I guess the author doesn't realize that. I aspire to one day be a National Officer, but I would have to figure out how to do that and still work to support myself-it's a lot of work.

and ETA on my last post post-My nationals do a lot for me. Phi Sig has a website where brothers can go and find job postings through other brothers and be recommended for that job by a brother. In SAI-our Province Officer comes every year and spends ample time with the chapter to help us build and make it stronger. She is also our voice in NH. The NVP-Ritual is looking at revising the ritual and our PO asked us what we would like to see added, changed, or removed. My NH listens to me when I speak as a member and my voice is heard. SAI also has a website where sisters can post jobs and reccomend sisters for jobs and the like.

No, not everything my Nationals does directly affects me or is for me specifically, but they are working for the betterment of the organization which has become apart of me, who I am and my life.

Maybe I'm the minority, but when I take adavantage of a networking connection because of my greek affiliation I don't want to just use it as a professional tool. When I say "I am a member of Sigma Alpha Iota/Phi Sigma Pi" I intend to mean it in every sense of the word. I will remain active and my affiliation will always be apart of my life. But, maybe that's just me.

(My kids are gonna be like AF's-point to the letter and say "Sigma-Alpha-Iota/Phi-Sigma-Pi")

-I'm willing to wager that this author's organization has/participates in a lot of what she thinks is missing. She can wait for someone to come knock her over the head with "opportunities", or she could spend a few minutes of inquiry and find a lot of them are there for her and her fellow Dukies. (She is not by any means alone in this regard.)

-as my biological sister (a longtime Duke GLO alumna) said upon reading this article: "You ARE the sorority, girlfriend. So get to it."

-I am speculating here, and may be off base in this particular case, but I'm going there anyway:

For a long time, I have sensed that many of our NPC chapters at prestigious universities consider themselves above our inter/national organizations, and therefore they ignore/do not fully participate in what the larger organization offers. There's a bit of embarrassment at being a sorority member. So to assuage that and to make themselves feel more justified that they haven't sold out, they convince themselves that "it's different at Duke/Princeton/Stanford". (Note, I'm not throwing stones at glass houses--this most certainly applies to my alma mater/college chapter and to myself to some extent during my own college days.)

By belittling your ties to and the value of the inter/national organization, you can have your cake (3-4 years of fun) and eat it too (ignore the ritual/restrictions/hard work/alumnae involvement).

Imagine how much more we could accomplish if that energy was spent on strengthening the areas our of GLOs that they see as lacking! As an exception to the norm (an actively participating alumna from my chapter), that's the tack I've taken, and I wish I had more company.

You can complain about it, or you can do something about it. I agree that the former is much easier (and makes for more juicy journalism and more hits on your webpage). However, two of the lessons I've learned from being an NPC woman are that you can only change an organization from within, and that women make fabulous agents of purposeful change.

I think she makes some very good points. My group gives me very little reason to stay involved after college, and I haven't paid alumnae dues in years. The alumnae groups plan social events and do some philanthropy work, both of which I can get elsewhere.

I would guess that the three Chicago-area chapters (Chicago, NW burbs, and W burbs) have under 100 active members in total. I suspect many other organizations have similar problems, and I have a hard time believing that every single group doesn't have at least 5,000 members in the Chicago area.

Groups need to refocus on what they are providing women after graduation, and if they can do it as a Panhellenic community, all the better, because there is strength in numbers.

I have never used Greek connections to help me in my career. In fact, I have consistently left it OFF of my resume because so many people have negative Greek stereotypes, and I do not wear my badge to work on NPC badge day.

She does have a point about alum involvement, we're actually talking about this on the ASA private site. We lose hundreds of women every year to Red Hat Society, Junior League, what have you because they think membership is a "college only" thing. However, the girl (she's not acting much like a grown woman, IMO) writing the article, by stating she has NO intention of staying involved after graduation, is part of the problem. Nothing changes if all you do is complain and don't get involved.

Are the alcohol and visitation restrictions ridiculous and antiquated? Yes. It's all part of a culture that's infantilizing college students more every day.

But I did NOT join a sorority for "political mobilization" - I grew up with that. If I want to be involved politically, I know where to go. I didn't join for "networking" either. I joined for friends and fun that I'm still having 20 years later.

And the last thing I want to hear about is all the sororities uniting toward a "common goal." What would the common goal be? Who decides what it is? For someone to think that 26 different organizations including thousands of diverse women could agree on a "common goal" is so ludicrous, it makes me question how she even had the brains to get into Duke.

Oh and janerz I totally agree with your prestigious schools assessment.

As far as the article:

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/sto...candal_at_duke

Umm, college students get drunk. College students hook up. There are stereotypes about sororities and fraternities. Every 10 years, people are stupid enough to talk to Rolling Stone and think it'll not be a giant clusterfuck. This is something new how?

