BBC This World - Frat Boys: Inside America's Fraternities

This programme contains very strong language

and scenes which some viewers may find disturbing.

America's frat boys.

Notorious for hard drinking...

..and even harder partying.

Bound by a secret world of rituals...

He chose me. Bond has been made.

..and lifelong bonds between fraternity brothers.

I can smell the other side, put it that way, and I want it.

I'm doing it, there's nothing stopping me.

Its members go on to become some of the most powerful

and influential people in America.

Do I think he's putting in the effort that we all have put in

to become a brother? No, I do not.

But they are also institutions accused of creating

a culture of sexual abuse...

Woke up in this bed, like,

with no clothes on and I had no idea where I was and I was so scared.

..and brutality towards its new members.

I just remember that I was lying there on that floor

and I didn't think I was going to make it.

I'm not a man at all, brothers, I'm a weak boy.

Here we have Kappa Sigma.

They are one of the fraternities on campus right now.

Across America, thousands of college students pledge allegiance

to a fraternity or sorority each year.

Most are named after ancient Greek letters.

It's a tradition stretching back 250 years.

In the back you have Kappa Alpha Theta.

It's down there, you can barely see it.

It's pretty nice. And then you have Sigma Chi on the left.

Fraternities are elite clubs that provide

accommodation for their members.

There's over 120 different national organisations.

This is the AZD house, Alpha Xi Delta.

Ben is in his third year at the University of Central Florida.

A fraternity is a brotherhood.

It's an organisation of like-minded people who are just

kind of together to meet a common goal.

A sorority is the same thing but with women.

You have an opportunity to meet so much more people,

to become something greater than yourself.

So are you generally kind of the most

successful people on campus?

I don't want to stereotype, but, yeah, we are.

We're way more successful.

Fraternities supply $3 billion worth of housing

across university campuses, and to live in a fraternity house

can cost students up to $2,500 per term.

It's an investment in yourself, to get an experience

you really can't get anywhere else in the world.

This is the Gazoni Family house on the right.

Ben is a brother in the Gazoni Family, an independent

fraternity that has broken away from one of the national groups.

This is Fish Bowl.

This is called Fish Bowl because they built a fishbowl into the bar,

which is pretty cool.

Big Momma's house! This is Brandon.

The fraternity is currently home to 78 active members.

When I grow up I want to own a business.

I want to be a dentist and become as successful as possible.

I want to be an engineer.

I want to become a sports agent

and represent all the top athletes in the sports world.

But that's going to be a little side job for me.

In order for me to become successful and wealthy,

I'm probably going to want to own my own company.

You've always got to dream big.

I want to drive that fast car, live in a big house, have a lot of kids.

Always have high expectations for yourself.

We're killing the rest of the bottle...

Where's the bottle?

THEY CHEER

They also have certain expectations

of the girls who come to visit the house.

I'm sure there's many uses of this pole

but we typically... It's just like an attraction.

People come to this room, like, "Oh, my God, a stripper pole,"

and then come in and have fun.

So when we finish the bottle we use the top of the shelves

to put it there, showcase what we drink.

A trophy case. Yeah, a trophy case.

What's this up here?

I don't know what you're talking about.

It's just, uh, bras and underwear.

I mean, people forget it and leave it there.

I don't know, it just happens, you know?

We are by far the most fun people you will ever meet in Greek life.

We have more connections,

we have more friends,

we have more fun than anyone else.

I have no idea why anybody at any school would not want to be

a part of Greek life, the Gazoni Family,

or anything greater than themselves in general.

It blows my mind.

But there is more to being a frat boy than booze and sex.

Many hope it will lead to a life of power, wealth and success.

These are the members of Alpha Kappa Alpha,

who are the members and staff.

These are people who work on The Hill.

All of these women are destined for greatness.

I don't know one AKA who fell off the beaten path.

Frederica S Wilson joined an African American sorority

at university aged 18.

