A particularly old value of German student fraternities is the Lebensbundprinzip, the principle of a bond for life. Members who finish their studies become Alte Herren, old gentlemen, and remain members. In a 2015 report by Legal Tribune Online, a member rejected the word Seilschaft, a rope team of people who pull each other up. A fraternity, he said, is eher um ein Netzwerk, rather a network. Another called membership eine Art gemeinsame Geschäftsgrundlage, a kind of shared basis for doing business. A critic described the social pressure to stay in, weil man ja Vorteile genossen hat, because one has enjoyed advantages. According to one member, most fraternities refuse contact with the media for fear of bad press.