Duke University Sorority Article
 

I thought this had some really interesting points on sorority women and on things our nationals/internationals can focus on to keep more women involved during college and after.

The Real Sorority Culprit

Here is just a little portion of the article:

"National sorority organizations need to unite toward a common goal, abandon antiquated programs, and enter the 21st century. They need to recognize that only 10 women run Fortune 500 companies and women hold only 16 percent of Congressional seats. National sorority organizations have a responsibility to change these trends and foster real leadership training (like The White House Project and 85 Broads).

They have a captive audience. It is time they use it. Our national dues should be used to do more than put us on social probation."

Wow. There's some pretty harsh criticism there, but no real suggestions for better programming. Hmmm. would I want my Sorority to be pushing me to become a CEO that makes news on CNN or is it good enough for me that my sisters celebrate my personal and professional success because they know me...personally. I think I'm in it, and always have been, for the personal relationships with my sisters.

DukeDG, did the NPCs at Duke once have housing and now they don't? I wasn't sure what some of the editorial replies meant by "sections"?

Does anyone know what chapter the author is in?

Her comment, "Since the national organizations impart no real professional benefit to Duke women, it should be no surprise that our sororities are viewed as a way to increase social mobility in the here and now-not a long-term female equivalent to the good ol' boys network. ", I thought to be a little outdated.

I felt so sad when she talked about talking to the head of her organization about legitimate issues and then she says she was told the answer is to be an active alumna and do better at ritual. I know if someone said that to me I'd probably run from the room pulling out my hair! Does anyone know where we can see this Rolling Stone article? Why have I never heard of it? Was it that bad enough to warrant a meeting or national organization leaders?
Ritual and being a good alumna are both things I encourage every sorority woman to do, and while we all joined for different reasons (and I most certainly found opportunity for leadership through my chapter) I still feel for the author of the article. There is room for more than just those aspects in sorority life (and I'm sure many chapters offer the "strength" women today need to be effective future leaders).

The Rolling Stone article was done during the lax scandal.

I know what chapter she is in -- only from a friend that is graduating from Duke this year. If you want to PM me, I will tell you. But I don't want to reveal it randomly to everyone on the internet.

She basically gave away her affiliation when she stated why her sorority was founded. If ya know sorority history, it's easy to figure out.

Grrr...this article really ticked me off.
If you already have written off the benefits of lifelong membership in your organization - you are right, there will be no benefits for you.

And in fact, my organization EXPECTS our chapters to have programs that are about career building, leadership, finding mentors. In fact if you go on to our organizations website, you can find an alumnae mentor in your field of interest or sign up to be a mentor.

As a chapter advisor, I have written DOZENS of letters of recommendation for jobs, graduate school, medical school applications. I have mentored several women as they went through the medical school application process. The reason that I did that was because I had someone who mentored me, and I am forever grateful for the support, friendship, and lifelong sisterhood that Pi Phi has shown me.

When I graduated from medical school, I posted a notice on our fraternity website asking for hosts in the cities where I was interviewing for residency. I had Pi Phis from around the country who offered up their homes, their cars, and their time to show me around. For no other reason except that I was a Pi Phi, and I asked.

I know it has been said many times - but you get out of it what you put into it. If you see your involvement as four years of "social advancement" - that is exactly what you will get. :mad:

Ditto on it all.

Except the article didn't tick me off as much. If that's how she wants to see it, so be it. I love both of my orgs and plan on always being involved. If she wants to toss it away when she graduates that is all on her.

Maybe the fact that the chapters don't take ritual seriously has something to do with them not staying involved. I don't know if I can say this right without offending someone....but, I think the fact that she basically called ritual crap from the 1800s speaks volumes for the way the chapter is carrying out and living the ritual.

I get so excited everytime I put on my badge(s) because I know that only a select group of men and women wear my badge(s) and only we know what they mean. I may be the minority, but I enjoy ritual. It speaks to me and enlightens my life every single day. Without ritual and the love and joy and meaning it brings, membership would be worthless to me.

