Nobody believes me when I say it but I insist that Connecticut is a very stupid place. I’ve lived in different states in the US (CT, MD, IN, IL/MO), and I am convinced that something is deeply wrong with Connecticut. See this, for example:
James F. Jones Jr. announced Monday that he will retire next year — a year earlier than planned — as president of Trinity College in Connecticut, The Hartford Courant reported. Jones has been under sustained criticism from many alumni since last year, when he announced that all fraternities and sororities would be forced to become coeducational. College officials characterized the retirement decision as unrelated to the Greek uproar, but the Courant reported that many alumni critics are dubious, given the extent of anger over the Greek decision.
You’ll say people in any state can go into an uproar over something this trivial. Yes, maybe. But in CT nothing but this ever happens. The state’s economy is disintegrating. If nobody notices that it is only because a couple of ultra-rich enclaves skew the statistics and prevent anybody from noticing the nearly third-world poverty of the state.
The state looks like a war has been going on in it for at least a decade. I haven’t seen such incredible poverty as in CT anywhere in the US, and I have crossed the country many times by bus and by car. In the meanwhile, people create drama over some stupid fraternities in some little dinky-wink college.
The Midwest is definitely a lot better off than this scary place.
Clarissa's Blog 
This is why Connecticut is so stupid! 😉
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New England in general is overrated for these kinds of reasons and I much prefer the Midwest. People say that is “uncultured” of me but I say they are just thinking in stereotypes. It does explain why my CT friend is so concerned with money and status, though, el quedirán, and on and on.
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I’m from CT (born and raised) and I’m inclined to agree. My boyfriend and I can’t wait to move, really ANYWHERE but here. The only thing that stalls us is our close ties to our families and friends here. Although with each day that passes I realize more and more I’d rather live alone in a welcoming environment than in a hostile environment with friends and family.
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I don’t even know what fraternities and sororities are. We don’t have then in British Universities, most students just go down the pub where they can mix with anybody they like!
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I’ve never been to one, so the concept is very alien to me, too. My university tries to promote them because it’s some sort of a prestige thing to have them.
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They’re social clubs and the point is that you are vetted and then meet other people who have been vetted for certain characteristics, background, family prestige, and so on. You can still go down to the pub… but this is about the business connections you will make now and use all your life, etc., about having access to the “right” social strata, and learning to move socially in a way that will be advantageous.
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Maybe one of the advantages is to protect oneself against the consequences of isolation/loneliness in these days of cyber overuse for communication. Just a thought after reading
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/13/shaking-off-loneliness/?ref=todayspaper
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I’m sure the phenomenon is real but for me it’s like a narrative from a different planet. 🙂
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I now feel a sort of an evil pleasure that the 2 people I know from Yale who were in fraternities have no jobs at all.
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I don’t think sororities and fraternities are very useful for graduate students.
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I have never met a graduate student who joined one … had never thought of it, actually, I suppose they might be allowed but it is highly unusual. It’s undergraduates going for careers in business, and looking to continue the family legacy in Society. You rush them early, so that you participate in them through most of your undergraduate career. Connections through it help you get internships in good firms, good first job, maybe even placement in good MBA programs. I think they would feel uncomfortable with older people like graduate students rushing, and I think people would feel the graduate student was being puerile / invasive / etc. — although maybe there is something I am missing.
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Yes, these were undergarduate sororities.
In this day and age, these organizations are hopelessly outdated. When there is Linked In, who needs these old-fashioned things?
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They are not useful for anybody any longer.
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Except for future American Presidents…
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I think after Obama the whole issue is over. He is definitely not a country club type.
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Fraternities and sororities are like sects, but only for students.
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What frat was Obama in? (If it’s Phi Beta Kappa isn’t one — it’s an honor society, it is about GPA and so on. I see this is sort of confusing, there are honor societies with Greek letters too and those are academically not business-socially oriented.)
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“When there is Linked In, who needs these old-fashioned things?”
That’s not at all the same thing.
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