sarah, there are alumnae groups in your home town - not just Theta, but others as well!!! I will PM you tomorrow! And you might want to delete your home town from your post. OK? Please? Too much identifying information sometimes is not good, and the Internet is FOREVER.

I fixed it the location thing Haha Thanks :)

You had me understanding your plight at "theatre major." Not to generalize, but at some schools the theatre departments are notoriously anti-Greek (never mind that they have theatre politics which is WAY worse than Greek politics, but whatever). At least, that's how it was 20-30 years ago.

It sounds like she thinks that just because you're doing the same major as her, you're going to agree with everything she did. Just let her know she did her, and you've got to do you. It's a lot easier for her as a mom to say "I'm afraid a sorority will lead you astray" than to say "I'm afraid I wasn't a good parent and didn't prepare you for everything."

Thats interesting to consider... I never really understood why she always threw what happened with her friend out there (and its not the hypothetical "friend", its someone who actually exists, I know of the person it was, just in case anyone took it that way). I'm so much different than her friend. I've never been a partier, I've never been interested in alcohol (couldn't get past the smell of most of the stuff even if I was interested), and I've never had a boyfriend, because I told the 2 guys that have been interested in me in the past nearly 18 years right off the bat that I had no intention of sleeping with them, and that I have no intention of having sex before I get married. My mom knows this stuff about me, and so it never made sense that she throws all that stuff out there as potential issues.

It sounds to me that you know where you stand on your values, and you know how to make decisions to support those values. As you do more things and make more decisions on your own, your mom will likely come to see that you are growing up and are able to negotiate adult issues in a way that won't derail your academic goals.

I would let the topic rest for now. Once you are accepted at a school and waiting for move-in, you may receive material in the mail about Greek Life. That might be a good time to approach the topic again.

It's funny how knowledge of one bad experience can turn a person's entire point of view. I would think that in light of the many successful college grads in the world who are Greek, one horror story wouldn't hold quite so much weight. :confused::confused:'



Good luck!

You could come up with a list of successful actresses who are Greek - Patricia Heaton for one.

Three of my chapter sisters were musical theatre majors, and they had a huge fan club. Our sorority was really proud of them and always turned out for performances.

Being a theatre major is a really big time commitment, and I know that those sisters weren't able to be as involved with the sorority because their major (and any schoolwork, of course!) must take priority. We were happy to see them at chapter meetings and recruitment, but their life definitely revolved more around the their program than the sorority. So if your mom is concerned about the "evil" influence of the Greeks, you can point out that your major is going to take up the majority of your time, anyway, and this will provide a non-theatre social outlet.

A thought - do you and/or your mom watch Dancing with the Stars? Sabrina Bryan is a Delta Gamma. You might make an off hand remark about that when you are watching....

Thanks everyone! I was going to try that list thing but I only managed to say something about Kristen Chenoweth before I backed out.. I've also managed to metion the lady who played the teacher on the Andy Griffith show without generating a bad reaction. And yes, Dancing With The Stars is a family watch at my dinner table.. we were aaaaaaaaaall hoping Sabrina would be the one who got voted into this season, so that one might be an interesting one to slip in... :)

Just a sample of actresses who are Greek (not previously mentioned):

Dawn Wells (Maryann from Gilligan's Island) - Alpha Chi Omega
Jean Smart (Designing Women & Frazier, Emmy winner) - Alpha Delta Pi
Gloria Loring (Days of Our Lives) - Alpha Gamma Delta
Charlotte Rae (The Facts of Life) - Alpha Epsilon Phi
Kimberly Williams-Paisley (Father of the Bride) - Alpha Phi
Joanne Woodward (Oscar-winning actress) - Chi Omega
Elizabeth Banks (30 Rock) - Delta Delta Delta
Julia Louis-Dreyfus (multiple Emmy award winner) - Delta Gamma
Florence Henderson (The Brady Bunch) - Delta Zeta
Cloris Leachman (Oscar-winning actress) - Gamma Phi Beta
Rue McClanahan (Emmy winner, The Golden Girls) - Kappa Alpha Theta
Ali Landry (actress, Miss USA 1996 & model) - Kappa Delta
Ashley Judd (tv & film actress, Emmy winner) - Kappa Kappa Gamma
Dana Ivey (5-time Tony nominee) - Phi Mu
Jennifer Garner (Golden Globe winning actress, Alias) - Pi Beta Phi
Betty Buckley (Tony-winning actress) - Zeta Tau Alpha

There are SO MANY more. Wanted to list at least 1 recognizable name from as many different GLOs as possible.

Joan Rivers (Daytime Emmy award winner)- Sigma Delta Tau

Eva Marie Saint - Academy Award winner - Delta Gamma

Rather than a laundry list, check this out for names you or your mom might recognize.

Every GLO has many accomplished, talented women, not just in the A&E field, but in many areas. It might be said that sorority membership prepares women for just about any challenge life brings! ;)

But my suggestion is save that list for later. For now, do what others have suggested and drop the subject. After you have been accepted to one or more colleges and have decided where to go, that's the time to have the discussion again.

But I wouldn't approach it as something you need to convince your mom about; my guess is that will just get more push back. In my experience, your best bet is simply to respond to her concerns about what happened to her friend with something along the lines of "Mom, you know that you and dad taught me how to make good decisions and how to do the right thing. Trust me to do what you've taught me to do."

Point well taken, MC.