Brotherhood: Gay Life in College Fraternities
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Book Summary Information
Editor: Shane L. WindmeyerEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2005-10-01
ISBN: 1555838561
Number of pages: 304
Publisher: Alyson Books
Book Reviews of Brotherhood: Gay Life in College Fraternities
Book Review: Brothers, only if you are white and not gay. - true stories
Summary: 5 Stars
Even though I graduated from college, I often wondered if joining a fraternity is really something that most guys should try? Now I kind have the answer.
I just finished reading Mark Bigelow's story of "Odd man in." After he graduated college, and he offered to help his Tau Kappa Epsion to start a new chapter at another school - OSU. After the TKE national representative learned that Mark is gay, he told Mark that he will be in touch with him in a week. Three weeks later, Mark called that guy again, and that representation told him directly :"Thanks anyway, but I don't think that I'll need your help, and I think you know why." I instantly felt sad for him. Mark was accepted by his own fraternity, however, at the national level, he was rejected even though he was a true TKE brother. After all, all fraternities are formed by different kinds of guys with different ideas and opinions, it is simply impossible to form brotherhood with any random guy from the same fraternity, and expect that anyone can be accepted for whoever he is without any prejudice or discrimination. It is hard to keep in touch with friends after graduation, fraternity is a good way to continue this bond, however, some of the brothers are no different than the acquaintances, some of the brotherhood will fade away right after graduation.
This book also presented the racial discrimination among fraternities across the country. In "John Welles" story of "From the Haze," he wrote:"One fraternity even went as far as remaining exclusively white while the other fraternities had begun accepting blacks in recent years. That was in the late 1990's.
It is also very shocking to learn that in the year of 2002, at Texas A&M university, Clay Cunningham wrote in his story of "The Pledge Jersey", "he then compared the situation to an incident a few years back when the fraternity had a black guy who tried to pledge. When it came down to a vote, many brothers said that they would leave the fraternity if he was allowed to join. The verdict:"No blacks in TKE." So it seems that TKE neither likes gay people or non-whites.
Some of the gay men were fortunate enough to be accepted, it makes me wonder how many more gay men were rejected by the Greek system because of their sexuality alone. They probably can publish several more books on that alone.
"It was not until fall 2003 that the first black student pledged a traditional sorority at the University of Alabama, ..racially integrated since 1963."
So it is safe to say that there are still fraternities out there which are homophobic, and racially discriminating against non-whites.
I was a little surprised when I searched for "clay cunningham" and TKE online, I was able to find several stories about him. He indeed reported TKE to the school. Instead of dealing with the homosexual discrimination, On Tuesday, Nov. 27 of 2001, the university announced TKE had been given a "deferred suspension" for alcohol and hazing violations until June 1st of 2002. According to the online article that I read, he says, "even if there are guys with negative stereotypes. Perhaps I could change perceptions, and they could come to see me as a real person, not as some gay guy who got their fraternity in trouble."
To some people, joining a fraternity is so easy. Christopher ho rushed three different fraternities, got rejected twice. Was it necessary? This is not a competition.
The story of "Lovers to brothers" was not very believable. They joined a fraternity after they graduated from a college. And according to the story, one of the guy was asked to join without even having to ask. They each wrote parts of the story. They did not list their real names, or the name of the fraternity or the college that they work. It seems to me that they probably did the fraternity some favor, maybe gave the fraternity large amount of money or something, so the fraternity guys felt the need to suck up to them. After all, what kind of fraternity will initiate someone who didn't even show any interest. That guy did not even have to go to the fraternity, one of the fraternity guy came to his office, and told him that the fraternity voted to initiate him.
I like Michael knipp's story, it is romantically gay. He actually met his lover through the same fraternity. When he was in college, cell phone probably wasn't invented, so he had to share a phoneline with one of his brother. That led him to come out to his roommate.
"Travis Lin" refused to hide his sexuality, so he wasn't offered a bid to join an Asian fraternity. I felt that sexuality is only one part of him, he could have joined first, then came out later. That leads to another point, if joining a fraternity is really that important? Those fraternity guys will only accept him if he is straight.
some fraternities have large number of guys, and how many of them will keep in touch with everyone after graduation? Fraternities give guys opportunities to make some good friends or lovers, but male students don't really need a fraternity to make some life long lasting friendship.
This is a good book overall. I wonder how many fraternity men who have some really interesting stories which are still untold. Maybe someone can set up a web site just for guys to share their fraternity stories.
Summary of Brotherhood: Gay Life in College Fraternities
Since the 1998 publication of his groundbreaking book Out on Fraternity Row, editor and Lambda 10 Project founder Shane Windmeyer has witnessed many changes in the reception and treatment of gay fraternity members: "We have made tremendous progress on men coming out to their brothers and being more likely to find acceptance due to the credo 'once a brother, always a brother,' but the new challenge and logical next boundary to break down for the fraternity closet is rushing openly gay." His new book, Brotherhood, is a bold step in that direction. Windmeyer reveals a 10-year perspective of progress on gay issues within college fraternities and suggests a 10-year plan to continue educational efforts for further systemic implementation to combat homophobia in fraternities. Windmeyer and others involved in the Lambda 10 Project provide valuable articles on:
Hazing and homophobia
Trials and tribulations of rushing openly gay
How to be an ally to a gay brother
Passing sexual orientation in a fraternity nondiscrimination statement
And in addition to new, true accounts by gay fraternity members about their experiences coming out over the past decade, Brotherhood includes numerous stories by gay men concerning the reception they received when they did not hide their sexual orientation while rushing.
This is a must-read book for high school advisors, anyone involved in college life, and young men intent on rushing a fraternity.
Shane Windmeyer (Phi Delta Theta) is the co-editor of Out on Fraternity Row and the founder of the Lambda 10 Project, a clearinghouse for gay fraternity issues. His educational work as an activist on gay fraternity issues has been profiled in TIME, The New York Times, Rolling Stone, The Advocate, and Out, and on the websites UMagazine, mtvU, Salon, and elsewhere. He is also co-editor of Secret Sisters and the author of Inspiration for LGBT Students & Their Allies. He lives in Charlotte, North Carolina.
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