North vs. South

South vs. North: the never ending debate

The North vs. South debate has been ongoing since before the Civil War. With blazers and 5 inch inseam shorts in the south, and coats and jeans in the north, fraternities vary greatly between the two.

Two of the major differences are in how members act and how they dress. Southern fraternity members are typically seen wearing khaki shorts, a polo and a blazer, complete with RayBan sunglasses. Northern fraternity members typically sport more everyday clothes, such as jeans and a T-shirt, according to Katie Haberstock, a North Carolina native now living in Utah.

“Apart from dressing the part, manners play a role in the Southern fraternity gent way of life. You might think it would have to do with Southern hospitality but I think it goes deeper than that,” said a Phi Gamma Delta from Memphis, Ten. “I think it has to do with how a person is raised by their family. Older generations are the ones that teach children how to act and behave.”

Travis Chambers, a Pi Kappa Alpha from North Carolina believes the difference between Northern and Southern Greek life can be characterized more by the way America perceives a citizen of the south and the citizen of the north, rather than being Greek or not.

“When you perceive southern people you usually think of Southern hospitality, strong religious values and very family oriented,” Chambers said. “The North can be characterized as however you would characterize the North. I believe many of the differences are based off the individual that is born in the North or the South, but not on whether Greek life is different in those places.”

Northern fraternity men have a differing opinion on the biggest difference in Greek life as a whole.

“I personally think the biggest difference between Northern and Southern Greek life is that they haze a lot more down there. Some bigger fraternities have hell week, whereas we have initiation week,” Utah State University Delta Sigma Phi member Conor Reese said.

Hell week is the inaugural week of Greek organizations, particularly fraternities, in which pledges are abused and tortured as an endurance test, according to Urban Dictionary, an online user-powered slang dictionary. If the pledges make it through hell week, then they can become full-fledged fraternity members. 

“Down in the south, pledges have to do a lot of terrible things in order to be initiated. Here, we focus more on our ritual and brotherhood. I don’t know if that has to do with being raised in the North or South or just being Greek there or here, but that’s the biggest difference I see,” Reese said.

 “My boyfriend definitely went through hell week when he was pledging. He couldn’t tell me anything they were doing, but he came home with bruises and paint in his hair every day,” Kimberlie Peterson said. “I thought they only did that in the South but I guess it happens up here too.”

Reese believes that Greeks are more looked up to in the South and you’re nobody if you aren’t Greek. “If you’re Greek in the North, people just think you’re a hoodlum,” Reese said.

The difference between Northern and Southern Greek life comes either from the nature of being raised a certain way in a certain place, or from the nurture of being in a fraternity as a whole.