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I think we have to factor the economy in with the "Sorority Life" damage that has been done as well. At some campuses, which tend to be exclusive and expensive, the school funding is coming from scholarships, grants or families who are more economically stable. Commuter campuses often attract the students who are paying for their own schooling and working as many as 3 jobs to make ends meet. Extras, like a sorority, don't seem within reach for these women. I know that, in the Detroit area, 4 or 5 years ago, McDonald's was paying $10 an hour to try to get people to work for them because there were so many jobs out there. They're back to paying minimum wage, because they can. I know several college students who weren't able to get jobs this summer because unemployed college grads were working at anything they could.
Sorority Life didn't help at all, I agree. I approached several cute, smart, enthusiastic women who were working as students at my work over the summer about sorority membership and they all gave this "You've got to be kidding, why would I do THAT?" look. I tried to change their minds, but I don't think I even made a dent in their opinion of Greek Life. Greeks have a growing image problem (in the North at least). I read the Southern rush threads and it shocks me! I think I only had one pledge sister (back in '84) who had even heard of a sorority before we went through recruitment and she was a legacy of one of the groups on campus. We have got to get more visible in the general community, even as alumnae, so that women have heard of us before they get to college!
Dee
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