Fraternity Row

The film opens in spring 1954 at Summit College in Erie, Pennsylvania, narrated by adult Rodger Carter as he recalls his fraternity days. The focus is on the Gamma Nu Pi pledge period and the social dynamics within the fraternity.

Rodger explains that Gamma Nu Pi includes the brightest scholars, athletes, and future politicians, but explicitly excludes Blacks and Jews. This backdrop sets a controversial tone for the pledge experience.

Over fifteen weeks, the new pledges undergo the initiation process under pledge master Rodger Carter. The period tests loyalty and camaraderie within the group as they endure pranks and demands.

Chuck forces the pledges to wear silly costumes and escorts them to the Kappa Delta Alpha sorority house. There Zac Sterling meets Jennifer Harris and begins to form a connection, foreshadowing tensions between the groups.

Zac is elected president of the pledge class and becomes friends with Rodger. They privately discuss The Great Gatsby, signaling the intellectual aura of the group.

Rodger tells the active members that he is against hazing, but Chuck disagrees and remains silent. The conflict foreshadows the escalating intensity of the initiation.

The campus newspaper photographs the pledge leaders Zac and Jennifer, and Jennifer expresses interest in Zac. The moment reveals the personal stakes behind the Greek system.

Zac and Jennifer speak with Jim Jenson in the hallway, but Chuck tells them they cannot associate with Jim because he left Gamma Nu for another fraternity. Tension between loyalties grows.

The fraternity and sorority hold a dance to raise money for more entries in the radio contest. Jennifer mentions the Birdland line date, while Betty Ann uses a racist term to criticize the dance’s African American origins.

The pledges win the WSAS radio station contest and are commended by alumnus Brother Abernathy at a formal fraternity dinner. The success deepens the fraternity’s confidence but also tightens its insular culture.

Lloyd Pope’s diplomat father is accused of being a communist by Senator McCarthy and resigns. Lloyd is expelled from the fraternity, and Zac unsuccessfully tries to organize a walkout with other pledges.

Betty Ann and Rodger break up at a lawn party, and Jennifer and Zac also break up after he refuses to leave Gamma Nu. Zac ultimately walks out when Lloyd is not restored, but Rodger convinces him to return, while Chuck accuses Rodger of siding with the pledges.

Chuck is elected to replace Rodger as pledge master, setting the stage for the final initiation phase known as Hell Week.

Hell Week kicks off with the Ceremony of the Griffin: pledges kneel blindfolded before an altar in underwear and bow ties, while Chuck, as the Griffin, oversees humiliating rites, including being smeared with eggs and fed raw liver.

Zac dies during the initiation rituals as the ambulance arrives, and the attendants reprimand the fraternity for their dangerous hazing. Rodger is stunned and chastened, realizing that the entire pledge system is culpable, and he recalls Fitzgerald’s 'eternal dreamer' while honoring Zac’s memory.