[IvySpice]

>I'm fully convinced that whether I put on a DG jersey in the morning or an XYZ jersey in the morning, I'm still the same person

I'm sure this is true of you, but I'm not convinced it's true of every 18-year-old. I know that I changed enormously during college. I think the average freshman has the capacity to grow in a number of directions, depending on her environment. Freshmen look to their upperclass friends to teach them how to be a college woman. If they are surrounded by snobbish glamour girls who encourage them to act like princesses, they may end up with a very different character four years later than they would have if they were surrounded by an open-minded and humble crowd.

I've certainly known friends who were accepted into a "snotty" group or an "elite" college and never associated with any of their lesser friends again. On the one hand, it's easy to say that they were never my friends in the first place. On the other hand, I'm not sure that's true. We all have good and bad qualities to our character. But which qualities control our behavior, and when, has a lot to do with what we see other people doing.

Don't we think that sororities can have a positive influence on character? Don't we agree that being exposed to high ideals and surrounded by supportive friends can change a new member for the better? It works in reverse, too. Those letters on a new member's jersey, and the sisters they represent, may have a meaningful impact on the woman she becomes...sometimes for good and sometimes, unfortunately, for ill.

Ivy