Whoa, I've got a lot of stuff to respond to and I don't want anyone to accuse me of boring them to death so I'm going to break it up a little.
Quote:
Originally posted by HotDamnImAPhiMu
Wow. I'm definatly going to have to agree with Dee on this one and say that I'm disappointed with some of the things that have been said so far.
So far:
*Let's stop kidding ourselves that sisterhood and brotherhood is something that has to be sealed in a ritual before it "counts."
*As we're reminded by so many GDIs, they can make friends on their own, and they don't need to pay for it.
*But the fact is that our biggest draw, as social organizations, are people who like to be social -- and as you pointed out, in the college environment, alcohol tends to be present as a social lubricant.
*I've thought a lot about alcohol free housing, and I hate it. For me, it wasn't an issue, because I was underage the entire time I lived in our house.
just to name a few.
Good lord. Is this really what y'all think about your sisterhood, about the greek system overall? Is this what you want to present to potential new members reading this board TODAY?
|
Point number one: Ritual does not make brother and sisterhood. Trust, respect, friendship, loyalty -- that is the stuff that forms bonds, and you can get that outside of fraternities and sororities. By saying otherwise, you're implying that any friendships that are formed outside of the Greek system "don't count" -- how invalidating is that? Hmmm, it's no wonder that GDIs claim we're elitist. I would too if anybody told me that my friendships with Sarah and Erin and Nicole aren't worth as much as my friendships with Janelle and Amy and Lauren, just because the former haven't been dressed in white and sworn into "the sacred bonds of Tri Delta."
Point number two: I was simply pointing out the fact that friendship is something that people can get outside of GLOs, so if friendship was their only reason for belonging, as some people were trying to argue, why pay a thousand bucks a year for it? I'm not arguing that there aren't benefits that GLOs provide that you can't get elsewhere, but friendship isn't one.
Point number three: I don't even see how this point is arguable. We're social organizations -- not arguable. We tend to attract people who like being social (otherwise why would they join?) -- not arguable. And in college, alcohol tends to be present as a social lubricant -- again, not arguable.
Point number four: Again, if you take this post in context, it makes perfect sense. Why should a house that is not owned by the university or the sorority, not on university property, and inhabited by seven 21-year-olds and a non-drinker be alcohol free? Aside from the whole lawsuit thing, of course?
Not to mention that every single one of those points were taken out of context and thus the meaning was twisted.
I want to present an ACCURATE picture of the Greek system to PNMs. I don't think y'all realize how much credibility we lose when we say things like "Greeks don't party that much" or "The formal rush system isn't superficial" or "My organization does not haze." Intelligent people can see through the BS. They see that sorority girls are over at Sig Ep and Sigma Chi and the bars two or three or five nights a week. They see that plain girls are cut harder than pretty ones. They read newspaper articles about the Penn State Tri Delts being on social probation for hazing -- and then we look like idiots or liars, neither of which is good. We would be taken much more seriously if we could just learn to say "Yes, as social organizations, we do party and we do drink, but we also do more volunteer work than non-Greeks and the all-sorority GPA is higher than the non-Greek women's GPA." Or "Yes, your looks might come into play during rush, but conversation, activities and grades are more important." Or "The Mu chapter of Delta Delta Delta does not haze." All of those are true and yet still put a positive spin on things.
As Sheila said in a PM to me (I hope you don't mind that I'm sharing this!) "I think the reason more intelligent people don't pledge is the hypocrisy." People don't want to be lied to. They don't want to be treated like they're stupid. And when you tell them things that they can see are clearly false, they feel like you think they're stupid. Nobody wants to be a part of an organization that makes you feel like that.