[bolingbaker]

I think any new sorority (or fraternity) coming on campus has a much better chance of competing with perceived 'high end' sororities than the sororities already on campus. Their reputations - and more important, their own self image - is already established. If Alpha Epsilon Phi started a new chapter with the idea in mind from the first that they wanted to compete for top standing, then you have a very good chance of doing so. On the other hand, if you go to a sorority composed of women who see themselves as members of a weak organization, it is nearly impossible to rally them to change their approach to rush. In a way it's like the difference between the English class system and the American culture. Sororities are in a way like the English: the class you inhabit is the class in which you stay. You make the best of your lot and you don't try to be someone you're not. Fraternities in a way represent the American idea: I may have come from the lower class, but with hard work and dedication I can rise to any standing that my talent and effort will allow. It's not that sororities CAN'T do this, it's that they don't. The mental frame of reference of women in sororities is the determining factor, just as it is for men in fraternities. Fraternity men tend to beleive that they have a chance to be the best on campus. Sorority women tend to believe that that are who they are, and the rules must be there for a reason.
IT MAY BE that the fraternity system is better for men, and the sorority (rules) system is better for women. Sounds basic, but there is a difference in the way men and women perceive their social surroundings.