How our former compatriot went through all the trials of the American student fraternity. New Jersey: college fraternities (spoiler: about debauchery and money)

It is not good for a man to be alone, says the Old Testament; because man is a social animal, scientists added. And a student who goes to an American university turns out to be, so to speak, doubly alone - a newcomer to studies, an alien in another country.

One way to become firmly rooted in a new cultural environment is to join a student fraternity or sisterhood.

These peculiar organizations are often mentioned in Hollywood films and English-language literature, but our student's general idea of ​​​​them is usually rather vague: Greek letters in various combinations, ridiculous ceremonies, a lot of alcohol, secret handshakes by which their own identify their own, mockery of candidates for admission , beautiful cheerleaders.

Real fraternities and sororities include all of the above and more; these are real corporations with multi-million dollar budgets and their lobby in the government.

They deserve to be taken seriously, so before leaving, it is worth probing the soil for the fraternities and sisterhoods of your university.

As Time journalist Charlotte Alter writes

“There is an issue that is almost as important in college admissions as the financial ability and academic reputation of the institution. To be or not to be Greek?

In some cases, you just don't have a choice: at the University of Texas Pan-American, 100 percent of the female students are in Sorority, and 99 percent of the students are in Fraternity. Such an overwhelming advantage is rare, but even where fraternities are represented by a much smaller number of members, they still have a great impact on student life.

How did brotherhoods and sisterhoods appear and what are they now?

The first "Greek brotherhood" arose for the same reasons why people continue to join them: because of the unwillingness to feel rejected and alone. In 1776, a student at the College of William and Mary, John Hiff, who had been rejected by two Latin letter fraternities (the Flat Hat Club and the Please Don't Ask Group), decided to form his own community, with blackjack with Greek capital letters in the name. This is how Phi Beta Kappa appeared, a community organized according to the principle of Masonic lodges: with a test for newcomers, a solemn initiation ritual, secret signs by which one recognizes one's own and obligatory mutual support.

Then branches of "Phi Beta Kappa" opened in other universities, and soon new fraternities appeared, with their own sets of letters. Women's societies organized along the lines of fraternities appeared almost a century later, which is not surprising, given that women began to enroll in universities only in the middle of the nineteenth century. Sororities, of course, behaved much more virtuously than fraternities: on the one hand, women had to defend their right to study next to men, and results less than brilliant were already counted as a defeat, on the other hand, female students still tried to live up to the Victorian ideals of an “angel in the house ".

Members of sororities and fraternities were considered (and for the most part actually were) the student elite. The civil war suspended the development of fraternities, but at the end of it came the so-called Golden Age, when existing student organizations rapidly developed and new ones were created. Fraternities and sisterhoods have become an integral part of student life in America. During the First and Second World Wars, the fraternities were focused on helping the military - former students, in general, being effective volunteer organizations.

After World War II, the fraternities took on a distinctly military spirit; tests of candidates for joining the brotherhood "inherited" the cruelty and ingenuity of army hazing (although before that they were not distinguished by philanthropy).

The 1960s almost ended the brotherhood: the pacifism and individualism of the hippies did not fit well with their traditions. But by the end of the seventies, the fraternities were back on horseback and continued their development until the present time.

Benefits of joining

Half of the presidents of the United States have been in fraternities, five out of ten businessmen in the current top 10 of Fotrune magazine; a third of all Supreme Justices and three-quarters of the most recent congressmen. The numbers seem even more significant when you consider that fraternity members make up just four percent of the economically active US population. The first female senator was a member of the Sorority.

A fraternity member almost triples his chances of successfully completing his studies.

A Gallup poll of 30,000 Greek alumni in 2014 found that members of fraternity and sorority feel more satisfied later in life with their job, place in society, and even health than those who were not.

In general, a fraternity is a family that supports its member throughout life.

The unity of the members of the fraternity is illustrated even by the vehemence with which the Keepers of the Keys society discourages the sale and collection of badges of the fraternity. It may seem funny, but collectors themselves regularly receive threats in the mail and try to make their auctions as secret as possible (which, in essence, echoes the tradition of fraternity and sorority secrecy).

