希臘生活 —— Greek Life

美國大學的“希臘生活”

Kyle Kisicki

Senior Educational Consultant

Kyle Kisicki以“本·富蘭克林學者身份”畢業于賓大哲學專業。

他學習經濟政治學，尤其專注美國中學教育問題的分析。

在賓大哲學系和Philadelphia Futures的合作實驗中，作為分析性寫作指導深入研究教育學方法論，幫助學生提高寫作能力。

如今，作為Apolish的教育顧問，他會繼續幫助學生建立自信、尋找更成熟的自我。

When discussing campus culture at American universities with students from across the globe, a topic that frequently comes up is Greek life.

Named for the letters of the Greek alphabet, this cultural facet of college life is unique to American campuses.

For high-school students in China as well as the US, fraternities and sororities are a mysterious, mythologized concept.

In movies, these organizations are often portrayed with raucous Dionysian festivals; in the news, they are often seen as dangerous due to a lack of effective oversight.

As someone who spent four years with mixed feelings in a fraternity during my time at Penn, I think that this media portrayal ignores the nuanced role that Greek life plays on college campuses.

每當我與來自世界各地的學生討論美國大學的校園文化時，一個主題總會被提到：“希臘生活”（Greek Life）。

這種用希臘字母命名的大學文化是美國校園所獨有的一部分。

對于不論是中國還是美國的高中生來說，兄弟會和姐妹會都是一個神秘的、甚至被奉上神壇的概念。

在電影里，這些組織經常被描繪成嘈雜的、“狄俄尼索斯式”（Dionysus，古希臘神話中的酒神）的狂歡；同時，因為缺少有效的監督管理，在新聞中它們常常與危險二字掛鉤。

作為一個在賓夕法尼亞大學待了四年，有著在兄弟會里酸甜苦辣的經歷的人，我認為當今的媒體對“Greek Life”的描繪忽略了它在美國大學校園各個角落扮演的更豐富的角色。

The designation “Greek life” is an umbrella term that is used to identify extracurricular societies---gendered clubs known as “fraternities” for men and “sororities” for women.

These groups operate nationally, with chapters at various schools across the country.

A large fraternity could have over 200 chapters, but most have a smaller national presence.

Although Greek organizations are predominantly social clubs, there are also co-educational Greek organizations that exist specifically for philanthropy, professional networking, academic achievement, and religious/ethnic heritage.

“Greek Life”作為一個總體概括的術語，曾被用于識別課余生活俱樂部。

這些俱樂部又以性別區分，男生的叫做“兄弟會”，女生的叫做“姐妹會”。

這些全國的組織，在美國不同的學校里又有自己的小分支，叫做“chapters”。

一個規模大的兄弟會有時擁有超過200個“chapters”，但絕大多數兄弟會并不會遍布全國。

盡管這些“Greek Life”組織基本都是社交團體，但也有一些以慈善、職業網絡、學術成就和宗教/種族文化為核心，不分性別的“Greek Life”組織。

New students typically “rush”—the process of selecting an organization to join—during their freshman year.

This initial process varies from school to school, and also between fraternities and sororities.

At Penn, rush occurs at the beginning of the second semester to allow new students some time to get used to the academic environment before committing.

The first period begins with “open rush,” in which all university students are invited to participate in social gatherings at the various fraternities’ chapter-houses.

The “brothers” of each house provide catered food from local restaurants to entice potential initiates.

After a period of open rush, the fraternities become more exclusive and issue invitations for interesting candidates to return for “closed rush” events.

With little university oversight, the Greek organizations throw events off-campus to impress candidates, such as going to sporting events, playing games, and partying.

As the closed rush period goes on, fewer and fewer candidates are invited to return to the event while the fraternity deliberates on their favorite candidates.

For women, the rush period is different; students visit each sorority house in rotation during the open rush period.

At the culmination of the process, fraternities and sororities issue “bids”—acceptance offers—to their favorite candidates.

When the candidates select their favorite organization, they are then seen to be “pledges” —new initiates.

As pledges, students generally undergo a series of trials to demonstrate their commitment to the group.

This is known as “hazing” and can sometimes be illegal and dangerous.

However, many organizations have strict rules to prevent this activity.

My personal advice is to remember that you’re in control during this process and can leave at any time.

