fraternity men make up 85% of Supreme court, 76% of senators, 85% of fortune 500 execs

[onenote]

15. suspect data, stereotyping and a "trend", if it exists, that isn't continuing

At least with respect to the Supreme Court.

The claim that 85 percent of the Supreme Court Justices since 1910 have been sorority members is one of those numbers that gets repeated ad nauseum on the Internet but for which there is no back up data in support. And what data there is, paints a much different picture.

In particular, of the current members of the Supreme Court, I could find evidence of undergraduate fraternity (or sorority) membership for two Justices: Roberts and Ginsberg. If in fact the other seven members of the court weren't fraternity or sorority members, not only is the "trend" not continuing, it would call into serious question the 85 percent figure.

Moreover, to the extent that being in a fraternity or sorority suggests a certain mindset, its probably worth noting that in addition to Ginsberg, other Supreme Court justices that have been members of a college fraternity include Justice William O. Douglas, Justice Stevens, Justice Thurgood Marshall, and Justice William Brennan. Not exactly your stereotypical "Animal House" types.

One has to wonder whether the oft-repeated statistic regarding the percentage of Supreme Court justices that belonged to fraternities isn't skewed by inclusion of members of the co-ed, law school "fraternity" Phi Alpha Delta. Five of the current court members belonged to P.A.D. -- Ginsberg, Sotomayor, Kagan, Breyer and Alito all were members.

By the way, I am not nor have I ever been a member of a college fraternity.