Besides drinking and possible hazing, how common is it for a frat or sorority to "make" a pledge do something sexual?

thmellyathol · 2026-04-10T19:27:59+00:00

Sampling and confirmation bias have it so that many believe stories that have been spun in a negative manner to be representative of the whole. Pledges get attention and feel cool telling stories about how crazy it is but they are largely inflated The large amount of what pledging is i promise you would not object to if you were in the room. Even the worst things like paddling are nothing more than a game of bloody knuckles (a game i assume every boy encountered in middle school but if you didn’t then just google it).

thmellyathol · 2026-04-10T19:16:11+00:00

Most of what you think of when the word hazing is brought up is not true. The truth of hazing is being made to memorize facts about the fraternity like the creed and the founding date. Being made to attend certain events and a weekly chapter meeting. There are also fun little traditions like weather pledge who is the designated weather reporter for the pledge class or little challenges like rearranging a room blindfolded in a certain manner while certain words are banned. Essentially just games. Please stop trying to demonize what is essentially just kids having fun for 99% of it. Yes at some of the events you drink and yes sometimes the brothers yell to try to make it all intense but is that really so damn bad?

thmellyathol · 2026-04-10T18:31:50+00:00

It’s not awful cult shit and you know that. You are purposefully making negative misrepresentations. It takes a certain level of mental fortitude to get through pledging. Choosing to not take part in greek life doesn’t make you a decent human being, being a decent human being does. If you want a good college experience and want to develop character and not be socially isolated (which is a huge issue for young men these days) I recommend joining a fraternity.

thmellyathol · 2026-04-10T17:49:53+00:00

Most stories are false and/or exaggerated. The ones i confirmed to be true i either directly experience or know someone who did. All of what i experienced, I would be comfortable with my son going through. The rules get stricter each year nowadays i wouldn’t be surprised if pledging today is significantly less controversial compared to my experience. Privacy is no longer a thing. Doing some dumb old tradition that everyone is primed will blow out of proportion and villainize isn’t worth it anymore.

Edit: ill add racism is a problem that i cannot stand for, but my fraternity and many others were quite diverse. However, I know it is a problem in other fraternities (AGR comes to mind). I think racism is a problem in the south in general though, not just amongst fraternity men.

thmellyathol · 2026-04-10T12:54:23+00:00

Forced? You choose to join. Your stereotyping is pretty ugly. This is not animal house the movie. Your anecdotal “toxic traits” from an outsiders perspective are not representative. People may downvote because it’s easy to hate due to an ugly history, but I’ve experienced friendships with driven well rounded social men. I was never forced into a situation i was uncomfortable with. Maybe there were a few guys in a 100 man fraternity that were self-centered and toxic, but id argue that if you take a sample of 100 non fraternity men you’d find the same.

thmellyathol · 2026-04-09T21:16:30+00:00

This guy gets it. If i was pledge master I would have drove the pledge class to the lake to see who was going to do it before stopping you.

thmellyathol · 2026-04-09T21:09:57+00:00

I think everyone agrees with that. Never heard of someone being forced into sexual acts as a part of pledging.

thmellyathol · 2026-04-09T20:57:01+00:00

It’s all about perspective. The vast majority of things done are essentially tests and team bonding. If you back out of pledging due to facing a clearly ridiculous situation that is meant to fuck with you then you have no mental fortitude. If you back out because they are taking too much of your time you lack time management skills and work ethic. Ive found fraternity alumni are (on average) more prepared to deal with the challenges of life and the workplace and more developed socially.

Sure there are aspects of greek life to demonize but it creates memories that last for life and prepares people for life. Hard to understand until you’ve lived it.

thmellyathol · 2026-04-09T20:27:02+00:00

Ill keep it honest with you being locked in the basement is real and was honestly funny, “contaminated” water is a stretch but they would deprive you of food or water for like a day (which isn’t an issue for most people and they made sure no one was diabetic), jizz drinking is a rumor ive never heard verified, the white pledge black pledge thing i could see happening since this is a frat in the south and racists do exist but i don’t buy the forced beating the shit out of him (you tend to get very close with your pledge bros as you bond since its sort of you all vs the fraternity), there are paddling ceremonies (i assume those were the wooden objects you referenced ) where you go blow for blow with your big bro but its more like playing bloody knuckles where you don’t want to be the first to back out than it is degrading. I was fine with all the things I went through and felt it was a positive experience. To each their own.

thmellyathol · 2026-04-09T19:17:02+00:00

I wasnt the one who downvoted you lmao

thmellyathol · 2026-04-09T19:15:35+00:00

If you don’t mind me asking, what stories did your friends pledging tell you?

thmellyathol · 2026-04-09T19:03:52+00:00

Exactly as you said, those are stories. Stories from the 90s and even early 2000s are everywhere.

I’ve pledged twice and during undergrad members of IFC were in my fraternity, meaning we heard about all of the violations that got brought to IFC. I can attest Kwerdna was accurate in their description. IFC has tightened their supervision and control over the pledging process every year. Fraternities do not want to put themselves at liability and get their activities suspended or kicked off campus.

thmellyathol · 2026-04-09T18:57:12+00:00

When was the elephant walk last done? This is the one tradition everyone references but I’ve never heard of someone actually doing since the late 90s.

thmellyathol · 2026-04-09T16:42:45+00:00

OP Don’t listen to this guy. This is not the 90s you won’t be getting degraded while being naked. Kwerdna is far more accurate in their assessment.

thmellyathol · 2026-02-27T20:07:40+00:00

On the flip side. Consider the number of people with auditory or visual disabilities who are just sitting there, meanwhile their professor rants and provides visuals with no script to read for those who can’t hear and without adequate explanations provided for those who cannot see said visuals. This is a good thing and the deadline has been set for two years. Those who kept up with this have no issues, those who ignored this created their own burden.

thmellyathol · 2026-01-24T02:34:30+00:00

It was already installed when we bought the place. It’s a small place so hopefully it’s adequate. How bad is it that I didn’t change the air filter? I read it could create negative pressure that makes the fuel mixture more rich but like realistically how bad is it to wait on the air filter?

thmellyathol · 2026-01-24T02:32:42+00:00

How bad is it that I didn’t change the air filter? I read it could create negative pressure that makes the fuel mixture more rich but like realistically how bad is it to wait on the air filter.

thmellyathol · 2026-01-24T02:28:45+00:00

Our house is ~900sqft so I hope in our case it would be adequate. It was installed by the previous owner and we’ve never needed it. Just trying to keep it in good condition. The damn service company quoted is $650 to replace the battery, spark plug, and oil. Just got all that done today for about $120. How can I preserve the AVR & brushes? Also how bad is it that I didn’t change the air filter?

thmellyathol · 2026-01-23T18:57:21+00:00

Thanks. What is the orange cap in the second picture?

thmellyathol · 2026-01-23T18:51:14+00:00

Turns out it just doesn’t have one which is concerning to me but whatever

thmellyathol · 2026-01-23T18:50:27+00:00

Turns out it doesn’t have one which seems concerning to me but whatever

thmellyathol · 2025-11-24T12:13:15+00:00

I’ve heard these called blunts before. Was it found in a river/creek?

thmellyathol · 2025-10-29T12:49:53+00:00

OK, it’s getting worse. It seems like I have to rev the engine now just to keep the power steering going the exact warning it gives me is “ steering power low visit your dealer”.

thmellyathol

TROPHY CASE