I think she has a few good points. The part about "my ritual is boring," not so much. But "What have the (inter)national organizations done for us lately?" is a good point. I can tell you what mine's done, but none of it's good. *Shrug*

This is an illuminating article from the Chronicle's monthly(?) magazine which compares sorority life at Duke with that of my own alma mater, UNC:

http://media.www.dukechronicle.com/m...-3003090.shtml

Having never been directly involved with a greek org at Duke (though I have many friends and acquaintances who have been and still are), I'm not really in a position to provide any valuable commentary on the climate of its system. However, I will say that, as an outside observer, it seems to me that sororities are rather disenfranchised by Duke's administration, especially as compared to the privileges given to fraternities and "selective living groups" (basically, groups that resemble local greek orgs without greek-letter names). Therefore, it's no real surprise to me that the author of the first article is struggling to find empowerment through her collegiate involvement in her sorority.

This is not a new criticism, just one that has finally been brought up in mainstream articles. Several years ago, while doing research for a paper in my Sociology Senior Capstone Course on the differences in messages in GLO magazines from NPHC and NPC/IFC orgs (as well as gender differences) I came across an interesting article (one of the few that came even close to my topic) from 1999. The authors found that for many white women, the motivation for joining a sorority was largely due to social concerns, while for black women, there was an expectation that joining a sorority would help them professionally. The article was pretty well written, and my own content analysis in looking at fraternity and sorority magazines and the messages presented there both latently and manifestly, found similar things. There was a lot more emphasis in the NPC group's magazine on fulfilling multiple roles as a woman, but they were all equal - wife, mother, career, sorority member, friend, etc...and this was in the "Career" issue. The NPHC sorority mag though had a lot more on service and achievement - the messages were much clearer that joining the NPHC sorority was a way to succeed as an educated woman, with much less emphasis on friendship and "sisterhood".


Here's the citation for the article I was talking about. In the academics section of Chit Chat here on GC, there's a thread I started when I was Betarulz! titled "The GC Academic Conference" in which I briefly (very briefly - the final paper was 17 pages and early versions were closer to 25) cover my paper and findings.


Berkowitz, Alexandra and Irene Padavic. “Getting a Man or Getting Ahead: A comparison of White and Black Sororities.” Journal of Contemporary Ethnography; Vol. 27 No. 4 January 1999.

sororities offer no professional assistance? how many of us alumnae have referred a collegiate member of our own sorority who is job hunting, to a business associate, a friend or acquaintance who might be in a position to help her? or assisted a collegian in writing her resume or written a letter of reference for the young woman applying to graduate school?

how sad that this young woman has no plans to remain active in her sorority after she graduates. she will definately miss out on professional assistance and mentoring that she accuses the sororities of failing to provide.

does she want her sorority to hold journalism seminars? that is fine for her, but i don't think that the pre-med or education majors would get much out of it. if this young woman is looking for more professional guidance, she should join the journalism club or the greek letter equalivent. that is the purpose of a professional organization. social organizations are just that-organizations that enhance the social aspects of college, and hopefully help make the member a more well rounded individual.

in zeta we have standards programs-they can run the gamut from changing a tire, to resume' writing, to buying insurance, making a will, investing or napkin folding and everything in between. i am sure all sororities have the same type of program, just under a different title. so we're not all fluff and no substance.

You know, the more I thought I about this thread the more I realized what my GLOs have done for ME.

Think about it for a second. The author of the article is asking what her Nationals have done for her. It's all about ME ME ME ME ME. Think about what the National staff deals with every day. Think of what they do every day to keep the organization up and running. They meet with regional directors, handle expansions, communicate with other orgs, organize resources, network and manage how many every chapters exists. Most orgs, both of mine included have more than 100 chapters and that is a lot to manage. Asking nationals to do something for ME is selfish and ungrateful. Nationals has done something for you. They provided a chapter of that organization on your campus at which you found your home. Not everyone is even lucky enough to find a GLO they call home. Sorry if your nationals hasn't done anything for YOU lately.

She is posing the wrong question. In my mind--the sorority/fraternity is what you make it. The more you put in, the more you get out. Its all on the author if she has no job connections, professional opportunies, whatever through her org. I don't know how many times I've emailed or called someone and said "Hi-My name is AlwaysSAI and I'm a Sigma Alpha Iota/Phi Sigma Pi " and had doors open for me just that way. Because someone knows someone who knows someone who knows someone who is an SAI or Phi Sig.

brava alwayssai. to go a bit further, not just your sai or phi sig connections, but your general greek connections can open many doors for you.

most of our national officers(and those on the local level too) are not paid for their service- it is volunteer work.

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!

