Greek Letter Organization (G.L.O.)

Fraternities (for men) or sororities (for women), also known as Greek letter organizations (G.L.O.s) are social organizations at colleges and universities in the United States and Canada.

Similar organizations exist in other countries as well, including the Studentenverbindungen of German-speaking countries or the Goliardia in Italy.

The three oldest G.L.O.s are collectively represented by over 1,000 chapters:

- SIGMA ALPHA EPSILON founded at the University of Alabama in 1856 with over 325,000 life-time members.

- KAPPA SIGMA founded at the University of Virginia in 1869 with over 200,000 life-time members.

- TAU KAPPA EPSILON founded at Illinois Wesleyan University in 1899 with over 268,000 life-time members.

—
SECRET SOCIETIES

With a few exceptions, G.L.O.s are secret societies. They typically initiate new members through elaborate private rituals, frequently drawn or adopted from Masonic ritual practice or that of the Greek mysteries.

At the conclusion of an initiation ritual, the organization’s secret motto, secret purpose and secret identification signs, such as handshakes and passwords, are usually revealed to its new members.

—
POLITICAL INFLUENCE

Since 1900, 63% of members of the United States cabinet have been members of fraternities and sororities, and the current chief executive officers of five of the ten largest Fortune 500 companies are G.L.O.s.

In addition, 85% of all justices of the U.S. Supreme Court since 1910 have been members of fraternities. U.S. presidents since World War II who have been initiated into fraternities are George W. Bush, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, and Franklin Roosevelt.

—
CRITICISM

G.L.O.s have often been characterized as elitist or exclusionary associations, organized for the benefit of a largely white, upper-class membership base.

A 2013 report by Bloomberg found that fraternity connections were influential in obtaining lucrative employment positions at top Wall Street brokerages - to obtain access to competitive appointments, graduates have been known to exchange secret handshakes with executives whom they know are also G.L.O. members

—
SYNONYMS

band of brothers, brother- sisterhood, cabal, caucus, club, crème de la crème, elite, gang, guild, inner circle, in-group, league, learned society, lodge, secret society, social set, syndicate

—
SOURCES

- Fraternities & Sororities - Princeton University Reports
- Richard Whalen - Handbook of Secret Organizations
- Edward G. Whipple, et al. - Greek Letter Organizations: Communities of Learners?
- Jared Borislow - Here’s a List of Every U.S. President Who Was in a Fraternity
- Kappa Kappa Gamma - Famous Fraternity Brothers & Sorority Sisters
- Caitlin Flanagan - The Dark Power of Fraternities

—
Practice OWAD in an English conversation, say something like:

“Jim is very proud to be a member of a GREEK LETTER ORGANIZATION.”

——
VIELEN DANK to all readers helping me keep OWAD alive with single or monthly donations at:

https://donorbox.org/please-become-a-friend-of-owad-3

Paul Smith