THETA Omicron is a group that charter and support fraternities across the United States and, more recently, Ireland. They have just set up a chapter in Trinity College Dublin, colloquially known as “The Dynasty”. If at this point you haven’t already released this is probably the lamest/stupidest/most bourgeois concept you’ve ever heard of, the following should probably summarise why that is so.
Firstly, it’s a male only organisation. Notwithstanding the obvious discrimination that the very existence of this group perpetuates by its existence, the main thing to draw from here is that groups that include girls are just more fun. Over 50% of the world’s population is female and I would hazard a guess that they make up at least that percentage of the interesting people.
Secondly, it’s obviously an attempt to grant “exclusivity” to certain people. I think exclusivity in all contexts is pretty much a synonym for “secretly worried I have a small penis”. Such a barefaced grab for perceived superiority can only be driven by crushing insecurity. Any attempt to build self-esteem based on affiliation rather than meritorious individual action is clearly due to an incapability to access the latter.
Lastly, the idea of building a Young Old Boys Network and hanging around with other upwardly mobile young men is just so disgustingly privileged as to be a reason to reject the whole thing outright. They become these cliques and just maintain the kind of parish pump, backroom deal, Galway Races tent dynamic that brings out the worst kind of skulduggery in Irish society. The main motivating factor here is explicitly to be a support and fraternal network to assist those within the society to progress. They are exactly why society, economy and politics will never function, prioritising arbitrary membership of a group that is designed to separate those on the inside from those on the outside over actual merit or skill on behalf of those who did not join.
To add one final point, Irish colleges have done perfectly well without the existence of fraternities. Why we need to construct a system of male only, exclusive societies based on the exclusion of others is beyond me. I would be of the opinion that if you want people to help you with your course or with job applications and the like, you should do that with your friends. If you want to hang around with people of similar interests, you should join a club or society based around that interest that is open to all. There’s no need to institutionalise privilege in a way that is only going to lead to narcissism and exclusion.
Molly Cantwell 
Daragh De Klein