Wrong. You, Speaker, have a cookie. When I click the link, I get a page that tells me I need to register with the NYT to see the article. Not really wanting to enter my email address, I had to type the word sorority into google news and get the following article:
But I don’t have a cookie! I’m on a public computer. And, having just told IE to delete my cookies and my temporary internet files, I still get the page without logging in. I don’t even have an NYT account. What’s going on?
http://www.bugmenot.com/. Know it, love it, use it.
Hmmmm…
I tried again, it sends me to this login page:
It appears that I get this page because my security settings are such that I do not allow the reciept of any cookies, even session cookies. That must be it.
Thanks Annie, I always forget about that site…
It’s surprising that DZ had any members who didn’t fit the skinny white blond/brunette mold. I’ve been around various DZ houses (I was a lacrosse player, and was frequently our team driver in whatever city we were in) and every DZ I’ve ever seen was an attractive-ish white female who weighs under 150 pounds.
I am, on principle, reluctant to click links when I don’t have any idea where they’re going to take me to.
At first, I did not click the OP’s link. When I did go back and do so, the page in question took about 15-20 seconds to load (with my dial-up connection). Not bad, but it’s not uncommon for linked sites to take a several times that long. I hate having to wait a minute or more just to find out WTF a thread is about.
I’m with DrDeth on this one. If you’re going to take the trouble to start a thread in the Pit (or anywhere else for that matter), take at least a moment to let us know what the hell you’re pitting.
Just how popular are they? Do most universities have them?
Any idea why they are prevalent in US as opposed to NZ, Aus, Britain?
It’s really difficult to find a middle ground when discussing Greek stuff. I think the conversations tend to stray toward “I hate them, they’re exclusionary, who has to buy friends, etc.” vs. “My fraternity/sorority made me what I am today, lifelong friends, etc.”
The reality is that it’s a social group, like most every other social group that exists - civic organization, sewing club, gang, and so forth. There are examples of bad behavior in every permutation of social groups, and sometimes groups are invested in bad behavior as a reason for their existence. In my experience, having attended a large state university with every imaginable student organization in existence, I found folks who fit the Greek stereotypes, and those who didn’t at all. I met idiots and jerks, as well as great friends and conversationalists both in and out of the Greek system.
Any club that requires one to pay dues and has an initiation process of some sort can be compared to a Greek organization if you ask me. I used to have a friend who lived in a co-op… and the parallels between the co-op members and the people who hung out at their fraternity houses were quite interesting. I tire of people bagging on sororities and fraternities just because they exist. The Greeks who are just ordinary students who don’t get in a lot of trouble or put together social and/or service projects never make the news.
Having said that… it’s pretty sad that the chapter chose this rather stupid process to “weed out” the women who didn’t look like models, and I thought the woman who crashed the party was a pretty cool person for doing so. It’s awesome that half of the chapter decided to quit after the cull as well. I think this speaks very highly of those six women and how they define sisterhood. As for the other six, maybe they are lookist jerks, but I actually thought it was a great story of how some of the women really bonded and connected - to the point they were willing to stand up for what they believed to be right!
Not to mention a minimally useful descriptive title, which this thread also lacks.
They’re not prevalent in Canada, either. I think the universities here have them, but I hear nothing at all about them. I still don’t really understand the Greek system and what need they fulfill on campuses that couldn’t be filled with social/housing systems that don’t do the damage that the Greek system houses apparently do.
To return to the original story for a second.
Am I actually reading this right? In order to gain more members they sacked 23 and then had 6 more quit in protest? Leaving them with 6 members.
I’d go with the laughing.
You make a good point that challenges my personal perception of the state of affairs with the Greek system on my campus. I still reserve the right to make sweeping judgments about my own college though. :D*
*No, seriously. Good post.
I don’t know how comfortable I am with comparing a club with an objective set of criteria for joining (ie; most sewing circles only require that you enjoy sewing in a communal setting), to a club that has a whimsical, arbitrary, and humiliating initiation process, where if you’re not hot enough or can’t hold your beer, you’re not welcome.
