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Fraternities and Sororities 1. Terminology 2. Geographical distribution 3. Names 4. Typology 5. Historical overview 6. Ideology, structure & organization References The 'Goliardia' Introduction Meaning and etymology of the word  Historical overview Structure and organisation The ‘game’ Graduation ceremonies in Padua  PPT FILE References

  

Fraternities and Sororities

 

Table of contents

 

1. Terminology
2. Geographical distribution
3. Names
4. Typology
5. Historical overview
6. Ideology, structure & organization

 

1. Terminology

 

The terms “fraternity” and “sorority” both derive from the Latin words frater, i.e. “brother”, and soror, i.e. “sister”. Even though they can be used to label charitable organizations, in North America they mainly refer to social organizations for high school and university students. While fraternities are usually male-only organizations, sororities are exclusively made up of women.

 

2. Geographical distribution

 

Most fraternities and sororities are concentrated in North America (U.S.A and Canada), but there is a substantial number of countries outside this area with fraternity and sorority organizations, such as the Philippines, Austria, Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, the Republic of Latvia, Poland, Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany and Italy.

 

3. Names

 

Typically, the names of North American fraternities and sororities consist of two or three letters of the Greek alphabet which stand for the initials of their secret motto and are used to distinguish one chapter from another. The secret meaning of these Greek letters is known exclusively to the initiated individuals of that particular fraternity or sorority.

 

Examples:  Delta Phi, Phi Beta Kappa, Alpha Kappa Lambda, Kappa Kappa Gamma.

 

This is why fraternities and sororities as a whole are known as the Greek System and their members are called Greeks.

 

Examples: http://www.greeks.ufl.edu     http://www.greek.tulane.edu

 

 

4. Typology

 

There are four main types of fraternities:

 

1. General or social
2. Service
3. Professional
4. Honorary

 

Fraternities and sororities can be of the two following main categories.

 

1. National organizations: they have individual chapters which may be asked to respect standardized rituals and policies about membership, housing and behaviour, usually codified in a kind of constitution. The members of national fraternities and sororities may enjoy some privileges when visiting other chapters of the same national organization.
2. Local organizations: they are legally and financially independent from those national.

 

 

5. Historical overview

 

It seems that the Phi Beta Kappa Society was the first Greek letter student society to appear in North America. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia by a group of students who had been rejected by another society called the Flat Hat Club (FHC). The Club was founded in 1750 at the Raleigh Tavern in Williamsburg by six students who wanted to escape from the strict rules imposed by the College. In order for them to pass unnoticed, the students invented a secret handshake, oath and password which functioned as identification mark.

 

The Phi Beta Kappa Society was conceived as a forum to discuss those topics which were not included in the traditional educational programs of universities in those years. Most of the students belonging to the Society were well versed in Greek, Latin and Hebrew. “Phi”, “Beta” and “Kappa” were the initials of a secret Greek motto, i.e. Philosophia Biou Kybernitis, meaning ‘Philosophy is the guide of life’.

 

As time went by, the Society became an increasingly influential organization. However, in 1831 the undergraduate members at Harvard revealed the secrets of Phi Beta Kappa, thus providing a template for other societies. Phi Beta Kappa is now a honorary society.

 

In 1832 a student at Hamilton founded the Alpha Delta Phi Society and several chapters opened on other campuses.

 

In 1837 the Mystical 7 Society at Wesleyan was the first to initiate women as members.

 

The outbreak of the Civil War opened an interlude which temporarily stunted the growth of these societies. But, apart from that, in general the number of this kind of organizations and their chapters increased exponentially throughout 19^th and early 20^th centuries.

 

In those years women’s organizations formed as well. Kappa Alpha Theta and Kappa Kappa Gamma were both founded in 1870 and are formally recognized to be the first Greek letter societies for women. As the term “sorority” was not used yet in that period, these female-only organizations were called “women’s fraternities”, or “fraternities for women”. The first national organization which was labeled “sorority” was Gamma Phi Beta, founded at Syracuse University, New York, in 1874.

 

At present, with its 46 fraternities and 23 sororities, the University of Illinois is the largest Greek campus all over the world.

