Frat Star

This thesis, a social novel in the tradition of Tom Wolfe\u27s The Bonfire of the Vanities and Michael Chabon\u27s The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, is all at once an attentive first-person study of a twenty-something man close to his cracking point in his first post-college job, a detailed expose of national fraternities, and the sweeping panoramic view of an entire generation of over-programmed college students searching for direction. Frat Star follows a fragile college graduate named Charles Washington, who takes a position as an Educational Consultant with a national fraternity in his first semester after graduation. For sixteen straight weeks, he drives across the country, from college to college and fraternity house to fraternity house, meeting with alumni and students, and living on frat house couches and in seedy off-exit hotels. As he travels, the pressure mounts for Charles to convince his family and friends back home that this is a Real Job and that his work actually matters to the business world, but at each new fraternity house he visits, his yearning for the old college atmosphere grows--the beer, the parties, the girls!--threatening to send him into a frightening tailspin. How can he be a professional when the temptations of youth still seem so attractive? And before Charles can sort out what is happening in his own life, he finds himself stuck in a vicious tug-of-war between students, alumni, administrators, and the national fraternity, when he must deal with one particularly abrasive undergraduate fraternity and the aftermath of its disastrous decisions. Spanning thousands of miles, from Florida to California, from Illinois to New Mexico, this thesis takes us inside fraternity houses, into their attics and their basements, behind the scenes of their rituals and ceremonies, inside their parties, inside their heads, giving us a view not only of the power of the national fraternity, but the disconnect between alumnus and student, between Baby Boomer and Generation X and Millennial. Incorporating research as varied as the generational studies of Howe and Strauss, and Alexandra Robbins\u27 psychological study of the Quarterlife Crisis, Frat Star stretches across the country, stretches across genre, stretches from text to illustration, but is ultimately the human story of a young man\u27s longing for morality, independence, and purpose in a world he simply has not been prepared to understand

Drowning in White Whine

“What are some examples of white privilege?” my professor asked. I felt an audible tension in the class as this was asked. This is a tricky subject, especially when you’re talking to a class full of mostly white, privileged people (myself included). [excerpt

Interview with John Roger Stemen, June 26, 2001

John Roger Stemen was interviewed on June 26, 2001 by Michael J. Birkner about his experiences before he became a professor of History at Gettysburg College. He discusses his childhood in Indiana and focuses on his undergraduate education at Yale University and his service in the photolithography unit in Korea. After the war he attended Indiana University and Johns Hopkins University, where he obtained his doctorate. Collection Note: This oral history was selected from the Oral History Collection maintained by Special Collections & College Archives. Transcripts are available for browsing in the Special Collections Reading Room, 4th floor, Musselman Library. GettDigital contains the complete listing of oral histories done from 1978 to the present. To view this list and to access selected digital versions please visit -- http://gettysburg.cdmhost.com/cdm/landingpage/collection/p16274coll

Object to Your Affection

Recently a guy in one of my classes defended objectification of women on the grounds that if he cares for a girl, he will treat her like he treats his most treasured objects; he used his coat as an example. He said that he loved his coat, he wouldn’t let it touch the ground, and he took great care of it; he would do the same for any girl he cared about, for “his girl.” [excerpt

Vol. 13, No. 10, November 9, 1962

•The Advantage of a Small Town Practice •Yearbook News •Who are They? •Miscellaneous Morsels •At the Frat •Res Gestae Sports Staff Pix •Quadsville Quote

Vol. 13, No. 11, November 16, 1962

•Visitors Verdict •Civil Rights and Patent Law Speakers After Thanksgiving •Miscellaneous Morsel •At the Frat •Res Gestae Sports Staff Pix •At the Flicks •Quadsville Quote

Vol. 13, No. 10, November 9, 1962

•The Advantage of a Small Town Practice •Yearbook News •Who are They? •Miscellaneous Morsels •At the Frat •Res Gestae Sports Staff Pix •Quadsville Quote

Vol. 13, No. 8, October 26, 1962

•Davies Speaks on Criminal Law Reform in England •Larceny in Lawyers Club •Miscellaneous Morsels •At the Frat •Res Gestae Sports Staff Pix •At the Flicks •Quadsville Quote

Vol. 13, No. 8, October 26, 1962

•Davies Speaks on Criminal Law Reform in England •Larceny in Lawyers Club •Miscellaneous Morsels •At the Frat •Res Gestae Sports Staff Pix •At the Flicks •Quadsville Quote