At what cost is such cohesion achieved?

First, the question of price should be taken literally: fraternities mean dues, since the riotous student revels that Hollywood loves to show are very expensive. The price varies depending on the university and fraternity.

As of 2015, at the University of North Carolina, a membership costs $1,631 per year, and a fraternity house membership costs $2,970 per year. At the University of Kansas, a board and lodging membership will cost $5,300 per year. At the University of Boston - from 800 to 1000 dollars a year.

It is not for nothing that brotherhoods are called rent-a-friend, friends for rent: a newcomer does not acquire them, but buys them.

Secondly, alcohol, which unites, liberates, and so on, is consumed by members of fraternities in such quantities that the insurance communities have officially listed fraternity membership as sixth on the list of insurance risks.

Third, the shared past—the one that makes you weep at reunions—involves trials the average American has no equal in his biography. After several months filled with errands from the senior members of the fraternity, the final "hell week" follows, and then, if the candidate has passed it, initiation into the society.

It seems that it is the cruelty of these trials and the pride from the memories of the experience that keeps the members of the brotherhood together.

Ritual humiliation upon entry (hazing) is not officially approved by any of the student communities, as evidenced by statements on their websites. There is a nationwide hotline where you can call and report the fact of hazing.

However, the list of deaths during candidate trials is steadily lengthening each year. The causes of death demonstrate both continuity and considerable ingenuity of the brotherhoods. In 1892, a student died in a collision with a carriage, in 2010 in a car accident.

But it is worth noting that the brotherhoods have mechanisms to restrain cruelty: once per trial, one of the older members of the brotherhood is allowed to be kidnapped and tortured (if time can be found for this).

So, both the advantages and disadvantages of the "Greek" life are equally serious.

Before making a decision, it is worth doing some research: what communities operate on the territory of your university, whether they are on the list of deaths from hazing, what they write on student forums, and, finally, how isolated your university is from the city. The farther the campus is from the city streets, the greater the influence of the fraternities.

Fraternities and sisterhoods in the United States have a long history. The first such group was the academic society “Fi. Beta. Kappa, founded in 1776. Since then, agricultural, Jewish, Asian, medical, engineering "brotherhoods" and "sisterhoods" have appeared. They were created on the basis of common interests, social status, and occupation. The members of such organizations were the most famous people of that time - poets, writers, politicians.

As a rule, these associations use two or three Greek letters in their name. For example, Zeta Psi (Zetta Psi) or Zeta Beta Tau (Zetta Beta Tau). Hence another variant of their name - "organizations of Greek letters".

The main advantage of "phratries" is that they help newcomers to quickly adapt to student life. However, not all students aspire to get into the "fraternities", many treat them with contempt. There are several reasons for this.

Firstly, not all students agree with the way of life of "brothers" and "sisters", namely incessant parties and drunkenness. A typical "brother" should be able to drink a lot without losing his pulse. However, the “brotherhoods” are not only having fun. In addition to parties and rituals, they are involved in charity and philanthropy. But if for some “brotherhoods” this is the main occupation, then for the majority it is just a formality.

Secondly, you have to pay for membership in such an organization. Therefore, “brotherhoods” are often criticized for not making friends here, but “buying” them: if students stop paying dues every semester, then certain sanctions are imposed on them, for example, they are not allowed to attend meetings, they are denied the right to vote. And if financial difficulties drag on, then such “brothers” and “sisters” are simply turned away and other members of the organization are forbidden to communicate with them. At the same time, neither good nor bad attitude towards the student plays any role here.

Nevertheless, "brotherhoods" and "sisterhoods" have a serious impact on the life of the United States and around the world. Two-thirds of the American presidents who ruled the country in the 20th century were members of "brotherhoods." In addition, 76% of all US congressmen and senators and 85% of the members of the US Supreme Court belonged to them. The top 50 US corporations include 43 run by former members of student "phratries."

However, student "brotherhoods" should not be confused with secret student organizations. Their main difference is that secret societies do not advertise their activities: its future members undergo a rigorous selection and the admission initiative comes not from the student, but from the society.