大學新生一般都會在大學第一年的時候“rush”（一個選擇加入“Greek Life”組織的過程 ）。

“rush”早期的步驟因學校，以及是兄弟會還是姐妹會而異。

在賓大，“rush”通常發生在第二學期剛開始的時候，這樣讓新生有更多的時間在做決定之前先適應學校的學術氛圍。

第一階段叫做“open rush”。

在此期間，所有大學學生都會受邀參加一些在兄弟會會所（“chapter houses”）里舉行的社交活動。

每個兄弟會的兄弟們（“brothers”）都會用當地餐館供應的酒菜來吸引未來成員（“potential initiatives”）。

在“open rush”一段時間之后，兄弟會們就會變得更加排外，只邀請一些他們認為有意思的成員“initiatives”來參加名叫“closed rush”的活動。

因為沒有學校的干預，這些兄弟會們一般會在校園外舉辦一些像體育賽事、游戲學術活動、聚會等活動來加深候選人對某個兄弟會的印象。

隨著“closed rush”階段的進行，越來越少的兄弟會候選人會被再次邀請參加活動；與此同時，兄弟會自己也在商榷、挑選他們最喜歡的候選人。

對于女孩們來說，“rush”會是一個很不一樣的體驗。

在“open rush”階段，女生們會輪流逐個參觀每個姐妹會會所，在拜訪中同步增強姐妹會和候選人互相的了解。

在“rush”的高潮，兄弟會和姐妹會們會把他們的“錄取通知書”（“bids”）發給他們中意的候選人。

當這些候選人選取了他們最心儀的組織之后，他們便被當作預備成員（“pledges”）。

作為預備成員，這些學生一般會經歷一系列考驗來證明他們對這個團體的忠誠。

這個過程又被熟知為“欺悔”階段（“hazing”），有時候甚至會變得不合法和危險。

但是，很多組織都設有嚴厲的規則來避免“hazing”行為。

我個人的建議是，記住，你可以選擇在任何時間離開，一切都在你的掌控之中。

Once initiated into the organization, the group fosters a distinct, institutional type of social life at university.

Sororities and fraternities throw fun parties, concerts, and philanthropy events together.

The immediate benefit of joining one of these organizations is the social network that it will introduce you to.

However, like any large group, fraternities and sororities can be political and clique-y.

A newcomer at university will be introduced to many new people and activities by joining a Greek organization.

For this reason, fraternities and sororities are generally the most relevant during a student’s freshman and sophomore year.

By the time that students are upperclassmen, they typically have developed strong friend groups outside of their Greek organizations.

一旦加入了組織，整個團體會為你在大學里培育一種獨特的，有制度的社交生活。

姐妹會和兄弟會會一起舉辦有趣的派對，音樂會，以及慈善活動。

加入這些組織最直接的一個好處就是它會幫助你進入一個社交網絡。

但是，就像任何大的組織，兄弟會和姐妹會也可以出現“政治化”、拉幫結派的現象。

一個大學新生會通過加入一個“Greek Life”組織從而認識很多新的人和活動。

因此，加入兄弟會和姐妹會對大一、大二的新生特別有意義。

當學生已經大三、大四的時候，他們通常已經與在“Greek Life”組織之外的人建立了深厚的友誼。

This article is not to say that you should feel pressured to join one of these many clubs.

Whether or not you think they sound appealing is up to you.

Ultimately, I joined a fraternity because my father did the same when he was in school; although it was his favorite aspect of college life, I found that the experience was not necessarily for me.

I enjoyed my time in the club, but I learned that Greek life can be difficult to navigate and shouldn’t be taken too seriously.

At some schools, a majority of students participate in Greek life, at others it is a minuscule fraction.

Either way, you do not need to join one to have a social experience in college.

If you have an interest in something, I’m sure there are many ways to find your passion and pursue it socially at university.

For me, I enjoyed organizing concerts as a part of student government.

The opportunities are endless!

這篇文章的目的并不是讓你一定要加入一個“Greek Life”組織。

這些組織對你是否吸引力完全取決于你個人。

我加入了一個兄弟會，是因為我的父親在大學時也加了一個。

雖然兄弟會是我爸爸大學生活中最喜歡的一個部分，我個人經歷并不是這樣的：我享受我待在這個組織中的日子，但是我也認識到了“Greek Life”有時會比較難掌控，也沒有必要被過度重視。

在一些學校里，很大一部分學生都參加“Greek Life”；在其它的學校，可能只有極少數的人參加。

無論如何，你不一定要加入一個組織才能在大學擁有社交生活。

如果你對什么東西非常感興趣，我相信你一定能在大學里找到很多另外的方式來追求你熱愛的事物。

對我來說，我非常喜歡幫助學生政府組織音樂會的過程。

機會無處不在！

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