It was after her first semester at The University of Kentucky (UK) that she "transferred to another college." The 18 chapters referred to in her article were "...when I followed three girls through the University of Georgia's fall sorority rush..."

In any case, her credibility is in question since there is a flat out inaccuracy right at the start.

According to the article, her experience started at UK where she claims there were 21 NPC organizations. There has never been more than 19 NPC chapters (17 current NPC sororities plus two defunct NPC sororities - Alpha Delta Theta & Beta Sigma Omicron) ever at UK. With the maximum number of NPC chapters on campus at any time being 14. In 1993 - when the article was written - there would have been 13 NPC chapters on UK's campus. And even if you added UK's NPHC chapters - which do not participate in formal NPC rush at UK - it would maybe total 16 or 17 sororities at the time. Still under the 21 number she claims.

Frankly, you would think she would know the difference between visiting 13 and 21 houses.

OKay, i loved the 17 magazine article. I thought that it was well written and gave a good view of rush. I just read the sassy article and i think that it is horrid. I think that the things that woman has to say are horrid and i now remember why i stoped reading that magazine in the first place. I could not beleive some of the things she said, especially about pay $600 in dues to become part of the group, but if you were poor then you could not be in. Well, my sorority did not cost that much in dues. oF course if you lived in you paid those expenses. Or the part about membership selection. If one girl says no to a PNM then she will not be invited. OKay, really really how rude. I know talking about membership selection is a nono, but i can say that in my sorority it would take more then one person saying no for a women to not get a bid.

It is really said that women would read this article and this that is how superficial rush is.

But that is just your chapter that didn't pay that much in dues, so you can't discredit the author on that. All Chapters at every school have a different amount for dues and a different policy. My chapters dues for the year were $600. I want to say we were in the middle of the spectrum, but I could be off. And many people did drop because they couldnt afford the dues, even with us working out payment plans and trying to get help for them.

Well I think I found the one positive for me from the Sassy article.. she refers to the ladies of UK as "southern belles," which is an absolute compliment! Some people forget that we ARE located below the Mason-Dixon :D

Thats true! Even I forget how UK can have so many "Southern Belle" types!

Are you an active Tri-Delt @ UK right now? One of my friends from high school is a Tri-Delt but she has gone alum now!

Like mu_agd said, just because your sorority didn't charge that much doesn't mean that none of the hundreds of chapters around the country don't charge that much or even more..

The sororities at my college, which had a very non-traditional Greek system where the university owned the housing, charged about that much for their new members to join. This not only included chapter dues, but also national fees, which, if I'm not mistaken, were about $500 or so. Then, chapter dues were about $300/semester. For the first semester of membership, you could not be on a payment plan.

Also, financial responsibility is one of the five criteria for membership in my organization (this is open information, lest anyone think I'm sharing membership selection information). That doesn't necessarily mean that if you're poor, you can't join--but seriously, you have to be able to pay, or make suitable arrangements to pay, your dues.

Ditto. I attend a school with a small Greek system and university housing, and our dues are structured in much the same way. $500+ dollars your new member semester, around $300 each subsequent semester. This does not include any meals or any living expenses other than a parlor fee. While we certainly don't choose our members based on their financial situation, you must be able to pay these dues on time to be a member in good standing.

I had always gotten the impression that these fees were around the middle of how much other chapters charge... many chapters charge much, much more.

Yes I am! I joined as a sophomore this past fall, and am loving every second of it!

I guess what i meant was not clear. The author was just stating a number, what does that number mean? Someone could read that article and say, "oh my god, i can not afford that much so why even rush." But the reality is that the greek system at her school does not have chapters that charge that much. My statement was not meant to say that i just paid less. I meant that not all sororities have that exact amount in fees as the article was comming off as that is the amount that all sororities cost. The author was making gross generalizations about sororities that do not apply to everyone. I know that you have to pay your fees to become a member. My sorority you had to have everything paid other wise you could not be inititated. My problem is the authors gross generalizations and how women reading the article would take these gross generalizations.

Hope this clears up what i meant.
debbie

Yep yep. My chapter dues are $340 a semester, and they're $450 your new member semester. And we have some of the lowest dues at Miami University.

I completely agree with this post - the author used that figure like all sororities, everywhere, charged that much. Plus, remember that the article is 10+ years old. $600 back then is more like $1000 today.

Does anyone have a link to the more positive Seventeen article?

I know this is a VERY old thread, but is that Sassy article online anywhere? I remember reading not long before I rushed.

I have to find my copy of the magazine, but when I do I can scan the article in.

That would be awesome. I think I wanted to join a sorority despite that rude article. lol