I'm a member of the same national GLO as DeltaBetaBaby and I find this to be very sad...As a recent graduate and an active alumna, I'm able to stay connected to my organization and still do things that help me grow as a person. I'm still in the military, go to Graduate School at a Big Ten University, work for the County as a caseworker for Children & Youth, volunteer for Big Brothers/ Big Sisters, volunteer to help tutor people going back for the G.E.D.s and I'm still active as a Secretary in my Alumnae Chapter...Yes, I do other volunteer work on the side not connected to my GLO but, I still love the fact I can contribute to CMN through working with the other Alumnae to raise money during certain events. I'm proud to put my GLO on my resume and I've had good comments from putting it on there by Military professionals, Graduate School Advisors, Supervisors (looking to hire, or who have already hired me) and even Law School at some of the best Law Schools in the nation....I wear my badge on NPC day and I'm proud of my GLO...I feel sorry for those that are embarrassed by a concious decision they made back in college....GLOs are not just for "fun" in college-maybe if alot of us NPCers felt the same way as the NPHCers we'd have much more of a lifetime commitment. I went to a very good Big Ten University Undergraduate school and I'm not ashamed to say I'm Greek! Hopefully other people will eventually feel the same way I feel....It's like AlwaysSAI said, I've had doors open for me just because I'm Greek...I've had people say, "Oh-my sister, mother, cousin, etc. is a *** **...." or I'm a (insert other NPC or NPHC name here)....I've found that NPHC members are much more proud to sport their gear even at the ages of 40+...it's nice......Let's all do that and show our pride instead of write about our disdain in a newspaper (and at the same time giving our organizations more BAD publicity).....

All of this stems from poor education. We assume our collegiate chapters know that membership is for a lifetime and that there are benefits to membership, but we usually do not expound on these benefits. The active alums and alumnae chapters who support each chapter need to do a better job of showing these women that our rituals are valid and useful, that continued involvement does serve a purpose and that your membership doesn't end when you are handed a college diploma. I loved my ritual as a collegian and knew I'd always be an active alumna, but no one ever told me how to do these things. We have to do a better job of showing these women what you can do to stay active, how to maximize your membership and how to make the sorority experience worthwhile. I'm trying my best with the chapters I'm involved in, because I recognize that this was a problem when I was a collegiate. You can't make changes if no one identifies what needs change. Sorry if this is long winded! I am really saddened by the authors attitude about membership. She, like many of our sisters, have missed the whole point of membership.

Lipsync in a bar?! Oh the horror. Well that is a damn good example of a Panhellenic acting together. Keep it up ladies! I'm so tired of seeing women act like sluts for fraternity men. It used to be bad at my school but there has been a very natural shift occuring because people just don't have time or aren't interested in doing those things anymore.

I think once they value themselves, then there will be a return to values. Although I hope values is not all they get out of their sorority experience. I got values & morals from my mother. But from my sorority experience I've gained leadership, sisterhood, good friends, and a lifelong bond I look forward to. I think that it's so easy to advertise by claiming things, but the stereotypes are still there and the actions that reinforce the stereotypes are still happening and to attract and keep people involved in Greek life there is going to have to be an increase in the visual/physical examples of benefits in joining. I know I had no interest in joining until I actually made friends and hung out with members of my chapter.

I couldn't agree with this more! Our sororities and fraternities do wonderful things, but we need more PR (and often local PR) to make sure our collegians and alumni/ae know about it. Honestly, when I first started advising a chapter, I wasn't thinking that there was more I could get out of DG, but rather that I should give back to an organization that made my college days great and provided me with lasting friendships. Only after I got involved as an alumna, did I realize how much DG has to offer me now.

As for Duke, for some reason when I was there (graduated in 2000), we really didn't have very active alumni/ae support. Partly, I think, because many Duke grads don't stay in the area so the alums who were involved were not Duke alums and didn't know a lot of the "culture" (i.e., the things going on on campus). I don't believe there are any other Duke alums on here, but if there are: what happened to the other lip sync? (One sorority used to hold a highly-popular and financially successful lip sync that involved both fraternity and sorority teams.) Yes, lots of Duke women, sorority girls and otherwise, attend fraternity rush events. I swear, though, the lap dances were not going on when I was there (and I knew women in every sorority) or maybe I blocked that all from my memory! How could things go so down hill in just a few short years? It surprises me that such competent women, who were accepted into Duke, allow themselves to be put in such a position! I am proud of Panhel for banding together, though. It seems like they have realized that if they all stick together they can change the way their members are treated and perceived. Crossing my fingers for more improvement!