"Skull and Bones"

Emblem of the secret club "Skull and Bones"

Perhaps the most famous and at the same time mysterious student society in the United States is the Skull and Bones, a secret society of students from Yale University. It was created in 1832 by undergraduate William Russell. Initially, the society was called the "Club of Eulogia", in honor of the Greek goddess of eloquence. The renaming took place in 1833, when the symbol of the club was death, and the coat of arms was the skull and crossbones. The headquarters of the organization called "The Grave" was chosen house on High Street, in the heart of the old Yale campus.

It is believed that historically the Skull and Bones Society was founded as an American branch of a similar German student organization. According to some reports, the mysterious number 322 on the emblem of the club stands for the year of its foundation - 32 and the last 2 - this is an indication that this club has become the second such society in the world.

Members of the secret society are representatives of the highest elite, people from the richest and most influential families in America. So, all US presidents, graduates of Yale University, were members of the Skull and Bones. We are talking about William Howard Taft, George W. Bush. and George Bush Jr. In addition, many members of the secret club held important positions in politics, diplomacy, the media, and even intelligence. For example, Secretary of Defense under Franklin Delano Roosevelt Henry Stimson, US Ambassador to the Soviet Union Everell Harriman, and Rockefeller family administrator Richardson Dilworth were members of Skull and Bones.

Secret Society "Skull and Bones". 1947 In the photo, George Bush Art. (first to the left of the clock)

"Grave". Headquarters of the Skull and Bones Club. Photograph 1900-1915

The activities of the club are strictly classified and its members are forbidden to give out any information, which, in turn, gives rise to many rumors and legends around the society. This is especially true for the rite of passage. So, for example, some argue that newcomers are still subjected to cruel tests: they are forced to strip naked, lie down in a coffin and tell in detail about their sex life, after which they are severely beaten and dumped in the mud, and in the end they are allowed to drink blood from skulls. But most likely these are rumors that fuel interest in the organization.

In 2002, the book "Secrets of the Grave" by A. Robbins, a Yale graduate, was published, who, after several years of journalistic investigation, was able to get some information about the rituals and ideology of the brotherhood. According to the book, the initiation rite is less dramatic. Newcomers are blindfolded, violently pushed, forcing them to repeat the secret oath of the club. Then, instead of having blood in their skulls, they are given the popular non-alcoholic drink Gatorade in the US.

Every year, the secret organization "Skull and Bones" accepts 15 new members into its ranks. Previously, only men could become members of the club, but in 1991 the rules were changed and the first woman was admitted to the organization. Members of the club refer to themselves as "knights" and the uninitiated as "barbarians". Representatives of society also make a vow to protect and support each other. For example, George W. Bush, Jr., having become president, appointed six of his former brothers to his apparatus. In addition, upon graduation from the university, each of the members of the Skull and Bones club receives 15 thousand dollars as a gift. If he marries, then the gift is an old grandfather clock.

Men began to unite in groups according to interests and occupation from time immemorial: they hunted together and defended their homes from enemies. It was much easier to survive this way, and later the main qualities that characterized these groups were elevated to a cult by men: mutual assistance, true friendship and the ability to work in a team. FURFUR has prepared a detailed guide to the oldest male fraternities.

HISTORICAL SUMMARY: MEN'S ASSOCIATIONS		During the Crusades, religious-military associations were created. The most famous are the Teutonic Order, the Order of the Hospitallers and the Knights Templar. In order to get into the order, it was necessary to endure a series of tests that were humiliating for a knight for several months.
In ancient Sparta, the male military brotherhood was actively promoted. Weak children were thrown into the abyss, and strong children from the age of seven were collected in camps and divided into detachments. The main qualities were considered perseverance, perseverance, the ability to win and unquestioning obedience.		One of the most famous tribes living in South Africa. In order to be called men, a group of Masai youths must leave the village, build their own and live in it for several years.		They are always spoken of as the secret rulers of the world, who participated in all the loudest historical processes. They originate from associations of free masons who built churches and cathedrals in the Middle Ages. This is the oldest and most numerous fraternal secret society. First mentioned on June 24, 1717.