 

6. Ideology, structure & organization

 

Originally, the inspiring ideals of fraternities were mainly community service and leadership qualities. However, as time went by, some of these fraternities ended up being merely “social” organizations.

 

Most fraternities and sororities maintain a highly symbolic ritual system derived from Masonic rituals, which are inspired by the principles of “Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth”. In this sort of rituals, the candidate for membership progresses through a series of degrees, which are the emblem of the stages of personal development in that they help the initiate gain knowledge and understanding of himself, his relationship with others and with the Supreme Being.

 

“Brothers” and “sisters” of social fraternities and sororities respectively may live together in large “houses”, which serve as meeting places and administrative ‘head offices’.

 

The process of joining a fraternity or sorority is commonly known as “pledging”. According to current use, pledging oneself to something means committing oneself to following a particular course of action or to supporting a particular person, group, or idea. More in general, pledging means promising solemnly to give something, e.g. one’s support. In the context of fraternities, the pledging process implies a series of requirements, such as painting churches, visiting the ill, carrying out mentor programs, or maintaining a deferential attitude towards the active members, and functions as a probationary period during which pledges are judged according to their commitment to the organization: those who behave properly and express devotion to the principles of the fraternity are initiated into the group, whereas the others are rejected. In American fraternities pledges are usually given a nickname throughout this preliminary stage. Once the pledging period has been completed, the active members invite pledges to become full members of the community. Initiation mainly consists of secret ceremonies and sacred rituals.

 

One major problem with greeks is that they often mistake pledging for hazing, while they are separate, though interdependent, entities. Hazing basically consists of physically and/or psychologically humiliating tasks, often resulting in slavery and abuse, that candidates for membership must carry out as a means of initiation. Because of the high degree of violence implied in this ritualistic persecution, most organizations implemented no-hazing policies and required anti-hazing education for members. Since the 1990s, any hazing activity carried out at a local chapter, if discovered, usually leads to the revocation of the chapter’s charter and the expulsion of members from the national organization.

 

As a member of the Black Greek Organization wrote, “pledging is a commitment that you are making, not necessarily to the organization, but to yourself […] If the pledge process is done correctly, the “pledge” comes away with a greater understanding of one’s self than they could have gotten anywhere else […] But pledging, when hazing is involved, is the closest thing to slavery that anyone will experience […] Hazing is a virus on our organizations […] People are made out to be scapegoats […]”. [1]

 

 

References

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraternities_and_sororities

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freemasonry#Ritual.2C_symbolism.2C_and_morality

http://www.greeks.ufl.edu

http://www.greek.tulane.edu/organizations.htm

http://www.tulanefiji.org

http://www.phigam.org

[1] http://www.chucksmoot.net/essay-pledge.html

 

 

 

 

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The 'Goliardia'

 

 

Introduction

 

According to the definition you can find on Wikipedia’s Italian page, with the word ‘Goliardia’ you refer to the traditional spirit which drives the communities of students, especially the Universities ones, where the action of studying goes with the wish of breaking, the pleasure of adventure and the search for irony.  

 

Meaning and etymology of the word 

 

The word ‘goliard’ is usually thought to be the contraction of “Golia Abelardo”. However, it can also be seen as a loan translation from the French word ‘goliard’ which means ‘who has to do with Goliath or Goliath’s disciple’. Goliath was the nickname of Pierre Abélard, a contradictory prelate and intellectual who lived around one thousand A.D. and created this movement and style of life.

Some people thinks that this word refers to the biblical Goliath opposed to David. David represented the Church whereas Goliath was the one who contrasted him, in other words the opponent of the Church.

‘Goliardic’ is an adjective too. It can be used out of the context explained above in order to describe any kind of behaviour characterized by playful but at the same time debunking elements.

 

 

Historical overview

In the Italian universities the goliardic spirit has been very strong since the Middle Ages, when the most ancient groups were founded. These movements reached the peak of their success around the Fifties and the Sixties of the XX century, but then they suffered a decline, called ‘sleep’, from the second half of the Seventies to the end of Eighties when, in the collective imagination, the interest in goliardic associations was progressively replaced with political commitment.

During the Nineties the goliardic orders began to open again and the new generations of students looked for the previous supreme members of the orders who still kept cloaks, plaques and historical papyri. For the goliards the continuity of tradition is an essential element and the approval of the oldest members of the order is considered fundamental so that a new association can open again.