People have been bitching about Derby Daze and similar fraternity sponsored events for years, and there were things passed by NPC YEARS ago (as in the late 80s) about not participating in them if women were being objectified or not treated well. Many schools' Panhellenics agreed with this and the competition was changed accordingly. If it was still going on at Duke in 2006, it's because the Panhellenic at the school let it happen. It's supposed to be a fun competition for charity, but the sororities get WAY too involved in who wins and do anything (including slutting it up) to be #1.

Not only that, I think there's an issue in that they are referring to this as "lip sync" instead of "Derby Daze Lip Sync." It is not a system wide event, it's Sigma Chi's event.

I'm a Duke grad (1987) and I think you've hit the nail on the head with that statement. "National" universities such as Duke tend to have a lot of their student body return to their home states after graduation; at least that's what seemed to happen when I was there.

I don't recall Lip Sync ever being a Greek-sponsored event, maybe because the entire student body could participate (and yes, even I did senior year :o). It wasn't just a competition between fraternities and sororities back then.

The student seems to think that her sorority is neither relevant for helping collegiate members with their career goals nor alumnae with their careers, family, etc. Relevance is a function of both the national and local organizations. I would guess that most Executive Offices work similarly to my GLO.

Collegians probably receive programming ideas and materials from the EO. Then it is really up to them (with guidance from local advisors and alumnae) to create programming that is relevant to the needs of their membership. If the chapter members want advice on interviewing techniques or writing essays for graduate school then they can do it. For eg at Duke there must have 100s of successful alumnae who might even be willing to travel back to campus for a workshop. My very successful cousin is a Duke alumna and MBA student at HBS. I am sure she would be flattered if students asked her advice.

At the alumnae level, relevance is a function of the local environment and EO too. In general I do not think EO has developed many programs for alumnae geared towards the challenges we face today: career, work family balance, etc. On the other hand, when I lived and worked in the south, my sorority membership was instrumental in business networking with both men and women. It opened many doors. Sometimes I felt is was more helpful than my MBA! Now that I live in the NE, where my sorority is much smaller, and I work in academia, where most profs look down on GLOs, my membership has not had career impact except for the fellowship for graduate school. But it has provided me with a group of friends and lots of support from other moms (and grandmothers) with young children. We have a lot of teachers and retired teachers in our alumnae group so I think they find the sorority career link helpful.

So, I do think that GLOs could do much more in the way of creating value for alumnae even with technology - job postings on the website, discussion groups, etc - than they do now. But we all have the opportunity to enact our environment. So if collegians want more career oriented programming - do it. If alumnae want more activities then do it.

ciao.

Ditto. I also want to state that I am very proud of listing my sorority on my resume, and I pay special attention to those who list greek affiliation on their resume when I am hiring.

I also wanted to add, my nationals was able to support Alumnae not only by networking and socializing but in their time of need. Nationals raised thousands of dollars to give to alumnae of the gulf coast who lost everything.

Another DUer weighs in...
 

There was another lip synch contest that went on....I know my chapter did one the year dukedg graduated, but I want to say AOII or did it....don't totally remember.

As for alum support, aside from the "mass Durham exodus" that occurs every year college, the alums that are in the area (and not all of them, just some) came from schools with VERY different greek scenes....many times from hard-core "go greek or go home" southern schools. Duke does not have housing, and while Greek Life is important, it is not the be-all, end-all that many of the women advising thought it should be. Duke is a stepping-stone school where most go on to graduate schools - there are always bigger priorities, and greek life is seen as your social outlet only should you choose to join. It also makes smaller chapters hard to sustain...when I left, there was a 60% affiliation rate, so COR/COB processes were difficult...women who wanted to be greek were, women who weren't wanted no part of it.

As dukedg stated, I graduated in 2002 and held an Exec Board position with Duke Panhellenic. While there were always "rumors" of inappropriate conduct (an infamous school girls and teachers mixer between two other fraternities and sororites comes to mind) I was disturbed to hear the lap dances, "women licking whipped cream off each other" karoke, etc. that is supposedly occuring now. It is beyond inappropriate and only adds fuel to the less-than-stellar PR fire Duke has recieved over the past two years. Kudos to the women standing up and putting an end to this. They are far too smart and talented to demean themselves in such a fashion.

I'm in an NPC and we definitely don't have that. We have sisterhoods and philanthropies. Our risk management chair gives info on alcohol risk and we've had a self-defense workshop, but nothing even vaguely job related.