Spartan warriors
Knights of the Knights Templar during the capture of the Arab city
Masonic Initiation Rite

In the modern world, men's associations of this kind have also not lost their meaning and relevance. True male friendship, which remains with a person for life, is now being formed in a college or institute, where future men work, grow up and look for their life path side by side. It was there that new brotherhoods, secret societies and other associations were born, in which there was a place for everything that distinguished the organizations listed above: secret ties, male friendship and mutual assistance, difficult entrance tests, heraldic distinctive symbols and much more.

“We have a society, secret meetings on Thursdays. The most secret alliance... What kind of people, mon cher! Juice of smart youth!” - Alexander Griboyedov, "Woe from Wit"

In America, such institutional communities appeared first of all. Almost all significant Americans - from artists to presidents - were in one way or another in such fraternities.

Before joining these communities, newcomers go through a lot of terrible tests invented by older brothers: they are settled in a separate house, tortured, bullied and given difficult tasks that at first glance seem impossible or even face criminal liability. All this is done not for the sake of banal jokes and fun over newcomers, but in order to rally the recruits who are being tested and select the most worthy of them.

A few common tests for beginners:

• Singing in a public place
• Night sleep ban
• The game "who will drink more"
• Tattoo in a location chosen by senior members of the fraternity
• Public insults and humiliation by senior comrades
• Wearing provocative sexy clothes

1. Admission to the fraternity, 20s
2. Participants in the initiation of a new member of the Iron Arrows fraternity, Miami, 1926
3. One of the typical rituals that complete the entry into the brotherhood, 40s.
4. Same, 50s.
5. Test for a member of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity, which gave rise to a new measure of length - smoot, equal to 1.7 meters
6. Joining the Brotherhood, 40s
7. Reenactment of a Civil War battle as a test for Phi Sigma Nu newcomers
8. New member admission to Sigma Chi, University of Wisconsin, 1950s
9. Joining the brotherhood, circa 50s, photographer Arthur Rothstein

Oldest Brotherhood.It was founded in the late eighteenth century at the College of William and Mary. This community was the first to use Greek letters as a name designation.

The founders of the society were students who gathered in Raleigh Tavern located on campus. It is said that a secret Masonic lodge met in the same place, so the fact that ten members of the ΦΒΚ later became freemasons does not seem all that unusual. Symbol ΦΒΚ is a golden key, on the front side, supplemented with an image of an index finger, three stars and Greek lettersΦΒΚ. The stars stand for the three distinctive principles of brotherhood - friendship, morality, and learning.

Renovation of the Raleigh Tavern building in Colonial Williamsburg

"Phi Beta Kappa" is engaged in charity, and also publishes several magazines, which consist of articles on history, culture, science and literature.The fraternity is also the founder of a number of scholarships and awards for achievements in various scientific fields.

As the oldest fraternity, Phi Beta Kappa has many celebrities in its ranks. Among the members of the fraternity were 17 US presidents and 136 Nobel laureates. Here are ten of its most famous representatives:

1. Alexander Bell, inventor of the telephone
2. Mark Twain, writer
3. John Rockefeller, entrepreneur
4. Calvin Coolidge, US President
5. Franklin Roosevelt, US President
6. Harry Truman, US President
7. Dwight Eisenhower, US President
8. Jimmy Carter, US President
9. Francis Ford Coppola, director
10. Jeff Bizos, creator of Amazon.com

Secret Society "Kappa Alpha" (ΚΑ ) was founded in the early nineteenth century. It was formed from an informal association of young people who called themselves "Philosophers". Its creators were Hunter Jackson and Thomas Hoon. At first, The Kappa Alpha Society was conceived as a literary society and a place where young minds could express their ideas and argue with each other. "Kappa Alpha" took a lot from the first secret society " Phi Beta Kappa", rethinking their concept in their own way.

In society, not only the latest literary trends were discussed, but everything related to the intellectual development of the individual. As a result, Kappa Alpha represented a kind of link between secret brotherhoods and closed literary societies. "Kappa Alpha" is the progenitor of the entire modern system of fraternities in North America. This is the first community that eventually, together with the Sigma Phi fraternities and Delta Phi formed the so-called "United Triad" (Union Triad).