She is now an influential member of the US Congress.

This is my favourite here.

Whenever you see the two of us, I mean, there's that connection.

You know, it's not just a casual acquaintance.

Is this on the...?

Air Force One. Mm-hmm, President's plane.

And that's another one on Air Force One

and I have another one on Air Force One.

I have many more pictures, but if I knew that I was going to

have this many pictures I wouldn't have blown them up so big, so...

Membership of a fraternity or sorority can last

way beyond graduation.

It's a wonderful world of friendship, of service,

of love, for life, for ever.

It is one of the best decisions I've ever made in my life.

In this Congress,

75% of the men belong to a fraternity...

..and maybe 40% of the women belong to a sorority.

But most of those members aren't African American women.

Fraternities were formed in 1776 as secret literary dining clubs

with many similar rituals to the Freemasons.

Ever since, they've mostly been a bastion of America's

white middle classes.

Today, what's known as Greek life has played

a role in the lives of many of America's elite and powerful.

From Hollywood movie stars to the bosses of some of America's

biggest companies, these still quite secretive societies form part of

a network that reaches high into the upper echelons of American society.

Nearly half of America's presidents have pledged to a fraternity.

It's just that one little thing that gives you an advantage

over another candidate for a position to say,

well, we're fraternity brothers,

and so we obviously subscribe to the same values

and the same beliefs, and so therefore,

if I'm the candidate for a job, you may say,

well, you know, he represents qualities

that we are really looking for, because I know what those are.

If you are a Tau Kappa Epsilon and you are 23 years old

and you are looking for a job in a new city,

you have, as a list of resources,

a complete group of people that you are part of,

and you can send a resume to or you can make a phone call to.

And you as well as they have pledged lifelong brotherhood,

and it works to the benefit of many people.

In Florida, a new intake of students are about to try

and join the Gazoni Family. But new recruits will have

to prove themselves before they can enter the brotherhood.

This kid has been washing this guy's car for ever.

The hose doesn't reach, man. That's awful.

The recruits will go through an intensive ten-week period

called pledging where they will be tested to see if they fit in.

I'm going to have you move my entire bed to the left

and you are going to take this sponge

and this bleach and you're going to remove any mould that you see.

So, like, any of this black shit.

To demonstrate their loyalty,

the pledges have to do all the menial jobs around the house.

I just want you to hang all my clothes,

spray them with wrinkle release, unwrinkle them.

Um, that's it. All right, cool.

Pledge number 12.

It's James...

..and he's just going to hang up my clothes. Hm?

I thought it was Jordan, not James. Is it Jordan?

Thanks, man. Love you too, Bro. See, I'm confused.

Just hang the shirts and throw the pants in the dresser.

Button-downs first, then long sleeves, and then T-shirts

and then, if you don't have enough hangers, athletic shirts.

Pledging is a period before you are a brother.

It's kind of a test run to see

if the organisation is actually right for you.

You follow through the process

and then you earn your place in the organisation.

Ben is definitely...

He's a well-respected brother around here.

He's definitely a good guy to... not necessarily idolise

but try to follow in their footsteps, kind of thing.

I'm originally from Leicester, lived there for 15-and-a-half years.

I moved here in my second year of high school.

I'd never even heard of a fraternity until I moved to America.

I didn't even know what it was.

I'd seen it referenced in a couple of movies

but wasn't really paying attention to it.

Didn't realise how much of a big deal that was

until I moved out here and out here it's...

It's a big deal.

Why do you want to be part of a fraternity?

A lot of people just think it's about going out and drinking

and everything - they have other stuff too.

You get to meet a cool bunch of people

and a lot of your friends that you keep for the rest of your life

you meet in college,

and it's a really easy way to meet a big group of people.

You get to meet the right people, who you want to talk to,

and essentially it's also a good way of, like, getting connections

outside of college that could help you link up with jobs and stuff.