must-read about what it’s like to be a college guy today. Two real-life stories. One stunning twist. Meet Jake, a studious freshman weighing how far to go to find a brotherhood that will introduce him to lifelong friends and help conquer his social awkwardness; and Oliver, a hardworking chapter president trying to keep his misunderstood fraternity out of trouble despite multiple run-ins with the police. Their year-in-the-life stories help explain why students are joining fraternities in record numbers despite scandalous headlines. To find out what it’s like to be a fraternity brother in the twenty-first century, Robbins contacted hundreds of brothers whose chapters don’t make headlines—and who suggested that many fraternities can be healthy safe spaces for men. Fraternity is more than just a page-turning, character-driven read. It’s a vital book about the transition from boyhood to manhood; it brilliantly weaves psychology, current events, neuroscience, and interviews to explore the state of masculinity today, and what that means for students and their parents. It’s a different kind of story about college boys, a story in which they candidly discuss sex, friendship, social media, drinking, peer pressure, gender roles, and even porn. And it’s a book about boys at a vulnerable age, living on their own for perhaps the first time. Boys who, in a climate that can stigmatize them merely for being male, don’t necessarily want to navigate the complicated, coming-of-age journey to manhood alone.




The Illness Lesson


Book Description

A NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS’ CHOICE • FINALIST FOR THE 2023 JOYCE CAROL OATES PRIZE • From the author of the award-winning debut story collection We Show What We Have Learned, an "atoundingly original” (The New York Times Book Review) work of historical fiction with shocking and eerie connections to our own time. At their newly founded school, Samuel Hood and his daughter, Caroline, promise a groundbreaking education for young women. But Caroline has grave misgivings. After all, her own unconventional education has left her unmarriageable and isolated, unsuited to the narrow roles afforded women in nineteenth-century New England. When a mysterious flock of red birds descends on the town, Caroline alone seems to find them unsettling. But it’s not long before the assembled students begin to manifest bizarre symptoms: rashes, seizures, headaches, verbal tics, night wanderings. One by one, they sicken. Fearing ruin for the school, Samuel overrules Caroline’s pleas to inform the girls’ parents and turns instead to a noted physician, a man whose sinister ministrations—based on a shocking historic treatment—horrify Caroline. As the men around her continue to dictate, disastrously, all terms of the girls’ experience, Caroline’s own body begins to betray her. To save herself and her young charges, she will have to defy every rule that has governed her life, her mind, her body, and her world.




Torn Togas


Book Description

A glimpse through the peephole into the land of kegs and togas.







True Gentlemen


Book Description

An exclusive look inside the power and politics of college fraternities in America as they struggle to survive despite growing waves of criticism and outrage. College fraternity culture has never been more embattled. Once a mainstay of campus life, fraternities are now subject to withering criticism for reinforcing white male privilege and undermining the lasting social and economic value of a college education. No fraternity embodies this problem more than Sigma Alpha Epsilon, a national organization with more than 15,000 undergraduate brothers spread over 230 chapters nationwide. While SAE enrollment is still strong, it has been pilloried for what John Hechinger calls "the unholy trinity of fraternity life": racism, deadly drinking, and misogyny. Hazing rituals have killed ten undergraduates in its chapters since 2005, and, in 2015, a video of a racist chant breaking out among its Oklahoma University members went viral. That same year, SAE was singled out by a documentary on campus rape, The Hunting Ground. Yet despite these problems and others, SAE remains a large institution with strong ties to Wall Street and significant political reach. In True Gentlemen, Hechinger embarks on a deep investigation of SAE and fraternity culture generally, exposing the vast gulf between its founding ideals and the realities of its impact on colleges and the world at large. He shows how national fraternities are reacting to a slowly dawning new reality, and asks what the rest of us should do about it. Should we ban them outright, or will they only be driven underground? Can an institution this broken be saved? With rare access and skillful storytelling, Hechinger draws a fascinating and necessary portrait of an institution in deep need of reform, and makes a case for how it can happen.




From Letters to Leaders


Book Description

From Letters to Leaders offers practical strategies to address the problems that fraternity/sorority leaders, athletic teams, and other students organizations will face on college campuses today. This includes current issues such as hazing, sexual assaults, alcohol/drug abuse, mental health, diversity/equity/inclusion, self-worth, healthy masculinity, healthy relationships, as well as building the confidence and courage needed to bring change to your college campus. Whether you are interested in joining a fraternity/sorority as a new member, you are a seasoned member of the organization in a leadership role, you are an alumnus looking to mentor students, or you are a student affairs professional that is currently advising student organizations, this book provides a fresh look at some of the problems and the solutions to ensure a stronger future for fraternities and sororities while also protecting our members and our guests. This was written by a collection of educators in practice who work directly with fraternity and sorority members, national organizations, professional speakers, and campus leaders. The book presents an extensive selection of effective prevention-based practices, as well as relevant and timely topics, that all stakeholders-both on and off campus-can use immediately. These lessons learned within student organizations today will be extremely beneficial to the students as they graduate and enter the workforce. REVIEWS OF OUR BOOK: "Greek University's From Letters to Leaders is not afraid to take a deep dive into the issues fraternity and sorority members have to deal with in college, and how those issues can affect life beyond college. This book provides a holistic view of real, gritty and sometimes scary and uncomfortable experiences. They provide insight on how chapter members, advisors, and professional fraternity/sorority and student affairs staff can help members turn their fraternal experiences into leadership know-how. This book should be required reading for all those involved in Greek life." - Kim Bullington, Ph.D. Chief Departmental Advisor and Programs Manager Old Dominion University "I think you have a real winner with this book. It calls for fraternity and sorority leaders to look deeper into their experiences and practices of the day. The lessons within the chapters are easily applicable to the entire FSL process and will strengthen the experience for all members. In addition, the book tackles real issues facing this generation of students and how to overcome these barriers for a successful FSL experience. The book is clever and provides tangible leadership skills for any undergraduate FSL student." - Michael A. Smith Assistant Dean for Student Engagement Newberry College "The personal narratives and perspectives in this text can help chapter leaders discover new ways of thinking to develop themselves and their organization around issues that directly matter. This text can assist in making us better people as brothers and sisters to show up as authentically as possible and thrive." - Dr. Pietro Sasso Faculty Research Fellow Penn State Piazza Center for Fraternity & Sorority Research and Reform "From Letters to Leaders is a sensational combination of personal stories and expertise on a wide range of topics while believing fraternity and sorority can be the place for all things good. The talented contributors dish on the real deal of complex issues facing students and give ideas and inspiration for how to make it better." - Emily Rose Jacobsen Associate Director of Harm Reduction Alpha Chi Omega Fraternity, Inc. CONTRIBUTORS: Cassie Firebaugh, Edson O'Neale, Greg Vogt, Hank Nuwer, Jamie Devin Wilson, Dr. Jason Meriwether, Joseph Thompson, Dr. Louis Profeta, Melissa Lewis, Robert Wilson, Tish Norman, Tricia Benitez, and Michael Ayalon. ORDER YOUR COPY NOW!




The American Fraternity


Book Description

"The American Fraternity is a photobook that provides an intimate and provocative look at Greek culture on college campuses by combining contemporary photographs with scanned pages from a wax-stained 60 year old ritual manual. This book will shed new light on the peculiarities of the fraternal orders which count seventy-five percent of modern U.S. presidents, senators, justices, and executives among their members. These mysterious campus organizations are filled with arcane oaths and ceremonies and this book attempts to capture within its pages some of this dark power"--Publisher's website, January 23, 2019.