The building of the oldest functioning chapter of the fraternity on the grounds of Hobart and William Smith Colleges

There are few internationally known names among the representatives of this community, but there were also a huge number of American senators, bankers, public figures and businessmen.

The Sigma Phi (ΣΦ) Society was created in the same place and almost at the same time as the previous fraternity The Kappa Alpha Society, but unlike the two above, it tried to maintain maximum secrecy, therefore, extremely little is known about its history and creators few. Sigma Phi was the first to establish its own branch - in New York, at Hamilton College in 1831.The young people who created this society were distinguished by their special nobility and rare intelligence. Among the representatives of The Sigma Phi Society are the Vice President of the United States, several ministers and supreme judges, dozens of congressmen and senators.

Union College is also called the "mother of fraternities" - in addition to "Sigma Phi", the fraternities "Kappa Alpha" and "Delta Phi" appeared on the college campus

The Delta Phi (ΔΦ) fraternity was founded at Union College just after Sigma Phi. This brotherhood is the last member of the "United Triad", which has never been disbanded during its entire history. As the main element of their symbols, representatives of Delta Phi used the Maltese cross, as well as blue and white colors. Delta Phi's ranks included the founder of Motorola, brother of George W. Bush, one Pulitzer Prize winner, the governor of New Jersey, and other notable artists and politicians.

In 1889, a new secret organization arose among the members of the fraternity - the Society of Saint Elmo, which is still active today.

Founder of Skull and BonesWilliam Russell was excluded from " Phi Beta Kappa", came to Yale and founded his secret society there in 1832. At first, the organization was called the "Brotherhood of Death", its symbol was the number 322 - some believe that this is a reference to the death of Demosthenes (322 BC), while others are sure that this is simply a distortion of the founding date. "Skull and Bones" - the most famous secret society, a real incubator of the highest American elite. Hmembers of this organization were accused in absentia of organizingThe Watergate scandal, the Bay of Pigs invasion, and even the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

In 1918, the grandfather of George Bush Jr. Prescott destroyed the grave of the Apache leader Geronimo and stole his skull from there, which became a symbol of the organization.

Although the fraternity is secret, the ceremony of initiation into it is known - in April, by candlelight, newcomers strip naked, lie down in the grave and tell their older brothers about their wildest sexual fantasies. Then they are severely beaten and drink blood from the ritual skull.

Student communities in the United States have been around for three centuries. And it's not just interest clubs. In the so-called "brotherhoods" and "sisterhoods" are the best of the best, the color of the nation and its future.

History of appearance

The tradition of creating student communities appeared in the United States along with the first universities. They were called "Latin societies" because the abbreviations of Latin letters were used as the name. The first such organization was the Flat Hat Club (F.H.C.), whose most famous member was the third President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson, although in one of his letters published in November 2010 by The New-York Times, he called membership in the society meaningless.

The other oldest Latin fraternity was the Please Don't Ask (P.D.A.) group. The future American politician John Hiff tried several times unsuccessfully to break into both fraternities, which united the young intellectual elite.

On December 5, 1776, at the College of William and Mary in Virginia, he created the first "Greek" student society, Phi Betta Kappa, of which he assumed the presidency.

Since then, the use of a combination of two or three Greek letters as the name of communities has been a tradition. In this regard, the phrases "student fraternity" and "Greek society" have become synonymous. Often the abbreviation hides the secret motto of the brotherhood.

The first "sisterhood", called the Adelphic Society (today Alpha Delta Pi), appeared only in the middle of the 19th century, in 1851, at Georgia Wesleyan College. And from the beginning of the twentieth century, many men's societies began to accept women into their ranks. And if initially "sisterhoods" were created as opposed to "brotherhoods", today they sometimes unite, so now the term "brotherhood" is freely used both in relation to organizations of boys and girls.