Nowadays goliardic movements are active in cities which are very important for their universities: Trieste, Milan, Bologna, Ferrara, Rome, Modena, Pisa, Pavia, Siena, Prato, Florence, Padua, Turin, Perugia, Parma, Genoa, Verona, Cagliari, Messina and Foggia.

 

In short, we can say that the Goliardia was born as a prosecution of the phenomena of the medieval ‘Clerici Vagantes’. They were wandering students who used to pay their studies singing, working occasionally or sometimes even just begging for charity. In fact, the names of the hierarchical positions often remind to the Middle Ages (e.g. knight, baron, squire).

 

Structure and organisation

First of all, the goliardic movements are divided into Orders which have their different histories and traditions. At the peak of the order there is a ‘chief-order’ who has at his disposal all the members of the association. However, sometimes it happens that more than one order is created in the same town. At this stage the solution is to create the so-called ‘Ordine Sovrano’ (the Supreme Order) whose task is governing all the city. The ‘Ordine Sovrano’s’ chief-order is usually called ‘Capo città’ (town-chief) and has an absolute power over the vassal orders. The ‘town-chiefs’ usually have names which make fun of local institutions or symbols such as:

 

• the ‘Rex’ in Pavia,

• the ‘Dux Parmae Placentiae Guastallae atque Terrae Limitrophae’ in Parma,

• the ‘Torrione’ in Pisa,

• the ‘Pontefice’ in Turin,

• the ‘Sublime Kaliffo’ in the province of Genoa and the Doge in Genoa ,

• the ‘Tribuno’ in Padua and Trieste,

• the ‘Duca Ferrariae Spinae Pomposiaeque’ in Ferrara,

• the ‘Golia’ in Milan.

   

When students at the university decide to enter a goliardic association choose one group rather than another only because they know someone else who is part of that same group. The orders are quite independent among them but within each order there is a strict structure which reminds to the masonry organisation. In fact, the goliardic movements are just a joke of the ancient masonry.

The members of an order have the right, but the duty too, to wear the signs of their own goliardic association when they’re carrying out their goliardic functions. These emblems usually are a ‘saio’ (a kind of coat) or a mantel which are decorated with more or less frills and ornaments according to the member’s hierarchical rung.  All the orders defined as ‘official’, but a lot of non-official fraternities as well, have got some plaques which are typical coloured medallions with the symbol of the order’s membership.

 

The ‘game’

 

 The ‘game’ is a sort of practice in the dialectic field. The typical situation for this strange kind of game is the following: two members of the group who met in a bar and talk together. One of the two starts saying something stupid (usually a nonsense) and the other contradicts him theatrically even if he doesn’t disagree with him. When a member convinces the other he is right, he wins a glass of wine as prize. Sometimes this dialogue is among three or more people but the rules of the game are more or less the same, so that the winner wins wine!

 

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Graduation ceremonies in Padua 

 

 For most of the students (and their families), it is a happy event when they finish their university studies and graduate. In Padua, graduation ceremonies are celebrated in a particular way. The origins of this traditional celebration are to be found in the Middle Ages. Later, the patterns of the ritual changed and today the celebration combines this traditional elements with new ones.

 

The University of Padua was founded in 1222 and is one of the oldest universities in Italy (second only after Bologna). Graduation ceremonies became very popular during the sixteenth century. At that time, this ceremonies were very important and solemn events, in which all the citizen participated. The students celebrated their graduation in the dome, that was brightly decorated for this occasion. Very important public characters such as the rector (Rettore Magnifico) and the governor participated in this celebration. As it was a solemn and public event, the participants were all black robed or dressed to the nines with their academic dress and ermine.

The celebration began with the bishop saying Mass. Afterwards, the graduates were given a wand (scepter) and a crown of laurel, which was decorated with golden beads. The fellow students had to get hold of a bead or at least of a leave, because they were said to bring good luck for the exams. After this part of the celebration a banquet took place and the graduates celebrated together with their family and friends. Usually, at the end of the celebration, the graduates were given gifts.

 In many cases, the relatives published a document in form of a manifest, to announce the graduation. These manifests often contained sonnets, poems and songs written by the graduates’ friends or parents and brought out the intellectual abilities and the moral strength of the graduates without mentioning their private life at all.