Agreed, I think that what bothers me most is that this seemed like a small but functional sorority, in that the 35 girls in the house seemed to be living there peacefully enough, in spite of their ‘socially awkward’ label. The only real problem seemed to be that the house was empty, so I’m sure it was a financial drain, but kicking people out is hardly a way to solve that. Its a shame, because it seems like this house filled a niche at their school – from what I understand, DePauw is one of these places that is almost entirely Greek.
Well, even a sewing circle has criteria. How do members recruit new folks? There’s a screening process that takes place before the offer to join is even extended. I belong to plenty of organizations and honorary societies. You have to often “prove yourself” in the application process, and part of selection often includes how you “fit” with current members. It’s really not much different for Greek letter organizations, though I am certain that good-looking, popular people fare better than others. Kind of how that works the same in a lot of other places! I think it’s a reach to limit the criteria for selection to such narrow parameters.
As a college student affairs administrator, I appreciate the leadership opportunities that Greek life provides for many students. Does every fraternity or sorority member take advantage of those opportunities? Hell no. But not all slacker-artists are particularly talented, nor are all math majors insufferably dorky. I just don’t think it’s totally fair to generalize about all Greeks, but people do it all the time to Greeks and athletes. I can attest to the fact that some of the most delightful students I worked with have been in both groups.
In the interests of full disclosure, I am Greek - a member of a NPHC organization (that’s the historically Black one), but I did not have a particularly pleasant experience as an undergraduate. It was through my graduate chapter that I felt that the ideals of the fraternity were appropriately met. But in previous years there were great leaders in the chapter who were also prominent across campus and in the community. The Greek system, like student government, athletics, newspaper, and the like, are great avenues to practice leadership and peer mentoring - for the appropriately motivated individual. There are fools in all of these activities as well.
I went to plenty of slacker-poser parties as a college student and saw people dis other students because of their outfits, the way they dressed, how they spoke, etc. It’s not just Greek letter organizations that engage in this behavior.
I got turned off on the “Greek” mindset when I was a freshman in college. I didn’t “rush” because 1) I didn’t want to waste my limited free money on dues; and 2) I’m really not much of a “joiner”. A lot of girls in my dorm did, and what happened to one of them just left a sour taste in my mouth.
This girl didn’t come from a wealthy family (neither did I) and she really had to beg her parents to let her pledge a sorority. They felt that it was a waste of money - but because it was so important to her, they agreed to fund it. During the third quarter of our freshman year, this girl’s father died - leaving behind a stay-at-home widow and two other children. He did have insurance - but also left quite a few debts. The girls mom told her she would no longer be able to fund the sorority dues. So the girl had to resign from the sorority.
Her “sisters”? The ones that had promised to love her and be there for her? Those cold bitches would not even speak to this girl. No “I"m sorry you are having to go through this”, no expressions of sorrow that she had to resign - nothing. The girl was so devastated she dropped out of school.
I’m sure all sororities are not like that, but it really gave me a bad impression. I can understand that the girl would not have been able to participate in sorority functions - but to not even speak to her? That is just cruel and shows the lie in what they claimed to be.
Yes. But I think the point is that you’d be hard-pressed to find a sewing circle that employs criteria like, ‘‘Let us treat you like absolute shit until you’re at your psychological breaking point and then, maybe, we’ll let you sew with us.’’ Not all fraternities and sororities participate in holding people to these ‘‘criteria’’ but the vast majority do. Last I checked people didn’t go around wearing t-shirts for their organizations that read: ‘‘ABC Sewing Circle: 99% Rape Free.’’ And people don’t come home from sewing circles often feeling traumatized and betrayed. I do believe there is an important distinction to be made between your average run-of-the-mill social organization and the Greek system.
Wow, that doesn’t describe my experience with the Greek system at all. Need a wider brush? And “Cite?” for the “vast majority” part.
I’m sorry but this quote from the linked article is beyond rational:
Depression is an illness, right? How does someone become ill over being kicked out of a sorority???
I can understand that finding out people who you thought were your friends - beyond friends, “sisters”, don’t give a shit about you and have no consideration at all for your feelings could be quite upsetting.