Rite of passage

To be inducted into a community, one must first be approved by the members of that community. Talented athletes, excellent students, future leaders are those to whom interest is shown. But all these qualities instantly fade if there are no wealthy parents behind the candidate. Who you are and who your family are are the most important criteria for joining the student elite. An important role is played by the ability of a potential candidate to pay membership fees, which range from $ 2,000 per semester and beyond, the amount includes accommodation in a special, “Greek”, hostel and meals.

Becoming a "sister" is somewhat more difficult. In addition to all of the above, a successful candidate must have an attractive appearance.

But back to the rite of passage itself. Each community holds a so-called "hell week" - a hellish week, during which candidates for membership undergo a series of tests. Some of them are quite acceptable: an interview, a demonstration of knowledge of the history of the community, its traditions and values, checking that the candidate meets all the requirements. But among others, there are extremely wild tasks that are more like torture: walk naked around the campus, pour sour milk on yourself, spend the night on the cold floor in the basement in your underwear.

There is a legend that during the initiation into the Yale Skull and Bones community, candidates had to drink blood and tell the audience about their sexual preferences. Cruel rites are considered the most dangerous and frightening part of the "Greek" life, being the cause of terrible incidents, which sometimes even end in death.

So, in 2008, during an initiation into the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, an 18-year-old freshman from California Polytechnic University Carson Starkey died. Carson was forced to drink several bottles of strong alcohol, among which was 95-degree Everclear.

The young man fainted, and the members of the club decided not to take him to the hospital, so as not to incur problems. After the incident, the "brotherhood" was closed. But such stories continue to appear in the American press.

Their manners

Over the past few years, the hype around student communities in the American media has not subsided: homophobic, misogynistic and racist antics, cases of hooliganism, alcohol poisoning, beatings, drug trafficking, rape - this, according to Complex correspondent Ian Cervantes, is far from a complete list of what repaired by members of the "Greek houses". Bloomberg News journalists David Glovin and John Hechinger note that since 2005 more than sixty people, mostly students, have died in incidents involving fraternities.

Such incidents have become a constant practice, and the parents of the affected students prefer not to sue the university, but with the society itself. In the early 90s, an association of three student fraternities created the Franternity Risk Management Trust, an insurance fund designed to cover the costs of incoming lawsuits. Today, 33 fraternities work with the foundation.

To control the situation, the communities themselves create certain rules for themselves. For example, on the campuses of most "sisterhoods" it is forbidden to drink alcohol. However, this law is easy to get around by going to a party with the "brothers" in the neighborhood. Also, in 44 states, hazing (in our opinion, hazing) is prohibited at the legislative level in student communities. But ritual humiliations and wild customs still exist, only secretly.

Today, journalists and analysts predict the death of student communities due to a decrease in trust, and many universities are making futile attempts to close them on their territory - usually Greek houses exist independently from universities, being independent organizations, or in the event of another scandal they enlist the support of their influential graduates.

Why is it so important to be in "brotherhood"?

According to The Atlantic journalist Maria Konnikova, 18 of the 44 presidents of the United States were in fraternities. William Howard Taft, Secretary of Defense under Truman Robert Lovett, media tycoon Henry Luce, both Bushes, current Secretary of State John Kerry - all were members of the already mentioned Yale University Skull and Bones Society, and even Jen Psaki, known in Russia for her pearls, studied in that Yale University, was a member of the Chi Omega sorority.

The statistics relating to this issue are, in principle, very tempting - 42% of all US senators and the heads of 85% of large companies in the states were in "brotherhoods".

Professor Alan DeSantis, in his book Inside the Greek W: Brotherhoods, Sisterhoods, and the Pursuit of Pleasure, notes that only 8.5% of US students are in fraternities, and they are the first contenders to rise to the top of power. So who would turn down the opportunity to be among the future political and economic elite?

In the modern view, a member of the community is the ideal student. He is successful in his studies, he attends the loudest parties, participates in organizing the best events at the university, knows interesting people. An image that fits perfectly into the notorious "American dream". Membership in the student community is even indicated in the resume when looking for a job, and the company will be more favorable to such a candidate.