ETA: To all my Farmville Four sisters, and DG, and whoever else was founded at a female college, I guess our founders don't count as "pioneers" since we weren't founded in a hostile environment with males trying to keep us out of their groups. :rolleyes:

Exactly! I think you hit the nail on the head with this one.

The article doesn't bother me whatsoever. I think it's safe to say some nationals do a lot more for their chapters than others. Additionally, some national officers see some of them their chapters are more or less self-sufficient and kind of let them do their own thing. I think a lot of time, women feel lost in the mix of it all. And while I think the problem should be remedied, I don't think there's anything wrong with saying how you feel.

While I cannot speak for the Sororities, I know there was a problem within LXA concerning what was being done for Alumni except for asking for money.

Everything was aimed toward the active chapters only. Wirh enough alums complaining there ahs been a turn a round by IHQ.

There is more emphasis being placed on the alumni for a change to keep us involved. I feel they still could do more with the many hours, time and money spent by us.

Thank y'all for saying this. I so agree with both statements.

I would just add that social (general) fraternities and sororities should first be - gasp - social in nature. And that by joining a social fraternity or sorority, you simply have widened your social circle. Further more, just like the rest of society, you have the opportunity to use your social contacts (including, but not limited to your GLO) to better yourself. As it has been said so many times before, "you get out of your GLO what you put into it".

[QUOTE=Janerz222;1539242]
For a long time, I have sensed that many of our NPC chapters at prestigious universities consider themselves above our inter/national organizations, and therefore they ignore/do not fully participate in what the larger organization offers. There's a bit of embarrassment at being a sorority member. So to assuage that and to make themselves feel more justified that they haven't sold out, they convince themselves that "it's different at Duke/Princeton/Stanford". (Note, I'm not throwing stones at glass houses--this most certainly applies to my alma mater/college chapter and to myself to some extent during my own college days.)

Knowing a bit about this situation at the local level, I can say you are very right.

Ms. McLaughlin's editorial just brings up so many interesting issues...thanks for sharing it, DukeDG! Two things that really stand out to me are expectations and a lack of understanding, on both sides.
But she did get an audience with her National President...how many collegians get a chance to sit and chat issues? not many. Still, neither seemed able to clearly articulate their ideas to the other and these ideas are important.

Now, what I'd like to see is Ms. McLaughlin gettting an invite to go spend a week at her National Headquarters shadowing the volunteers there, and then hitting the road for a few weeks with a traveling consultant, hopefully visiting chapters that are very different from Duke...and writing a story on that experience! It's so diificult to gain perspective beyond your own campus, and even your own region of the country, and see what an organization that has 125-150 or more "independent but affiliated" entities really is! That would make for some interesting reading!

I found the Rolling Stone article hilarious as all get-out.

RE: chapters at prestigious schools looking down at their HQs, it's absolutely true. A lot of it, at least in the case of the two chapters I'm familiar with, is that our housing and academic requirements were much less stringent than the sorority's requirements, which we found to be a bit of a joke. Plus, there's a belief that an HQ will NEVER get rid of an Ivy/Stanford/MIT/Northwestern chapter; the members then pretty much do whatever they want. That's changing, but the pervasive attitude remains.

It's easy to find out by going to the chapter websites at Duke. Some have member lists posted (as in the case with the sorority this author is in). In other words, it's already on the internet for people to find out if they so desire.

Another Article about Duke Sororities (October 31, 2007)

http://media.www.dukechronicle.com/m...-3068457.shtml

Interesting column touches on Panhellenic cooperation / unity and issues like objectification of women, sorority women "serving" in connection with fraternity recruitment, sororities wanting housing, etc.

Brief excerpt from column:

They [the presidents of the NPC sororities at Duke] demonstrated that sorority women can change the way fraternities treat them if they demand better treatment.

But, with this in mind, several issues remain unresolved. Some argue for further reform, citing that lip sync remains inequitable so long as the women are dancing and the men are judging (note: Sigma Chi participated this year with its own dance). Also, next semester's fraternity rush brings a slew of more objectifying events-events where sorority women staff rooms, serve shots and give lap dances. It is my hope that sorority presidents and Panhel will exercise the same leadership when they encounter these events in the Spring.

Even so, right now I am excited to be writing a column that labels sorority women not as "sorostitutes" but rather as leaders who finally stood up and changed a Duke tradition for the better.

Edited to add: As a side note to the columnist's mention of Duke sorority women serving shots and giving lap dances, it's worth noting that U.S. News and World Report ranks Duke as #8 on the list of best national universities. The same source lists Duke's tuition and fees as approximately $35,700 plus of course room and board at about $9,500. Seems kind of a pricey way to get to be a cocktail waitress or lap dancer for an evening or so. And don't even get me started on the time spent on SATs, essays, interviews, and application fees just to get admitted. But hey.

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandre...2920_brief.php

Edited to add article on sororities' lack of campus space

Problems at Duke with renting / reserving space for meetings, events, recruitment, etc.:

http://media.www.dukechronicle.com/m...-3081376.shtml

:eek: LOL!