 

At the end of the nineteenth century, when ‘goliardia’ (that is the communities of students) became popular, the graduation ceremony changed its pattern completely. The members of this communities of students did not want to celebrate their graduation adopting the traditional ritual and created therefore a new way of celebrating their graduation, which was at the beginning, a parody of the traditional ceremony.

The graduation was celebrated in front of the main building of the University of Padua, Palazzo del Bo. As a first step, the graduates had to jump over a small chain outside the building (later, this chain was removed). This jump marked the end of their life as students.

Afterwards, the graduates were dressed with poor cloths, instead of wearing the expensive academic dresses. Moreover, instead of the wand they were given a broom and a flask. The poems and sonnets, that were composed by the friends, did not refer to the intellectual abilities and the moral strength of the graduates but they exalted their abilities as a drinkers, players and conquerors of women. This poems and sonnets were collected in a document, the so-called papiro, which had to be read aloud on top of a statue (the statue of Cavour) or on the balcony of the town hall.

Moreover, as it was one of the aims of this communities to rebel against the orthodoxy of the bourgeoisie, the students were undressed (before being dressed with poor clothes) and had to answer some question, in order to show that they were still the same also without clothes: at that time the clothes were very important because they indicated the social standing of a person.

Up to the 50s and 60s, only the members of student communities celebrated their graduation in this way. However, at that time things changed: while student communities became less popular, the papiro (the document which contains the poems and sonnets written by the graduates’ friends) and the graduation ceremonies came into vogue. These ceremonies imitated the traditional ones and combined these elements with new ones.

 

Today, in Padua, every student celebrates the graduation individually, inviting his family and friends. The day begins with the discussion of the dissertation in front of a committee and the invitees. This part ends with the award of the diploma. After these formal part, the graduates’ parents give them a laurel crown and a photographer takes some pictures. Afterwards the ex-students get undressed and at the same time beaten and spanked by their friends (the friends are supposed to be lenient, that is not to beat the graduate violently but in most of the cases it hurts). The friends sing burlesque songs in chorus and disguise the poor graduates. They have than to stand up on a bench in front of the main building of Palazzo del Bo and read the papiro aloud. In the meantime, their friends throw eggs, yogurt or other foodstuffs at them. In order to avoid fines, the friends usually put a sheet on the floor.

The papiro is kind of a personal diary, in the sense that it describes in a extremely funny way (at least for the invitees) very personal events, usually also events of the sex life of the graduate. Every time the graduates omit something or mispronounce a word, they have to drink. The papiro contains a comic caricature of the graduates, as well.

After this blithe moments the whole group goes to party in a bar or restaurant or they have a walk in the city center. 

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PPT FILE

 

This is the ppt file with our final presentation for Monday, May 7, 2007:

 

Final_Presentation.ppt 

 

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References

 

 

1. http://www.goliardia.it/
2. http://www.math.unipd.it/~favero/golia/chede.html 
3. http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goliardia
4. Urbino http://www.ducatodiurbino.com/
5. Liguria http://www.goliardia.org/dogatum/
6. Pavia http://www.ordoclavis.com/html/
7. Siena http://www.goliardisenesi.com/
8. http://www.ssgo.it/
9. http://www.padovafoto.com/laurea/laurea_web/goliardia.htm
10. http://claweb.cla.unipd.it/italiano/ital_stran/goliardia/goliardiaindex.htm
11. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraternities_and_sororities
12. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freemasonry#Ritual.2C_symbolism.2C_and_morality
13. http://www.greeks.ufl.edu
14. http://www.greek.tulane.edu/organizations.htm
15. http://www.tulanefiji.org
16. http://www.phigam.org
17. [1] http://www.chucksmoot.net/essay-pledge.html

 

 

JUST AN INPUT

 

1.  Fraternities and Sororities

   • Terminology
   • Geographical distribution
   • Names
   • Typology
   • Historical overview
   • Ideology, structure & organization
2. The 'Goliardia' in Italy 
   • Introduction
   • meaning and etymology of the word
   • Historical overview
   • Structure and organisation
   • the Game
3. Graduation cerimonies in Padua 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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