A member of the "Greek house" will never disappear. After all, one of the basic rules of any student society is to “pull up” your own. There are no "former brothers".

Many of our readers ask for details of the process of admission and study at American universities. We gladly respond to these requests and provide you with a number of posts from the Alma Mater blog published by Voice of America.

Alma Mater is a blog for those who want to learn more about getting an education in the USA. The authors of the project are American students who speak and write in Russian. They talk about their student life in the US, about the ups and downs in the American education system, and about some funny and not so funny stories that happened to them on US campuses. Well, today is the post of Natalia Zhukova.

The enigmatic letters of the Greek alphabet, which in the United States are called student communities, haunted me for a long time. I imagined that all these encrypted names like "Fita-Beta-Delta" - hide such, for example, secret societies as "Skull and Bones" of Yale University. The headquarters of this mysterious association, according to rumors, is allegedly located in a gloomy windowless crypt, and admission to it is accompanied by secret rituals. This student society has a reputation as an influential order, whose members were representatives of the Bush dynasty, the current US Secretary of State John Kerry and many Rockefellers. It is rumored that such communities can still influence the politics of the United States.

To learn more about student fraternities, I decided to speak with the president of the P Tau Sigma Society at the University of Maryland, where I study. Gregory Barr, a young smiling guy in a baseball cap, arrived at the meeting on a scooter. Together we go inside a large building, where Gregory informs me that his organization occupies one room here. I open the door, and, finally, I enter the sovereign territory of the most real male student society. Inside a large room sit 30 people with laptops. The young men slowly typed something on the keyboard, and those who needed to communicate with their neighbors did it in a whisper.

The atmosphere was more like a library, and certainly not a meeting of a secret order. In order not to interfere with the work of the "initiates", we go up to the second floor, to the teachers' room, where Gregory has his own "office" in a fenced-off corner.

Pi Tau Sigma brings together those who specialize in mechanical engineering, says Gregory.

The purpose of the society is to help its members develop professionally, this is the main reason why students join it. “The main advantage of our society is the connections that you make with your colleagues. By joining it, you get a huge opportunity to grow and find a future job.”

Club members constantly meet with potential employers. “For example,” says Gregory, “we met with representatives from Exxon Mobile a few weeks ago.” Although still a student, Gregory has worked on robot models at Florida International University and is now at Johns Hopkins University. True, he says that he found both jobs on his own, without the help of the student society. And then he corrects himself - this is rather an exception to the rule, many of his comrades found work precisely thanks to their membership in P Tau Sigma.

Gregory believes that narrow-profile student associations bring more benefits. There are various engineering societies at the University of Maryland, but the closer the society is to your specialty, the more it benefits members. And of course, everyone has to "work hard" on the conscience. Gregory says: “First, you need to have consistently high grades. We are also required to attend all P Tau Sigma events and national conventions. But this is not all, we must be socially active. For example, we help Relay for life raise money to fight cancer.

Another advantage of societies is that students from the initial years can ask for advice from undergraduates - what subjects should be chosen in the next semester, how to complete the final project, and so on.

What can I say, Gregory's prosaic explanations do not leave a stone unturned from my romantic ideas about student societies. I grasp at the last straw and ask him about the secret rituals. Gregory admits that upon entry, recruits must polish the coat of arms to a shine - a symbol of brotherhood. The most thorough "rubbers" get the right to join the society free of charge, without fees. This, he says, is the only eccentricity that Pi Tau Sigma allows itself.

By the way, the first student organizations in the states had a different purpose than now. Initially, students joined societies to participate in debates and hone their public speaking skills. This is how the student organization Phi Beta Kappa, the first community named by the letters of the Greek alphabet, designated its goals. Paying tribute to Greece, the birthplace of democracy, debate and the founders of entire schools of philosophical thought, this society used the first letters of its motto in the name, paying tribute to a tradition that still allows university clubs to surround themselves with a certain halo of mystery.

Secret student fraternities and clubs in American colleges still exist, but open student specialized societies look much more attractive. They help to find a job and bring creative ideas to life. It may not be as romantic as crypts and blood oaths, but what can we do, we live in a different, pragmatic age.