All I ever see pertaining to these Greek-named groups at school are coordinated clothing and mentions of parties and overhearing the pressures of trying to get into them. Reading articles, I see plenty of scandals pertaining to sex and drugs and intoxication and violence. Film and television don't paint pretty pictures either. However, I have such little knowledge of what actually occurs in these groups that I don't know what to even think of them.
I've never been in one or been interested in joining a frat, so I can't speak from that angle. That said, I think the point of the Greek organizations is to help foster a community of brotherhood/sisterhood and bring different kinds of people together. AA few of the Greek organizations at my school run charity events every other week and are pretty nice to everyone. One of my Women & Gender Studies teachers actually told us about this fraternity that was very active in trying to combat sexual harassment & assault -- if they noticed one of their members start to give even the slightest indication they were going to do something out of line, they'd take them home (the Greek life on my campus have actual houses on campus which is bullshit to me lmao) and talk with them about it. It's really cool to see there's at least some people that are trying to be proactive. I have heard the horror stories too; the fraternities over the news the last year especially, and even the sororities are pretty awful in regards to transphobia/transmisogyny. I do hope that with all the media attention aimed at Greek organizations, that there is a really heavy internal push towards better expectations out of their membership. Overall I think it's another case of Your Mileage May Vary; if it something someone wants to do, they should be aware of the good & bad, and also do research into the one their trying to join & get a general feel of them.
My understanding is that primarily they exist for networking (this can extend beyond college) and/or to meet new individuals with whom you share some commonality. I was recruited for a co-ed honors frat my freshman and sophomore years; groups like that can offer a number of perks like access to extra academic assistance/study groups or materials, resume building, maybe even scholarship opportunities. Ultimately I opted not to join because they also had a number of community service and event requirements that I was apprehensive about committing to on top of school. I don't think it's really for me, but I can see the appeal of grouping with people & helping each other out. Of course there are a lot of social frats/sororities that are known for drinking and parties, but they're not all that way: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_fraternities_and_sororities
This. I joined a fraternity (mine made a big deal about the difference between a "fraternity" and a "frat") for the networking and as an extracurricular. It was different than the one that's usually portrayed or people think of (I didn't know until I became interested, but most fraternities are classified by race; while anyone can join, the culture of the type depends on which race) and I not only made great friends -two of which I lived with for two years- but plenty of professional ins. Hell, my Assistant Pledge Master was not just a professor at my school, but became my adviser. One of our alums was a great help to me when it came to my last job and a great source of comfort. Not just that, but there were times when we would travel and pretty much had a place to stay if there was a brother nearby. I left the fraternity when I left the school, mostly due to the fact that despite my chapter pushing hard against the stereotypes people had, other chapters treated us differently for not fitting their views on the organization despite their views going against what I was taught about us. Regardless, I met tons of awesome people who helped me out in different ways and showed me different things. About the parties: ****, ours were great. Some of the best times I ever had.
